10-6-23 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

Is that the new iPhone 15 Pro?

Oh yeah, it's made with titanium and the Pro camera is epic. Just got it at T-Mobile. Nice. Yeah, and I got their Go 5G Next plan so now I have the freedom to upgrade my phone every year. I gotta get to T-Mobile. Take charge of your upgrades at T-Mobile.com. Phone now via 24 monthly bill credits plus tax for well qualified customers.

Contact us before canceling account to continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement due. One year upgrade requires financing qualifying device and upgrading in good condition after six months with half paid off. Facts are facts like how contributing to employees financial security makes them want to work harder for their company. In fact, according to a 2023 study by principle, 87% of employers say that better employee financial security means employees are more engaged and productive at work. The fact of the matter is that employees want to feel financially secure in their future. So consider this principle helps you invest in your employees by providing customized benefits and retirement plans. To help keep your employees more engaged and productive. When you take care of your team, they take care of business.

That's a fact. Learn how principle can help you find the right benefits and retirement plan for your team at principle.com slash benefits. Products and services offered by member companies of the principal financial group, Des Moines, Iowa. For important information, visit principle.com slash disclosures.

There's something in the water. We've seen the end to a bunch of utility streaks this week. I like it. I always feel a twinge for those fan bases who are mired in either mediocrity and anonymity because their teams are irrelevant or even worse. In the case of the Chicago bears, I didn't believe they would go all season without winning.

Actually, during our hump show, I saw multiple questions on our social media as part of asking me anything. Wondering if I thought the bears would go Oh, and 17. And my answer is no, nope, nada, not happening, because it's really, really difficult to lose every game of the season. Now it's really difficult to win every game of the season or even just to win one game as the bears have proven. But I didn't think they'd go over in large part because of the division they play in.

And there's wins up for grabs there. But also because it's just the NFL and we see every week every month every season. How teams on paper who are awful, actually forget on paper, they're awful when we watch them. And yet somehow they managed to catch another team off guard.

Maybe they have an off week. And even a team that has not won in 14 consecutive tries. Can come away with a win and in this case, a convincing win. And let's be fair, Thursday nights does enhance the opportunity for a lot of teams that are in desperate need of a win.

Now it can be tough, right? Because you're on a short work week. However, you're in the same boat as your opponent. And it's clear that some teams end up with lackluster effort, maybe less energy.

They're tired, they're worn out, whatever it is. Thursdays take you out of your regular routine. It's not easy. Now for DJ Moore, it looked easy. But I didn't even check my fantasy. I don't want to know whether or not my opponent has DJ Moore. Yeah, Thursdays, they kind of throw the whole thing into flux.

And a lot of what you think you know gets tossed out the car window. This game in our nation's capital or near our nation's capital, it's actually in Maryland. Gosh, the videos and photos that were being shown of commanders fans, they were feeling every bit of it. Two back to back losses now.

Tough losses for the commanders. And so maybe there's a question mark now about what they actually have in Sam Howell. I don't know if the team is questioning that.

But outside, you can't help but wonder. I should even say back to back losses. They actually started out 2-0, now they've lost three in a row. But their last two at the Eagles, that was in overtime on Sunday, they battled hard. It was a better performance from Sam. He's gritty, he's tough. I like his temperament. And I think it's too early to make a definitive decision on him. We know the team speaks highly of him.

His teammates speak highly of him. So that was a higher note than the Bills game in which the commanders never stood a chance because he had what, four interceptions? Five turnovers if I remember, but four interceptions to be sure. And now here we are in this game at home against the Bears. Bears tack on late and so they end up winning by 20. But you go back to the first half and they're early in the second quarter. Commanders already trailing by 17. That's the type of thing that causes fans to either want to not show up or leave early if they did in fact show up.

It was brutal. Then you think about it from the Bears perspective. They had a 21 point lead last week at home against Denver and they blew it.

So maybe a bit of trepidation there unless they could conquer that mountain and exercise those demons. There are some winnable games coming up on the Bears schedule. We may find that they can piece together two wins in a row.

Maybe three out of four. They've got Panthers ahead on their schedule. They've got Vikings ahead on their schedule. I think a lot of Thursday feels like if you can start out hot, if you can start out with some really solid drives or some big defensive plays, you can grab a little bit of momentum. It certainly does help.

Maybe shake out the cobwebs. Muscles don't hurt as badly. And the incentive is if you get a win on Thursday, you then get essentially a mini-buy.

A lot of these guys get the weekend off. And the Bears are the ones who take advantage and now they can breathe. Or as DJ Moore said, the locker room was bumping.

There was music. What a relief. Not all of these guys suffered through 14 straight losses, but a lot of them did.

Matt Eberfluss definitely did. And finally, that streak is over. And it didn't last as long as the Minnesota Twins playoff losing streak. But 14 games in the NFL must feel like a lifetime.

Hello. Happy almost Friday. It's good to know you won't go 0-17. That is a great piece of wisdom from Todd Bowles. And now if you look at the NFL standings, getting closer to no undefeateds and no winless teams. How do you feel Carolina Panthers?

You are the last one. And it just, I don't know how this happens. I'm not a big believer in luck. But by the luck of the draw, last week we had the four undefeateds playing each other. Not undefeateds, I'm sorry. The four winless teams playing each other. Weird, right? There were four left and they were matching up against each other.

That's so strange. And so two of them got their first wins. The Broncos and the Vikings. Now here are the Bears who pick up their first victory and that leaves the Panthers only at 0-4. Dang it. Going into week five.

Oh my gosh. How? How is it already? October 5th. We're going into the first full weekend of October. Oh wait until I tell you what the weather looks like for next week in my neighborhood. Except that's only after we have another tropical rainstorm. Make it stop. Just make it stop. It's a good thing I made no plans. I've given up on Saturdays in good weather. Seems like four in a row have just been rough.

Anyway, I digress. One team that has yet to secure a win, two teams that have yet to lose. That's it. That is exactly how the NFL wants it. The league wants it to be a free for all. A scrumble, if you will.

By the way, Producer J, do you remember the question we threw out there for the peeps maybe six weeks ago? Which team in the NFL would be the last to get a win? I would say by far the Cardinals were the most popular.

Yes. But there were others. Denver was an answer that I saw a bunch. The Patriots actually was an answer I saw a bunch.

There were a variety of answers. Those of you who guessed Carolina, come on down. You're the next contestant in way to go. What did I say the other night? You're the next contestant in... That was embarrassing.

That was embarrassing. And for the Panthers, I don't believe they'll go the entire season without a win either. The rookie quarterback thing is tough and I know they're putting together different shapes and sizes of teammates and weapons and it takes some time to find any consistency and cohesion. But look what the Falcons have done. After winning their first two games to start the season, they've looked miserable. I don't know that I would say definitively I thought the Falcons could beat the Panthers. I know they beat them to start the season, but the last two games, they looked awful.

And here's the thing about the Falcons. They started out with, well the game in London was considered a home game. But they started out, they have started out with two home games, both of which were wins. They lose in Detroit.

They lose in London. Now they're back to back for two more home games. They barely even started their road schedule, so it gets harder for the Falcons. Yeah, I don't know that I, at this point, wouldn't pick, if I were a pickin' gal, wouldn't pick the Panthers over the Falcons. And we knew the NFC South would be like this with new quarterbacks and new coaches and new systems and all that jazz.

Who knew that Baker and the Bucks would be the most consistent? Hello. Seriously, that is one of my favorite stories of 2023 so far. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

Can I tell you a fun story just because you all cracked me up? On Twitter, ALawRadio, I just got this post from Twitter actually. It's funny because it used to be Twitter, I guess. Here's the thing. I'm not gonna start calling it X when Elon Musk is getting sued for using X even though it apparently is the name of another company somewhere. So he's not in the free and clear when it comes to using X as the new name for his social media site. I guess, again, X apparently is the name of another company and he's getting sued for using it for copyright infringement or something. Anyway, I just got this post on Twitter that says, happy X anniversary, Jay.

Is it? It is my X anniversary. Well, it's not my X anniversary, it's my Twitter anniversary. It's just weird to say. Not just that, but it only turned into X last year, so how could it be my X anniversary?

It's not. It's my Twitter anniversary. Technically, everybody has the same X anniversary. Right.

Thank you. Can you guess how many years ago Friday? Why? I wish I could go back and do it all over again. Buyers remorse.

Buyers remorse. Can you guess? I'm going to say, well, I know I had one like 2010, I think, is when I started. And I know you weren't as early as that.

No. So I'm going to guess 2013, 10-year anniversary. 12-year anniversary. So it wasn't that far after you, but it did predate my CBS Sports Radio tenure.

Anyway, that's not what I was going to tell you. On Twitter, A Law Radio. Again, I'm not going to be included in this lawsuit where we're not supposed to be using a fake name for the website. And then on our social media, other social media, Facebook and YouTube, you just Google the name of the show, it'll pop up.

It's easy to find. On Thursday, we finally shared the link to part two of our latest video series, which is Ask Amy Walks Down the Aisle. Our attempt to answer your questions. These are your questions.

It's not like producer Jay made them up. He doesn't care about my wedding that much. So these were, did you just say eh? These were, what are you giving me for my wedding? Chocolate? We'll see. Maybe. I was just kidding.

It would be a nice array. No gifts required. Zero gifts.

Anyway, not gifts, but gifts with a T. Multiple gifts. Anyway, we finally shared the link to part two of Ask Amy Walks Down the Aisle. And we had already seen a fair amount of traffic on the video anyway, because a lot of you find it on your own. Thankfully, our subscribers are up.

You know, producer Jay is happy this week because so many of you have subscribed to the YouTube channel. And also because you made him forget maybe just a little bit about how woeful his teams are. Teams. Let's not go that far. Alright, let's not get carried away.

Anyway, I shared the post on Twitter and Facebook and some guy writes back on Facebook. This cracks me up. You all, you out yourselves.

It's too easy. Some guy. And there are people that are still finding out, which I think is actually kind of fun. Still getting congratulations. Some guy writes back on the link to the video. Ready? How do I ask Amy a wedding question?

Will she keep her name? Oh, you mean one of our most frequently asked questions? Come on, man. Come on, man. Maybe watch the video to which you replied. It's too easy. It's too easy to just answer to ask the question. Why watch the video? That that would be a waste of time.

Let's just ask the question again. I mean, if you were interested and watch it and then had a question, maybe something you didn't see, I would I would understand that. But to not watch it and have a question of something that's in there. Just check it out. If you want to know the answer to some questions you have, just check it out. We feel like we've done a public service to answer your frequently asked questions.

It's all the frequently asked questions. Not just this, but this is by far the longest video. We broke it up into two parts. The longest video we've ever recorded. We actually got booted off Zoom and had to restart another recording because it was so long. Jay was so mad because they kick us off Zoom. We find an appropriate place to pause because we can see our recording is running out. And then they make Jay wait 10 minutes before he's seven.

No, but it wasn't, though. It was seven. And then then all of a sudden we had to wait some more. Anyway, Jay and I had to wait in the middle to start another recording. We were so dedicated to making sure we answered your questions that we spent easily over an hour putting this together. And then that's not even referring to the amount of time Jay spent editing.

There was so much editing for just its audio video stuff. Nothing that is exciting. We didn't change anything. I promise. But we put so much time into these videos, not to mention he collected the questions and all that jazz.

Maybe just watch them before you ask another question. That's all we're saying. It would help. We want you to be informed. And also, I think it's really cool that you care. This one guy wrote on the video, Jay. He said, thanks for sharing. Your audience feels like we're family, so we ask too many questions. I mean, I certainly understand that. My Italian family, they're all up in my business all the time. He writes then, pretend like you're eloping.

In other words, people won't ask you questions if you pretend like you're eloping and there's no wedding. Gary, I appreciate the suggestion, but actually it's cool that so many people care about my personal life. Is it a lot? Sure. Am I glad I'm not Taylor Swift?

Absolutely. But I think it's really sweet that you all care. And the messages are still coming in and you're still letting me know that you're excited for me and happy and you're sharing in our joint anticipation. So I can't be upset about that.

I know I tease you and call you nosy or tell you curiosity kills the cat, which might very well be true. But we did spend a lot of time answering as many questions as we could get to in these videos, including your top four most frequently asked FAQs, we call them. So go check it out. And by FAQs, we don't just mean you. My colleagues have been asking these same questions.

That's the funny part. Let's see. I'm thinking of the four questions that we got for FAQs and the four that you used for FAQs. Boomer asked me all four of those. Sure. Yeah.

Not all at once, but over the course of the last few months, he's asked me all those same questions. I appreciate the question. I really do. I actually do.

Bill Belichick's lying. I actually do appreciate the question. All right. Happy almost Friday.

I guess. Happy Twitter anniversary to me. I don't really know what to do with that. Maybe I'll reply with a bunch of emojis. Do they send you anything?

Thank you, Elon Musk. Yeah. They sent me a post that I can share. It says celebrate with a special post created just for you. That's it. Yeah. How about a watch? Anything.

Or you know, they have your free coffee. Oh, Jay, stop it. I'm just saying they do send you something nice.

All right. We'll dive into some of the key moments at a career night for one DJ Moore and the Chicago Bears. The reaction. Oh, Ron Rivera. He's not he's not enjoying his Thursday. He's not happy almost Friday.

He's the opposite of that. I had a bad day. It might get worse, actually, for the commanders coming up in the next few days. I don't think they get the weekend off. We get the weekend off, though. Jay, are you excited we get the weekend off? I am. Yeah.

How should we celebrate? Do you have any chocolate? Believe it or not, I do. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. A man in motion, Mooney, into the slot to the right. Snap his back. Fields. Late pressure coming, but it doesn't reach it. He got DJ Moore over the shoulder. 20, 15, and out of bounds. DJ Moore tracks down the deep ball on third and nine. They're going at the Redskins right out of the gate. And a big third down conversion. Third and long. And the Bears are setting up shop at the 20 yard line.

They're going to be spread three to the left, two to the right, see if these are back. Corners tight. Snap back to fields. Fields looking. Now throwing.

Got open men. DJ Moore. End zone. Touchdown. Touchdown Bears.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Raise your hand if you had DJ Moore in your fantasy lineup. See, it's scary to start guys that are playing in Thursday night games because you don't have any idea how it's going to go. It can be a crapshoot.

It really makes me nervous. But I left my one commando who is in my fantasy lineup. I left him in that starting rotation and it didn't go so well for me. In fact, it went horribly wrong.

So I'm already behind the eight ball. But if you had DJ Moore, you are large and in charge, baby. Jeff Joniac with the calls there on the Bears radio network. Very first drive. They were chucking and ducking. Justin Fields was locked in with DJ Moore.

And not only did he catch a long pass, a big chunk play, but then he hauled in the touchdown in the corner. Could you just feel it? They were off and running. You knew with them being that aggressive on the opening drive. It actually did remind me of the way that they started against Denver last week.

And I got a little bit of deja vu. I wonder if they did, too. But I like that they were aggressive.

I like that they weren't going to sit back and wait for the game to come to them. No, screw that. We're going to go after it because what do we have to lose? We've lost four. Well, another game.

But why not go for broke? You've lost 14 in a row. Your coach is on the hot seat. People are talking about how Justin Fields was the wrong choice. Yada, yada, yada.

Might as well go out there and give it everything you got. So it was already 17 nothing early in the second quarter when DJ Moore scored his second touchdown. And they're getting close to halftime. They're showing the Amazon Prime halftime crew. They're dancing on the sidelines, maybe mailing it. Not them. But the broadcast team kind of gliding into half, mailing it in, thinking, OK, it's going to be a 20-3 lead.

Oh, well, not so fast. Here's the snap. Howell stands in the pocket. Oh, breaking in the ball and intercept again. We have to get Greg Stroman with the swipe right over the middle.

A clouded pocket. He was throwing the ball over the middle to Curtis Samuel. And the Bears are going to get more opportunities to put points on the board right here, right now in Washington. First and goal for Chicago in the red zone for the fifth time tonight. Eight trips in the first four games. To the backfield. Field, pump and throw.

Touchdown, Cole Komet. A little hot sauce on that one from Fields. And the Bears are pouring it on in this first half.

I sent producer Jay a text because it kind of blew me away. The fact that they. They were 300 yards of offense in the first half. And of course, there's a massive disparity with the commanders who, even when they got the ball, kind of went backwards or were shooting themselves in the foot. They had 300 yards of offense and 28 points.

But still, they left some opportunities out there. And again, I wonder how much of deja vu there was or how much talk there was in the locker room about what had happened against Denver just a few days before, in which they had a 21-point lead in the second half and could not protect it. The commanders put up a little resistance. They're a little bit of a pass rush. But honestly, this was such a lopsided affair from the start. Ian Eagle there with the Westwood one call.

Oh, I heard this too. The Bears actually were getting plenty of pressure on Sam Howell, so his offensive line was not protecting him. So they were getting to the quarterback. They obviously forced a couple of turnovers. Do you know they only had two sacks in the first four games total? And then in this game against Sam, they had five.

So that's maximizing your opportunities as well. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. And we got a little bit of life from the commanders early in the third, though again, a Logan Thomas fumble kind of snuffed out of drive. So they had a touchdown. Then they have a fumble, right? And so whatever momentum that you had, it goes poof right back to the Bears.

The Bears didn't do anything with it. They punted relatively quickly. And then there's a field goal drive for the commanders and another touchdown early in the fourth quarter. So they potentially could have scored on four consecutive drives.

You can't help but wonder, what if? I know momentum is fleeting in sports, and I really think momentum is actually overrated. A lot of times we talk about momentum, but it can be won and lost so quickly. You can change the momentum in a game with one play, with one moment, turning points.

We talk about those all the time. And honestly, that Logan Thomas fumble may have very well been that because they had an opportunity to continue their march and to cut into that Bears lead. And maybe the Bears then kind of feel deer in the headlights because of what happened last week. Oh, and you want to talk about demoralizing, not only a fumble when you feel like you're on the march, but then you think you're going to get put points on the board. That's a very makeable field goal, 46 yards away for Joey Sly. Try to make this a one score game.

Sly sprays it off to the right, and it's no good. Washington comes up empty with 5'11 on the clock. I can't believe that. An enormous miss. I mean, there was already a few people leaving for the exits. Now after that miss, a lot of them are leaving for the exits. That is a brutal miss by Joey Sly.

Along with Ian Eagle, Ross Tucker, I was listening to the Westwood One broadcast probably the last quarter and a half as I'm getting ready for work and get in the car. And Ross was slap happy. I don't know if he had no sleep or if he just was trying to amuse himself because of the game. They were howling with laughter, the two of them. Stumbles down at the 15.

He could not get there. And when Ross really gets going, he cackles. He cackles.

Anyway, it's always fun to listen to those guys. But I keep thinking, poor Al Michaels. Now, I mean, let's be fair. He signed up for a lot of money with Amazon Prime. A lot of money. But how many actual quality games have been on Amazon Prime through the first year plus? There have been some tough ones. Either games in which the teams don't score at all or their total blowouts or the play itself. The quality of play is so bad that they resort to one-liners and jokes. I feel like he visibly looks disinterested at times.

It's tough. You got to think, he went from all those years of doing probably the best game every week on Sunday Night Football to the worst. Don't tell DJ Moore, though. We'll take our break and then we'll get more reaction after the fact. DJ Moore was putting all kinds of effort into being his best self for this game. This morning, I was nervous, out of this world nervous. So, I guess that was my body telling me that we were about to go off. So, I look forward to having some more nervous days before games. I'm pretty nervous before every game, but not like tonight. I guess because it was like a prime time game, you never want to mess up on big time TV. So, I mean, that was the whole thing behind it. It's funny because some athletes will tell you about a big game that's in prime time, that it's no big deal, it's just another game.

That's the pep talk that they give themselves or it's the coach speak that they've been hearing all week. No, you ask any athlete in a moment where he's being real and authentic with you, and most of them will tell you that being on prime time being the only game of the week, or in this case, the Thursday night on Amazon Prime, again, doesn't matter. DJ Moore was nervous because it was not really televised, but you know what I'm saying.

Actually, I don't know if it was the case here, Kevin, you, Kevin Dexter is here in studio, you were here, right? Did you notice that the TV was buffering or the internet was buffering a lot here? I noticed that it was behind the broadcast here because I would see, I was checking the box score, keeping up with the game for the updates, and I saw the play would come in on the box score before we saw it on TV. Interesting. A couple times. I had all kinds of issues with my, I normally do not have issues with Amazon, but I had all kinds of issues with all my smart TV.

It just kept buffering, the whole second half it would chill a play, and then it would buffer, and then it would chill a play, and then it would buffer, and so I finally turned it off and was like, I mean, it was a blowout anyway, but I know a lot of people don't love it because they do have issues with the broadcast. Mine was behind, actually, too. Oh. Kevin's here, yeah.

Interesting. I was looking at the box score and the fantasy, and then it was like two or three plays behind, and I was like, oh, Curtis Samuel hasn't scored yet, but then I saw it. All right, it's like a wait, what? What did I miss? All right, speaking of internet, I guess we were kind of speaking of the internet, some of you are weighing in about the Bears, the commanders, got you. We're going to talk about week five, of course. We'll put up our new poll that gives you the chance to pick the after-hours game of the week. If you haven't voted for our Division Series poll, it's still ongoing for another hour, and a lot of you have cast your votes already on Twitter, After Hours, CBS, or our Facebook page. Yeah, there's one clear frontrunner for the Division Series that you are most jazzed hands up about, but you'll have to check it out on your own. We'll get more reaction to the commanders losing now their third game in a row.

I mean, it's not quite the Bears who lost 14 in a row, and the Bears ending that streak, and the big sigh of relief. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. 🎵Music🎵 DJ Moore on third and two, the corner broke on it, missed it. DJ Moore caught it, and he accentuates what's been a spectacular day. 56-yard touchdown, and that puts the icing on the cake. 230 yards and receiving on eight catches for the University of Maryland, Terrapin.

Attaboy. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. DJ Moore with some kind of wonderful night. Eight catches, 230 yards, three touchdowns.

The last one you hear there with Jeff Joniac on the Bears Radio Network. So, yes, the offensive numbers were real gaudy for Justin Fields, for DJ Moore. He said he was nervous.

He felt that nervous energy, but they attacked right away, and I was impressed with that. However, the defense also played a major role in turning over Sam Howell with the interception, Logan Thomas with the fumble, and five sacks, which is more than double what they had in the first four games combined. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Of course, you can draw some ties between the Bears, how they played, and the news that they found out right before the game. You're like, I wouldn't be surprised if, in hearing the news, the defense, the Bears organization wanted to honor Dick Butkus, the Hall of Famer, from 1979, who was one of the fiercest Bears defenders in their franchise history. He passed away, and the news broke not that long before kickoff. We actually found out about it when we saw it on the screen. So, me and Mooney, we were talking about it.

We were like, what? So, we were in a big shock, but he had condolences to his family. But, I mean, it just means a lot, you know, tonight, getting to win the first one in a long time. So, Bears legend, he'll never be forgotten. We played for him tonight, so this one's for him tonight.

So, I'm glad we got the day. My condolences to the Butkus family, my deepest sympathies to them. I had several chances to visit with Dick during the time that I've been here, and it's always great talking to him, you know, because he's one of my idols growing up, being a linebacker, and we had some good talks about reading keys and a lot of different things.

But, again, my condolences to the family. Matt Eberfluss, after Justin Fields, who was there on the Amazon Prime postgame set. People ask me a lot, name an athlete that you wish you had seen play, and Dick Butkus is definitely one of those. He was part of the Monsters of the Midway, and he was only 80 years old, though obviously played in a different era at football, and as I've come to connect with older Hall of Famers and guys who played in previous eras of the NFL I recognize the toll that it takes on them is often severer and more limiting, more physically taxing than it is on today's athletes because of the rules changes and the various technology, also just the way that attention has been drawn to the types of injuries. And so for these former players, and he's 80, not even that old, sometimes the pounding on their bodies, not just head injuries, but the pounding on their physical bodies, it's so different than what today's athletes go through, and he was known for his vicious tackles. He was one of those guys who put 110% into it and made sure that the person he tackled felt it and remembered it. He was a guy who wanted to intimidate based on memory, right, based on maybe muscle memory for the opposing teams, but just the imposing presence that he had.

Sometimes your reputation precedes you. I was glad to read from the Bears that he died peacefully in his sleep, and the statement from the Bears and Chairman George McCaskey, poignant, fitting, Dick was the ultimate Bear and one of the greatest players in NFL history. He was Chicago's son. Toughness, smarts, instincts, passion, leadership. And the Bears find out not that long before kickoff, and they go out and they play an inspired game. The performance, clearly one of the best from start to finish that they've had in, gosh, a full calendar year, and that was a focus. Matt Eberfluss admits that after what happened against Denver last week on their own field, losing a 21-point lead in the second half, that they were determined not to let that happen again. The offense operated good at the end. To close out games, you're going to have to make plays to finish the game, and that's the big thing we needed. We built some momentum last week. This is a whole new group that we have, a lot of rookies, and we've got a lot of free agents that are coming together, and we felt that momentum building last week, and we just needed to finish better. And the guys pulled together last week and did a nice job of finishing this game. I myself was wondering, when the commanders had pulled within 10, and I told you that Logan Thomas fumble, I felt like it was a huge turning point, and then later, to have Joey Slye miss the field goal, which we heard, those were two moments where the commanders hurt themselves, obviously.

But the Bears, they let the commanders back in. And so they pulled within 10, and you're thinking, oh, man, it's a tale of two halves, and the commanders have opportunities, yada, yada, yada. And so Justin Fields admits that when DJ Moore hauled in his third touchdown, that there was kind of an exhale of, okay, whew.

The sign of relief, for sure. I think we just had to reset. Of course, the drive where we had a false start, everybody was kind of jumping around a little bit, but it just went over to the guys and just said, calm down, we're in a great position, defense is going to go out there and do their thing. And they did, got a stop. Of course, when DJ made that catch and his run, it was pretty much game over by then. So heck of a play, great catch, great protection up front, and executed it well. Eight receptions on 10 targets, 230 yards, a career night for DJ Moore, three touchdowns that he hauled in of the four that Justin Fields threw.

And this is the second week in a row that he's had four touchdown passes, but this time they're able to protect the lead. And I love what DJ had to say about the locker room jumping around like they'd won the Super Bowl. Everybody was happy, and the true message was just never lose that feeling. That's what in my head I was saying, in my head, now I get to say it to the media and to the team, let's just not lose that feeling of what we just walked into in the locker room.

I'm really just proud of everybody, proud of everybody blocking the outside noise out and really just working, so really a tribute to everyone in the building. I got to say that this was the perfect answer after the week they've had. Matt Eberfluse 48 hours ago was answering questions about his job security, his job status, and I'm not saying one win protects, but that's the hot seat that he's on. People are questioning whether or not Justin Fields and the coaching staff can work together based on some of his recent comments about how he wasn't playing free, he wasn't playing instinctually, he felt like he was limited and hampered because of coaching, because they were asking him to think too much and do too much. Then this whole Chase Claypool situation, Ryan Polls comments on Thursday that he wishes Chase luck in the future, and so it sounds like his tenure with the Bears is done.

This win was desperately needed. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Easy to love luxury bedding. Just enter code POMPOM at checkout. Listen and follow to say more with Dr. Sheila on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Call us at HyundaiUSA.com. Call 562-314-4603 for complete details. Try Gain Fling today with special savings at Family Dollar.