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21 plus only must be physically located in North Carolina. TNC Supply in app only. It's not coming from Brent Veach and Andy Reid, and it's not coming from Sean McVay. It's coming from the Cleveland Bronx. And you're seeing exactly what's going on.
You know why it's outside of Cleveland? The Bronze outside of Bronze Brown. You know why it's not coming from those guys? Because they didn't draft him. They didn't want him to begin with.
This was the one team that wanted him. And they're telling you he's behind. Maybe it's not a grand conspiracy. Maybe everybody is right. And the Shador fans, you wackos, maybe it's your guy is just not ready.
Maybe you got to come to grips with it. The Ken Carmen Show with Anthony Lima on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcast. It is the JR Sport Brief Show on the Infinity Sports Network. Week one of the NFL season, it's done. Because last night, well, not for the Chicago Bears fans, but we saw the Bears blow a lead.
Against the Minnesota Vikings, giving up 21 unanswered points. People are looking at Caleb Williams, going, Hey, where are you progressing? People are taking a look at Ben Johnson and going, Hey, we get it, your first game, but this is the same old stuff. Joining us right now. To talk about the bears and I don't know, maybe put out some fires or bring some awareness to what's going on with this team.
Joining us right now is someone who covers the squad for the Chicago Sun-Times, Patrick Field. Finlay. Patrick, how are you? I'm good. How about you?
I'm excellent, man.
Well, I think I know the answer to this. Are people in Chicago mad as hell or are they just like, ah, it's week one? Both? Is that a real answer? In general, the people in Chicago are mad as hell because it's been 105 years since the franchise was founded, and their best ever quarterback, I think, retired in 1950-something.
So, in general, They want a quarterback and they wanted one yesterday. I do hope that they are rational enough to understand. that this Ben Johnson Caleb Williams pairing is going to take months. to look the way everybody wants it to look if they're lucky. You know, if the Bears know by the end of this season, Whether Caleb and Ben Are they pairing for the next decade?
If they find that out in November, December, I think they'd be thrilled. And so until you get there, you're going to have to look for signs of growth. You're also going to have to see the signs of regression when they slap you in the face. And I think last night we saw a little bit of both.
Well, Patrick, yeah, we saw the ups and downs last year for Caleb and the amount of sacks and running behind the line of scrimmage. And yesterday is a very, very small sample size. And we know he was drafted, selected number one overall. He's going to get the entire year with his brand new head coach. But if there's not any progression, is it a guarantee?
Well, nothing's a guarantee, but is it a guarantee that he's going to be the starter next season and this is just the Petri dish of a year? Yeah, I think it's probably a guarantee that he's your guy, at least going into next season. Remember, the Bears can give him a contract extension after year three.
So, you know, you need to know by then at the very, very latest. Because if he's not the guy, then you need to go do something else. And let's face it, if he's not the guy, they're going to be drafting pretty high two years from now.
So they would have a decision to make. I think that's putting the cart before the horse. I think that you're right. He was the third most sacked quarterback in the history of the NFL. Last year, and there were times last night where watching him run for his life kind of reminded you of that.
But the Bears believe that that talent is there and it just needs to sync up with the offense that Ben wants to run. Patrick Finley is here with us from the Chicago Sun-Times. We know, and we had a caller right before you joined us who asked about. You know, the kicker and not getting a ball out of bounds at the end of the game. Like these this is all part of good coach, bad coach of first game, last game.
These things are gonna happen, no? You'd hope that they don't happen that much, but you know, and I just got done writing this for today. It was a reminder last night that Ben Johnson is a rookie too. In the history of the Bears franchise, They have hired one guy who has been an NFL head coach before. What?
And that was John Fox. And that didn't go particularly well, if you'll remember.
So we are used to watching these first-time head coaches who only have experience as coordinators learn on the job. We've been through this before and we saw it again last night. Did Caleb make mistakes? Yes. Did the Bears' defense allow J.J.
McCarthy to go from a passer rating in the 20s in the third quarter to a passer rating in the 150s in the fourth? Yes. Did the Bears special team screw up by missing a field goal that Cairo Santos absolutely needs to make and then not putting the ball out of the end zone? Yes. There's a lot of failure to go around.
And it's trite, but the head coach is at the middle or in the center of all of that. And he said today: if I were to do it all over again, I probably would have just had him kick the ball out of bounds. But that's I mean that's awkward too. You know, and now now you're asking a kicker to do something he's never really done in his life and boot the ball out at the twenty or whatever. I think Cairo just needs to hit the ball better next time, for lack of an overly simplistic answer though.
Right. All the elements that you mentioned, especially if I have to go back to last year with the Saks and the. The line What are your thoughts on this offensive line for Caleb Williams? They've added Joe Tooney, who now at least gets to move back inside as he had to play tackle last year. The Chiefs, you got Braxton Jones.
How can they help keep Caleb Williams upright? How big of a concern is the line? They spent a lot of money trying to fix this line in the offseason. They went and they got Drew Dahlman, who was the number one center free agent on the market. They traded for Jonah Jackson and Joe Tooney, kind of all within a week.
Of each other, and they did that to solidify the center of the line. You know, something people don't talk about enough with Caleb is that Caleb's not tall. You know, Caleb's 6'1 and he ain't getting any bigger. And if you believe in the old Drew Brees theory that, When you have a smaller quarterback protecting on the interior is of utmost importance, then the Bears, I think, accomplished that. Braxton Jones is a different question.
He's been their starter at left tackle for the last three years. They drafted Ozzie Trapilla in the second round, hoping that Ozzie could beat him out in training camp. And he could. And they waited until the very, very end of training camp before Ben Johnson said, Yeah, you know, I, you know, I guess we'll go with Braxton as the starter.
So he is a giant question mark there. And, you know, we'll see how it turns out. They helped him a lot. Last night. They brought in Theo Bennett, the backup tackle, as kind of the tackle eligible.
And they used their own tight ends and running backs to chip on that side.
So that's going to be an ongoing issue: how do you help Braxton Jones? But on the interior of that line, Lord knows they've thrown enough money at this thing that it better be fixed. They better hope so. Patrick Finley joining us from the Chicago Sun-Times. We know a lot of people in Chicago not happy with the results last night, no reason.
But is there anything? positive that you took away from the game last night. Listen up, football fans. You won't want to miss this. Right now, new Bet365 customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets, win or lose.
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Call 1-877-718-5543 or visit morethanagame.nc.gov. 21 plus only must be physically located in North Carolina. TNC Supply Inf only. It's not coming from Brent Veach and Andy Reid, and it's not coming from Sean McVay. It's coming from the Cleveland Bronx.
And you're seeing exactly why it's outside of Cleveland. The Bronx outside of Bronze Brown. You know why it's not coming from those guys? Because they didn't draft him. They didn't want him to begin with.
This was the one team that wanted him. And they're telling you he's behind. Maybe it's not a grand conspiracy. Maybe everybody is right. And the Shador fans, you wackos, maybe it's your guy, is just not ready.
Maybe you got to come to grips with it. The Ken Carmen Show with Anthony Lima on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcast. You open the fridge. There's nothing there.
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Visit blueapron.com/slash terms for more. The defense looked pretty good. The Bears were playing without their best player, who is Jalen Johnson, the two-time Pro Bowl corner. Kyler Gordon, who I think is one of their absolute best players, is the slot corner, and he didn't play either. Both had an injury.
And TJ Edwards, their linebacker who they gave a big extension to this offseason, he sat out.
So to go out there against the Vikings, even though there is a first-time quarterback under center for them, to go out there without three of your defensive starters and to play as well as they did for three quarters, I think is encouraging. I think that the Bears got pressure in a way that they struggled to last year at times. That's encouraging. And I think finding a way to get DJ Moore and Roma Dunsey the ball. was encouraging to a point.
They didn't do a good enough job. Actually, making accurate throws for me to feel great about it. But you can see what this Ben Johnson offense looks like. And one thing that's going to be so different than the Matty Reflusse era when he was here is that I think Ben's game plan and his personnel usage and what he wants to do is going to vary wildly. from week to week.
Not just a little bit, but I think there are going to be weeks when they run it all the time. There are going to be weeks when they throw it all the time. There are going to be weeks where their first-round pick, the tight end, Colston Loveland, is super involved. There's going to be other weeks when Luther Burton, the second-round pick, is more involved. That's how Ben wants to view things.
And so I wouldn't make any grand characterizations of this offense. Off of one day, because I think it is gonna look different from week to week. And that's something I feel more comfortable doing probably six, seven, eight weeks into the season.
Well, Patrick, it was disappointing for the team last year when they only got five victories. Even rookie quarterback, they got five victories. What is the expectation for this season? We know the NFC North is.
Well, let's just say it's not in any softer. And I think it's the best division in football. Last year, record-wise, it was the best division in the history of football. And all they did was add Micah Parsons to the division this offseason.
So it's going to be tough sledding. I think that they're going to go 9-8. And I would make an argument to you that if they were 8-9 or 9-8, And in the second half of the season, you saw an offense getting better every week, and you saw an offense that you can build around for the next two, three, four, five years. I think that's a tremendous success. And that's what last year should have been.
We went into last season with Caleb Williams, the number one pick, and Roma Dunze, the number nine. And the whole idea was: hey, if by the end of the year, this thing's looking good. Kind of, you know, it doesn't really matter what the record is. That doesn't mean people expected five wins, but I think people expected seven or eight. You know, this year, if they can do that.
And if you could go into free agency trying to find more of Ben Johnson's kind of guys to put. Around Caleb Williams, who you've decided is the answer, hopefully, by the end of the season. I think that's a big win for them. To expect them to go win the NFC North is. Foolish.
I think even to expect them to try to finish second is probably silly.
Okay.
Well, listen, I appreciate the positivity, Patrick, because this last night didn't look all that good.
So thank you for that. A separate question here. Are we going to get a stadium downtown or is that completely done? I got to drive to Arlington Heights now. You got to drive to Irwin tonight, I think is the answer.
And the Bears still don't have a stadium deal. Looking at it now, I think the earliest that they could get legislation passed to negotiate a property tax deal is probably the spring.
So we're going to be in limbo here at least for another six months. They put out a letter to season ticket holders yesterday saying, hey, we're going to move to Arlington Heights. And that's nothing new. That's something they've been saying for months. And they just put it in the letter because they happen to have ESPN in town broadcasting Monday Night Football.
So we'll see whether it works out. You know, it's the classic. Chicago story, if you've ever lived here, where everybody pays too much in property taxes and everybody goes to find a lawyer to fight it. And the Bears are doing that writ large with this stadium that they want to build in the Northwest suburbs. Oh, my God.
And Patrick, I'm not driving from, if I'm staying in town, I'm not driving up there. I'm not doing that.
Well, yeah, nor should you stay in Arlington Heights if you come out for a game. Correct. That's no fun. You know, they're going to need to work out some public transportation options there that make sense for people. And, you know, right now there's kind of one train that's got to stop there.
They got to do better. They got to do better than that because it's one thing to take the Chicago out of the Chicago Bears. It's another thing to make entire swaths of the Chicagoland area have to really work hard to get there. And I think it's an obligation of the team. If you're going to move that stadium, I think the team is obligated to its fans to.
give a rationally reasonably easy way. to get all the way up to that statement. Patrick, last question for you.
Sorry for the stadium question. I love stadiums. What the heck are they going to do with Soldier Field? Oh man, you know, Selter Field wasn't the home of the Bears until the 70s. They actually played at Wrigley.
Before that, so I would argue that it's probably going to revert to what it was before, which was random college games, high school games, and stuff like that. The Chicago Fire of the MLS play there, but they want to build their own stadium.
So we shall see. You know, it wouldn't surprise me if five years from now the Bears are still playing their games at Soldier Field, just because, number one, these things take a while. And number two, I think we're on year three of this, and there doesn't seem to be as much traction as the team would have hoped. Bears have been looking for a quarterback forever. Hopefully, they don't have to look for a stadium to be built.
Oh, what a world. Hey, Patrick, we appreciate the time. Where can people follow you and your work with the Sun-Times? You can go to suntimes.com. You can follow me on social media on X at my name, which is at Patrick Finley.
And you can check out our podcast called Palace Intrigue that is available wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Patrick, we appreciate the time. We'll talk to you soon, okay?
Sounds good. I appreciate it. Thank you so much to Patrick Finley joining us from the Chicago Sun-Times.
So let's, that's got to be music to people's ears if you're a fan of the Bears. A 9-8 record, I have to sign up for that, right? You got five wins last year. You can graduate to nine wins with a rookie head coach in a second year, QB. Everybody can't be Jaden Daniels, okay?
Everybody can't be that guy. Listen up, football fans. You won't want to miss this. Right now, new BET 365 customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets, win or lose.
So you could turn that $300 into something bigger when you bet on money lines, spread, totals, player props. $300 in bonus bets when new customers bet $5. I know where I'm going to bet from now on. Download the app today and see why it's never ordinary at Bet365. If you have any problem, call 1-877-718-5543 or visit morethanagame.nc.gov.
21 plus only must be physically located in North Carolina. TNC Supply in FONA. It's not coming from Brent Veach and Andy Reid, and it's not coming from Sean McVay. It's coming from the Cleveland Bronx. And you're seeing exactly what you're doing.
You know why it's outside of Cleveland? The Bronze outside of Ronaldo. You know why it's not coming from those guys? Because they didn't draft him. They didn't want him to begin with.
This was the one team that wanted him. And they're telling you he's behind. Maybe it's not a grand conspiracy. Maybe everybody is right. And the Shador fans, you wackos, maybe it's your guy is just not ready.
Maybe you got to come to grips with it. The Ken Carmen Show with Anthony Lima on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcast. Downey, Rinse, and Refresh. Break up with stinky clothes. Rinse it up.
Every now and then I get a little bit tired of the stinks that just won't ever come out. The rest gave Yeah. One wash, it smells so clean. Downy, rinse, and refresh, it's a dream. Downy, rinse, and refresh fights odor in just one wash, guaranteed.
Yeah.
