Ben Johnson highlights all 3 phases in Week 6 win

Caleb Rose, middle.

Of the field, love the catch, love the 20, love the 10, love the.

10, touchdown Bears!

Mighty Monungai, another touchdown run!

What was it like playing for Coach Dicka?

I don't want to answer any questions like that.

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Bears win it!

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A tremendous win for the Bears in Atlanta, marking the return of quarterback Caleb Williams and defensive back Kyler Gordon. We discuss in episode 255 of the Bears Etc. podcast with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer. I'm Jeff Joniak. Bears Etc. is brought to you by Chevy Drive Chicago, Chicagoland, and Northwest Indiana Chevy dealers. Coming up, our weekly postgame Monday.

That will include Bears head coach Ben Johnson. Good afternoon, Thomas. Blown away, first of all, by the fan support on the road.

Yeah, it was so cool to see, and it kind of started right when we got into Atlanta because you can see the downtown area. You can see the hotel. You can see the amount of people that were in Bears jerseys, Bears supporting clothes everywhere, and how many people wanted to come up and talk to you and share a story or tell you about why they were down there.

or how far they came away. So kudos to the Bears fans. And I am a Bears fan. So it kind of inspires me even more as an ex-player to see their committed support.

Caleb Williams was outstanding in his return. Tom Brady called it possibly his best game in his career. And it surely started that way, 12 of 12 to start the game. 26 for 26 for 255 with no pressure, 30 completions on the day. I mean, I didn't see any rust, did you?

Not at all.

No hesitation, no rust, no concern. It was from the very first play between he and Ben. And I think that's the key ingredient is Ben had faith in Caleb and Caleb had faith in Ben. So I think when you have that mutual faith, it really helps you go out there and play the position like they expect you to.

Yeah.

And press Taylor at his news conference on Monday at Hallis Hall on zoom with the media said the incompletions were mostly throwaways. So he was, he was feeling.

It, man.

Yeah.

But you know, you're complimented by the offensive line, um, uh, support of the running back position. A lot of different receivers got involved in a play calling creativity.

So it all went hand in hand.

Critical to have that early lead to on the road, 14 zip. You kind of took Atlanta out of its running game. and then just put constant pressure on Michael Penix, which brings us to Carter Gordon.

And the play of all of the DBs and.

Linebackers and defensive linemen that rotated in for Dennis Allen.

He was mixing and matching and making things happen.

Yeah.

You know, one thing about Kyler Gordon, I think we all talked about our frustration with them not playing because we know what a great player he is. And I think he has the ability from the standpoint of a defensive back to compliment the defensive line, the linebackers and the defensive backs. So, I'm just excited that he is back, and I'm sure the coaches are excited to develop the schemes that involve Kyler Gordon and how he can complement the other players and how they can complement him.

Yeah, outstanding quickness, elusive bend, the stutter, the dip, the tip is... The defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen, called it and just turn it and go. Just innate ability to do that. How do you tell a cashier you're a Bears fan without telling them you're a Bears fan? With the Chicago Bears PNC Bank Visa Debit Card, which gets you exclusive discounts on Bears merchandise. Find out more at pnc.com slash bearscard.

It would be wrong not to include special teams because it was a four-phase day, including the fans. Special teams was feisty right from the jump. Jack Sanborn's opening tackle. on the return game was just outstanding. They really made it difficult on Zachariah Branch and in the punt game and in the kicking of Torrey Taylor, just really impressive.

It sure was. I mean, and that's the thing about it.

It's kind of the ignition for the crowd because that's the first play that happens in a game. It's a kickoff or a kickoff return. And if you have a big play one way or the other, all of a sudden the crowd is immediately involved and they want to see more. And the Bears gave them more from the standpoint of special teams.

And right now, in terms of a unit, they're.

Playing at a high level, but they got a lot of guys that it's important to. And they get out there and they have and enthusiastically approach their inclusion on special teams.

All right, conversation with Ben Johnson coming up here now as he gets ready immediately for the New England Patriots, but a look past at what happened on Sunday in Atlanta before looking forward to Thursday against the Patriots. All right, thanks, Ben, for joining us as always. That's an impact road win, I think you'd agree. Any road win, but something that you've had many already in your time coaching the Bears.

This team has a bounce-back ability to it, I think six and two after a loss now. What is the significance of that ability to bounce back and just– Make sure you're not digging into the deep losing streaks. It's certainly on the road against an NFC opponent.

Yeah, I think it's the same as what I said last night. I'm not surprised whatsoever that they responded the way that they did. And yet, because it's the first time this year that that's happened to us, you don't know for sure. And so it's really good to see. I thought they handled the week extremely well. Very focused.

And then they came and they played with their hair on fire that all 60 minutes. And so I'm really proud of them and how they handled it. And once again, we're writing a new chapter in terms of our story and this year's different than it was a year ago. And, and yet these guys are really determined to make the most out of it.

And with a bunch of new bodies, fill in some roles and how much credit do you give the position coaches for getting them ready?

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's not just this week either. It's, It's a culmination of the development over the last few weeks where ever since we got done with training camp, guys go to show team, and yet our position coaches continue to coach them up each and every day just as if they were playing that week. And so that pays dividends on weeks like this where some guys go down, other guys got to step up and carry the load for us.

Can you get a feel from a defensive player, especially a secondary, when they know the game plan is they're going to blitz the hell out of somebody? And they're going to have a chance at the line of scrimmage. And we could go down the list, but there's a lot of different guys. Is there a different edge to a defensive back that week when he's going to have that ability to go and get after the quarterback potentially?

Yeah.

And it's one of those things. I feel like DA's got those in his arsenal every week. So the guys know that that's there. And yet, um, You get in this rhythm, and I don't want to speak for DA, and yet when you see things are working like they were yesterday, you really don't want to leave it. And so he just continued to lean into that. You could tell how effective it was being over the course of the game. Once again, the key to that game for us was making sure we could get them out of their normal down situation. offense because that run game was so potent and so being able to knock knock them off schedule a little bit getting them in second along certainly the third downs is where um da could unleash

those for our dbs and and of course kyler and clark got right around the quarterback too when his number was called but uh you know he didn't quite finish the same way that kyler did but we affected that quarterback i thought early on in that game and and uh he felt our presence.

Throughout What makes Kyler such a great blitzer?

Yeah, he's twitchy and he's got a really good feel for angles. There's not many players that can dip the way that he can dip either, so he doesn't get much surface area for running backs to punch at. And even when big guys look to slide to him, he's so small and shifty that he can find a way to bend and contort himself to get around that and just make it really challenging. And so, you know, one of the things you didn't see, he drew a You saw, of course, but he drew the holding call there, and that was a huge play for us because, once again, he's so difficult to block one-on-one that it's liable to draw some of those calls.

Can you explain what the quarterback meeting room is like when you're getting ready for a game?

What goes on in there?

It's a really dark spot here that– no, I'm just kidding. These guys– you know, JT Barrett leads the charts. They got a, they got a really good dynamic in there. Um, everybody can speak their mind and, and, uh, and yet, you know, whoever that starter is going into the week, the other guys understand their role is to be as supportive as possible and build confidence up during the course of the week. And certainly the night before the game, when we have our meeting, um, a lot of that takes place and, uh, and you feel really good when you leave that meeting. So, um, I think there's been some really good conversations in there. There's some challenging thoughts and everyone likes to push each other. I love the

dynamic that we have in there right now.

That's what I want to focus on right there because you said the magic word. I had it on my note here. Do you challenge each other? What I mean is, does Caleb challenge you? Obviously, you challenge Caleb. Does JT? What goes on in that regard? Is it simply like, hey, coach, this play you're putting in here, I love it, but And just not feeling it this week.

Well, yeah, I mean, it's certainly I kind of build a case over the course of the week why things are in and what we love them for. And then when we get there that night before the game, I asked him to give me his rankings for every single little section we have on the game plan. And that's when he gets a chance to voice his opinion of, you know, I really, I'm not feeling this. I don't see it. Or it might be one of those, Hey, you got to trust me on this. I know it's going to be there or, man, I don't love who that is running that particular route. And I got to make a decision whether we change that at the last minute or I just don't call it that week. So there's a lot of those dynamics at play over the

course of the week. And then we put the bow on it there the night before the game. But he's got a huge say. Whoever that starter is has a huge say over how that game goes and what's being called.

Incorporating the Loveland-Burden angle, it felt like mid to late last season. Would you say that was a, uh, a similar situation just feeding them the ball?

Yeah, that was certainly the case last season. Um, was not the intent this year. And yet, uh, I suppose there are some similarities here at this point, but, um, those guys are all capable. And when you throw for 300 yards in a game, I think you can leave most weeks feeling like, like everyone's pretty happy. And so, um, You know, we'd love to do that week in and week out. And yet we're going to do whatever it takes to win the ball game. So some weeks, especially with the rushing attack that we have, it might be a 200 yard rushing game and we don't throw for as many yards. And we're fortunate that those guys are very unselfish. They just love to win. They love the feeling of that locker room after a victory. All those

guys do. And so, you know, we are conscious of it. We're trying to get them involved as a coaching staff. And yet some weeks will be better than others.

Let's talk Ozzie Trapillo. I interviewed him after the game, and he couldn't stop smiling. It had to feel.

Almost a relief.

I don't know how you would describe it, but how he played and the fact that he's back.

Yeah, we talked about it. He looked so good here for the last couple weeks that... regardless of where he felt like he was, what we had seen had convinced us that it was time. It was time to jump in the deep end and let's get some reps in a game and we'll go from there. We'll continue to get better from there. So I think that was a huge hurdle for him just to get over that. And now we can just focus on where we can get better from here on out.

And Luke Newman getting some snaps, the rookie center getting some snaps.

All those are valuable, I'd imagine, no matter the circumstance, right?

No doubt. And we had had a padded practice after our walkthrough for the young guys or the low rep guys on Wednesday. And that whole O-line stood out. And Logan, Luke, Caden Barnett, certainly Ozzie was a part of that, Christian Jones, like all those guys, they really looked So good. I was talking to Dan Rouchard afterwards. He's just done a phenomenal job, him and Kyle Devan, developing. And they just keep coaching. It doesn't matter who you are or what your role is. You just keep coaching them up. And, you know, like you said, at some point you're going to have to count on these guys. And they'll be ready because of that.

You do compartmentalize very well. So here we are, New England.

Your first thought on what we should expect.

It's a great ball team. I mean, shoot, they were in the Super Bowl last year. Talent in all three phases. Really well coached in all three phases as well. And we're going to have our work cut out for us. We're still sifting through the film. That's the biggest challenge here on a short week like this is making sure that your guys can play fast and yet you're sound and you're giving some challenging looks there to the opposition.

Top five defense, right?

Yeah, yeah. And, you know, they just... They do a great job shedding blocks. They tackle really well. And they have talent at all three levels.

Psychologically, after the performance like that, is it good to play right away again?

Just it feels so good. Yeah, let's do it again. Or not.

I mean, I've seen it both ways. So I don't know that. I think these short weeks are challenging for both teams. And yet it's going to come down to who can just focus in and tough through this thing because no one feels good.

This short week business– Is nothing to mess with.

I mean, you're jamming everything in and it's really.

Hard on the coaching staff.

No question that that may be the most difficult challenge here as you're putting in your scouting reports and getting your feedback and tailoring game plans to fit the fit the need right here. But Ben highlighted some of the things we highlighted with the three phases here. And very excited to see what's next.

You don't want to rehash yesterday's game on a Monday morning of a Thursday game because you're so far into the New England preparation that you've almost forgotten about the Atlanta game. Atlanta, they're not in your division. You're not going to see them in the playoffs. They're not going to be a part of your schedule again. And so the conversation is kind of mute because you have to get onto a team that you're not very familiar with.

You are about to see them. They do have a good reputation. So there's so many things that you want to look forward to that you don't want to talk about. And sometimes you can hear it in the questions answered by a head coach.

Yeah, they could see Atlanta in the playoffs. They are in the NFC.

Well, yeah, they could.

They could, but I'm just saying in the immediacy of the next 10 games.

How important, in your opinion, is this?

Because.

As you look at things, seven teams are over 500 in the NFC. All four teams in the NFC North, which is crazy. But it happened last year. Everybody had a winning record in the division. They're continuing to carry that baton. But getting a road NFC win is as important as anything, in my opinion anyway.

Now the Bears are 3-0. outside the division in the NFC?

Well, it's huge because a team learns how to play the game in a hostile environment. And I know the environment was probably more hostile to Atlanta than it was the Bears. But Ben talked about you travel in the preseason to create that camaraderie. You go on these trips and it creates more camaraderie because it's just you against the world. And then they're getting ready to go into some difficult away games as the season winds on. So I think the experience of going down there, winning, having players get back into the fold, it's just enormously important for roster development.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Chevy Silverado, the official truck partner of the Chicago Bears. Check out a Chevy Silverado at your Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Chevy dealer. Chevy, drive Chicago. Tom, any key points from your tape review? Let's start on the offensive side of the ball.

The reaction to Caleb playing quarterback. You see in a completely different style of defense from a coordinator when they know a guy as elusive, as good as an athlete, as talented arm-wise. The vision of Caleb Williams, how it affects how the defense plays up front near the line of scrimmage. And then I think when you look at the assignment football team, I honestly don't know if I saw a mental error, and I think that's the key component.

Ben talks about the preparation of Dan Rochard, the receivers coach, the tight ends coach, the running backs coach. These guys are all such good teachers. You don't see... repeated mistakes that affect the performance of a football team. And then fundamentally, specifically in the offensive line, I look at it a lot.

The guys are playing a really solid brand of football. They're complimenting each other. They know each other's assignments. And then you had Ozzie Trapillo come back into the fold and And I don't know if you can come in mentally ready for what you are about to embark on. But the longer he played, the more mentally he was gaining confidence. And I just see he's just starting to strike that match of confidence into the future. And again, another outstanding game by the tight end position.

Their blocking was outstanding.

The big catch from Colston at the beginning, which should have been a penalty there. It was an outstanding concentration catch, and these guys are contributing a lot to the interior and the exterior of the offense.

Yeah, Ozzie Chappelle wound up with 17 snaps. Luke Newman, 27. Jonah left the game with a hip. We'll see how that goes over the course of the week. Logan Jones got himself seven snaps. That's just on the offense side of the ball. And Roshon Johnson with 31 snaps. Finished with a very strong overall day. Was on the receiving end of that hook and ladder as well. And he was the finishing back for the game.

Yeah, listen, I think we all know what type of back Roshan Johnson is. It's about putting together a stretch of healthy weeks and being able to develop a little bit of a rapport with a new running backs coach in Eric Studesville, a new office of coordinator, Press Taylor, a new head coach in Ben Johnson and all.

The other guys. you know, moving parts.

And, you know, you got to figure he made such an impression on the way he played in special teams. I don't think the coaches were reluctant to play him significant amounts of snaps because they know what he's capable of.

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They were fiery across the board. They were ready to let it rip.

You know, I think one thing about the performance in Atlanta is they capitalized on the new energy in the room. So you got a guy that we've been waiting for, Shamar Turner. You got guys like Daniel Hardy. You got DeMarco Jackson and Noah Sewell in terms of the linebacker position, the defensive backs that are inserted in and out of the lineup, and then how they're played and the spots they line up in. I just think there was so much excitement on the defensive side of the ball that the production spilled over to the sidelines and the way it ignited the excitement of the Bears players to stand up and watch them play. It was exciting for us to sit in the booth and watch it play, and it was equally as exciting coming out of the locker

room and into the locker room.

You know, depth has been tested now, a season a year ago and already, Six games into this season, and these guys just rose up, just like you said. Let's look at some of their snap totals now. So Turner got seven. Sanborn got nine.

Blackwell, nine. This is on defense.

Skyler Thomas, the rookie safety, 10. Croma, his first appearance of the season, he got 14. You had the Gordon, 17. Phillips, who was a blitz crazy guy in that game as well, got 22. Sewell got 25. Hicks got 29 defensive snaps.

Hardy got 34 snaps. He used the whole roster.

I think that's a compliment to the coaches, compliment to the assistant coaches, compliment to the scheme. And then knowing that anybody where they were going to line up, that they knew exactly what.

They're going to do.

And I talked about a mistake free game by the offense. I think we saw a lot of that on the defensive side of the ball as well.

And then you insert the.

Creativity of Dennis Allen and how he studies the opponent and and knows how that he's going to defense the opponent by what he sees on tape. It's a credit to, you know, I remember Dennis back in the beginning of the season talked about his 25 years of experience. I think he grows in his experience year in and year out because the way the NFL defenses are developing.

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The banana ball has been a threat, has been a weapon. Blackwell, according to Richard Hightower, 21 miles an hour on the grass on Sunday on the turf there. That was his speed to get there on that muff punt. The unit made plays. Xavier Scott created turnover. He had three special teams tackles. Three special teams tackles as well for, and three special teams tackles for Buddy Johnson just off the practice squad. Former Pittsburgh Steel linebacker had been with the Bears a few years ago on the practice squad. So Sanborn had a day. Again, so many players that we could, Just say the roster really.

Banded together to make things happen.

You know, all the complimentary things you say about a portion of the roster that sometimes they're only moments of play, wearing a jersey on game day, is because of their performance on special teams. Ben talks about all these guys and the way they approach practice and their work habits and everything and how it factors into their regular defense play or their special teams play. But I still sit here and wish Cairo would have made that field goal.

I know it was the longest field goal in his career. I wanted it for him. I don't care about what it didn't provide. I wanted it for Cairo because you talk about a guy that since they've hired him and since he's been a part of the Bears, since he's been kicking in some of the most difficult kicking scenarios that you can have in the NFL, selfishly for me, I wanted it for him.

Kalief Raymond in the punt game. Was outstanding.

Hightower talked about their gunners he was really concerned about, but guys like Blackwell, Cam Lewis, Evian Thomas, Elijah Hicks, and Kyler Gordon helped out in all those aspects.

Yeah.

And that's the thing about it is I think Ben has those types of expectations for everybody. It's like moving Joe Tooney to wing on extra point and field goal protection. Nobody's too big to be inserted in special teams. And you don't realize what a big message that is for that roster, because everybody outside of Caleb is. has the ability and the right to play special teams. So, you know, good for Richard Hightower and good for the requirements of Ben.

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Right.

Listen, man, this is a team that went to the Super Bowl last year. They have some high quality football players in their team. They're coached by a high quality guy and Mike Vrabel, who's an ex player and and a and a no nonsense type of coach. And so I think it's going to be an incredible game. It's going to be a physical game. respectful clash on the lakefront, and I'm excited to see it. I just want the Bears to mentally get prepared, make sure they're physically rested, and everything that they need to do before Thursday, that you go out there and you match their emotions, because I think that's one thing about a Vrabel team. They play an emotional game.

I think one of the best things that happened in the win in Atlanta, and no, we've got to move on to it, but The four for four in the red zone, I think that will be a big boost of confidence. Obviously, you've got to do it repeatedly, and it's going to be a challenge against New England. But that had to feel good, not only for the play caller, Ben Johnson, but for Caleb and the rest of the offense.

Yeah, I mean, they had a variety of guys that had a hand in that red zone offense, from the offensive line to the tight ends to the running backs to the wide receivers. So everybody was on the field yesterday. They had some hand in a red zone possession, and that's what you've got to do. Now in the NFL, as the season winds on, you've got to come away with touchdowns. You may have the luxury a couple times of kicking field goals, but if you get into the red zone– You got to get touchdowns.

Shaky September for Drake May, but a big rebound in October.

235 and three touchdowns in the win over the Jets. What's your thoughts on Drake May?

I guess Raybro called the win over the Jets a lucky win, but it's a gritty division game.

We've experienced that, obviously, in the NFC North.

Yeah.

And, you know, I think Drake Mays got three touchdown passes for three games in a row and the first quarterback to do it since Tom Brady. So you're in high elevated air right there. And Drake May, he did stumble his toe a little bit in September, but he found his balance and he's playing a good brand of football.

They had A.J.

Brown come into the fold at the receiver position. He was targeted 10 times. He had three catches, three drops. So I think the more that he gets acclimated to the offense, you have to have concerns for him because what does a quarterback need more than anything?

It's more weapons.

And whether they stand in front of him, they stand to the right and left him, or they stand behind him. I think this is the type of offense that's run by McDaniels that has.

A chance to be a high-charged offense.

Three offensive linemen left the game yesterday. Three starters.

I saw that. I saw that.

I don't know what to make of it until later in the week, you know, being a short week and how significant they were. But, you know, the Bears had an offensive lineman leave the game as well. And that's kind of the balls in the air that you play with on these Thursday games. And you let the player just heal up and tell me where you're at Thursday morning.

What you're going to see is a lot of man coverage, Tommy. Third highest rate in the NFL, man coverage defensively.

They blitzed. Quite a bit.

Ninth, but it's a big defensive line.

They play very aggressively at the line of scrimmage, and they got an outstanding corner in Christian Gonzalez.

Yeah, you know, man coverage against Caleb Williams, it could be a recipe for disaster for the man coverage. You get these defensive backs, Jeff, they have their backs to the line of scrimmage, covering the talented group of receivers the Bears has from tight end to wide receiver to running backs. You may expose yourself to first down runs by Caleb Williams. So we'll see the effect that has on Ben Johnson, the play caller, and through the eyes and arm of Caleb Williams.

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Blue Moon, made brighter and a proud partner of the Chicago Bears. That's going to wrap up our podcast. I want to thank Ben Johnson once again. For Tom Thayer, I'm Jeff Joniak. Thanks for listening, everybody. Please subscribe now on the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And bear down, everybody.

Ben Johnson highlights all 3 phases in Week 6 win | Bears, etc. Podcast

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