Jared's got it on fourth down back looking left side Rose end zone.

It is up and was it caught?

Wow?

Is that called Tesla?

In his first NFL game comes up with his first NFL touchdowns.

And Welcome to Week two of the NFL season.

This is the twenty minute The Huddle Podcast.

I am Tim twenty man, and the man next to me, you guys don't know, this is Dan Miller.

Needs this fourts, director of Fox two, and he is the voice of the Lions.

And I thought, given the game in Green Bay, to have a comforting voice, a familiar.

Voice would be great here in week two.

But no, Dan, Look it was a voice.

It says you just can't do that.

But I don't say it much anymore.

That's good.

It was week one and obviously you have a.

Bird's eye view of that you're calling the game.

Just maybe your biggest takeaway coming out of that out of that game that.

There were things that I saw and listened to.

One of the great things I get to do is listen to TJ and Lomas and just correctable things.

Yeah, and not anything that gave me great pause or reason to panic.

It's things that are correctible.

With guys, many of whom I know have won a lot of football games and know how to correct things, and maybe most importantly of all, a head coach that doesn't let his team stay down for long.

It's my favorite statistic.

October thirtieth, twenty twenty two was the last time this team lost two games in a row.

Yeah, they've gone forty five games without losing to in a row.

That's obviously on the line this week, but I think it goes to his ability to set the tone for a team, which I think is one of his great strengths, and get them to bounce back and not panic.

And to your point, you know, if guys are getting beat physically, you know, that's one thing, you know.

But they talked about miscommunication, they talked about being on the same page, self inflicted mistakes.

To your point, all that stuff is is correct.

But we talked to the coordinators this week and they said, look, those are points of emphasis.

We're going to get those things cleaned up.

They get to come home, the offense gets to, you know, have that quiet atmosphere, and the defense gets the noise environment.

I would expect them to play much better in all three phases on.

So yeah, and I just got done talking to Johnny Morton just about this offense, and just think about it.

If you're Tate Ravage and he's going to have bumps in the road, they're unavoidable.

And Christian Mahogany just made his second start, So I mean, I think going from one start to two starts, and then if you're going Tate, you know, going from zero to one and now you're making your second and Mahogany on to his third.

It's just every step they take, because I think they're talented players who will be good players.

Every step they take will just provide a comfort level for them of understanding what this league's about, understanding what they're supposed to doing, understanding the communication that's and I just think, I honestly believe we're gonna watch them grow.

I can't tell you how quickly it'll happen, but I think we will see them grow.

I think these are good football players, and the nice thing is that they have veterans around them, and and I think that that that's what gives me confidence.

Look, there's tim there's too many good football players on this team.

Because this team's depth chart is loaded.

They just got to clean some things up, and they need to do it this week against Chicago.

Hank Frailey a ton too, you know, no doubt, one of those guys who's been doing it at a really high level for a long time, both as a player and a Koch Yeah, and.

Has seen young players before.

And look, we got so comfortable having you know, Taylor and Frank and Piney across that line with whomever was a guard, because that part of it kind of shifted over the years whoever was at guard.

But when you had those three and then whomever it was of a Zeitler, a veteran grade or whoever, or Jackson or whoever was in there at the other guard spot or Graham, if you had those three, we got really comfortable because that was three really good football players.

And you know what that's changed.

You got to adapt and then these guys have to grow and the communication has to be better, and I'm confident it will be.

I still feel good about the fact.

And whenever I bring up a rush end or one of those guys, Dan always says, well, I like my guys out there too.

I'm still confident with those guys out there.

So yeah, I overall just a lot of correctable things that I'm sure we'll dive into here, But I think as I digested that game, I saw reasons that I felt better about it than I did walking out of Green Bay out of the booth that night.

And Shepherd said that too, you know, he said, look, I was mad calming off that field, but then I watched the tape and there were some things in that tape that looked.

A lot better.

I'm just curious.

We talked, We talked about the offensive line.

Was that the biggest concern you had coming out of that week or what was maybe one thing?

You're like, boy, I really need to see that turn around next week for well noted.

Yeah, yeah, I'll give you a couple.

First.

Offensively, the running game.

I mean, if this team can't run, it becomes difficult.

I don't care who you are in the NFL.

If you can't run, it becomes really difficult.

And the weapons that they have that they want to utilize become less effective if you're not running the ball.

More effective obviously, because if you're springing Demo and you're springing Gibbs, those guys can make big plays on their own, but also it puts the defense on their heels, and that's when Jamo and i'm in Ra and Laporta and ultimately Isaac become more dangerous.

So I think the running game was one thing to be and I think the thing that just managed I went back over that game and started looking at some of the numbers and trying to put it all together was that first drive where you had a chance to set the tone defensively and you did exactly what you needed to do.

You put them in a third and six, you put them in a third and ten, and you put them in a third and eleven.

Any defensive coordinator would take those chances to get off the field by making a play.

Yeah, they make a play on any of those.

Credit green Bay.

They did.

They converted all those one of them for a touchdown, and they converted their next third down on their second drive, but did not convert a third down.

After that, they were oh for six.

So I look at that first drive and I'm like, man, you had so many opportunities to either get off the field or force a field goal attempt, but instead the momentum swings big time to Green Bay because you didn't make those plays.

This team was number one in the NFL.

Last year in third down defense.

I know some guys have changed, but I think there's a good chances defense might be better than it was last year.

I would agree.

They weren't in Week one, and they weren't in Drive one.

Yeah, and you look at the third down statistics overall and they looked pretty good.

Four for team, think four for ten.

Yeah, So it was a little you know, I think they just had to settle in a little bit, and that defense played much better in the second half.

Now, granted Green Bay was ahead, and when you're ahead, just naturally you're offense changes.

Jordan loved throw the ball as much.

Any concern with the pass rush at all, Yeah, I.

Mean, I don't think again, I think Hutch is Hutch.

I think Hutch is going to make some plays.

I think we need to see where it's going to come from in the interior.

Who can provide some rush there and can they get something consistent out of the other side.

I mean you brought up al Quadeen Mohammed a little bit earlier today.

Look, he's a guy who's had i think six and a half sacks in one season with Indianapolis.

He's a guy that has been able to get after the quarterback.

I think he was second on the team in sacks last year, wasn't he He can get after the quarterback a little bit and might ultimately be part of the answer there.

But I think you know, coming into the season, Tim, there were questions.

It was the interior offensive line, it was the pass rush, and it was the coordinators, and those are questions that have to be answered only by playing games.

But to your question, yeah, I need to see more.

You can't have quarterbacks sitting back there.

And you know, Chep made the point.

At times the ball came out quick well at times he also had time to really scan the field, and any quarterback in this league, if you give them time back there, it's difficult to hold your coverage and they're going to make some plays.

So yeah, I need to see more out of that and an all off season I said, I thought one of the biggest changes this team had to make was going from pressures, which they got a lot of last year, to getting the quarterback on the ground.

Get him on the ground because the negative plays putting a team behind the downsticks.

That's how you change games.

Pressures I think sometimes they're so they don't always translate into something good for the defense.

You can have them, but it doesn't mean that necessarily that ended up being a good play for you.

Sacks are always good plays for you.

To your point, last year twenty twenty four season, teams that had a sack offensively scored a touchdown or field goal.

I think it was twenty six percent of the time they scored a touchdown on those series.

Eight percent of the time, Yeah, just eight percent of the time you score a touchdown.

When you take a sack on a play, it is huge.

It puts you behind the sticks.

It changes the entire dynamic of of a series.

And to your point about about Hutch, we asked him this week, you know, how many really true one on ones did you have this week?

And he kind of paused for a minut.

He said two or three, I think, you.

Know, And that's gonna be Yeah, that's gonna be the deal.

You're gonna face.

Double team, you're gonna face nudges, You're gonna you know, you're gonna have chips.

It's the other guys.

To me, like, who's the guy who steps up?

Is it markets Davenport?

You mentioned Muhammad.

We gotta wait till a Leam gets back hopefully, you know, sometime in October, maybe early November.

But who's that guy that that that's gonna take advantage of those one on ones.

That's what I'm interested in watching on Sunday.

Yeah.

I go back to last year and really from the Buffalo game on, this team was given up about thirty points a game.

The defense was just thin.

They just didn't have guys left.

And I remember I did one of these out of town talk shows and they asked me, you know, about the defense and what needed to happen.

I said, we need to get after the quarterback better.

I said, this team is not doing enough to impact the quarterback and it was showing on the scoreboard.

And somebody tweeted me like had heard me in the like wow, this guy's the voice of the team.

It doesn't even realize they're number one in the NFL.

And pressures, I'm like, bro eyeball test, Okay, you can tell me about pressures all you want.

I'm watching teams score points against the Lions at a much more significant clip than they did earlier in the year.

And that was attrition.

That was not having enough guys, that was bringing in guys on Monday and playing them on Sunday.

But I think it all goes to Okay, pressures are great, I'll take them.

But man, just show me somebody with their arms wrapped around the quarterback and I'll show you a defense changing a game.

How much you can get home?

Oh, I think here are a lot of things, you know what.

I think just a week can make a difference.

Hey, look again, this is this is a team full of veterans that knows how to play.

That secondary is veterans that knows how to play.

Those linebackers are veterans and know how to play.

The guys up front veterans know how to play.

I think just turning the page and and coming back at home, Yeah, that makes a difference.

It makes it tougher on Chicago.

But just getting back to business, looking at one game tape and saying, man, that's what we made the mistake, that's what we got to correct.

That's what we got to do.

I think time tape home.

I think they all add up to good things for the Lions, to a really good opportunity here against the team that you're going to be fired up to play.

Obviously with Ben Johnson, whether it's a big storyline and obviously you need to get a win.

Dan talked about that early.

He said, look, we have to win this game, especially with Baltimore looming on Monday Night football Week three.

You can't get into that kind of hole early in the season.

I'm curious what you thought of of of and their performance on Monday Night against Minnesota and in a close loss where really Minnesota scored three touchdowns in the fourth, Cordon had to come from behind.

Win.

Looked really good early and kind of was like okay, and then Caleb kind of looked like Caleb more in the middle of the game.

And I don't think this is a wave of magic wand and Ben's going to be able to take him out of, you know, some of his bad habits or get him to the point where he's the quarterback that Chicago ultimately wants him to be.

I think he's really really talented, but I think there's some holes in his game and those are going to take a while and some patience I think to get those out of his game and kind of replace them with good habits and things like that.

But believe me, he can wreck your day.

Yeah he can.

That dude can move around back there.

The throw he made on the run, I think it was to Adunesday down the right side.

Yeh, he's sick.

There's not many quarterbacks in this league that can make that throw, so you have to expect his best.

Don't expect him to make mistakes or be the Caleb Williams that has struggled.

Expect him to make that throw for sixty minutes, because I think he's got the capability of doing that.

But look, it's Ben's not there because that's a great team.

Ben's there because that team needed to be lifted up.

They needed some things to change, and those things aren't always easy.

We saw that here.

They're probably certainly further along than Detroit was when Dan took over here, but it still takes some time.

And look, I think he's got a really good staff over there.

I think he's got good coaches with him.

I think he's got some good veteran players with him there.

If you don't respect DJ Moore and a Dunza and Swift and those guys comet that can make plays you better, and then defensively, they got some dudes that can make plays as well.

So this is not I don't look at this as the Bears team that won four or five or six or whatever they won last year.

I think it's a dangerous team that you better expect their best and you're gonna have to counter that with your best.

I was curious what you thought of Calvin Shepherd's press conference earlier in the week.

Yeah, I kind of it's.

A lot of you know what, I took it out.

I liked it.

Yeah, he was he was direct.

I wouldn't say confrontational times, but you have to question.

You better know what you're talking about because you know he's going to challenge it too.

And I don't know, I kind of like he.

Was almost like AG when AG would come in and battle you, Yeah, but with an explanation.

Yeah, you know, AG would just kind of battle you and then he's he wouldn't.

That was it.

You know, it'd be like, you know, fireback as you're done, but Shep would kind of clip your question and then explain why I and I just I thought it was really good.

I thought it was it was good to learn from him.

You know, what he saw in that first game clearly not happy, and he broke it down to obviously a couple of plays that really hurt this team, and no, I think it was.

It was good different.

I mean, I mean, we know him, we know he's like.

But I think that probably is also representative of of how this team feels.

They're probably pretty hacked off with the way that game went.

They don't like losing division games.

I haven't lost many of them.

No, who did it better?

Obj Or or Isaac Tesla?

There the case, it was pretty good.

I'm sitting down with him later today.

I didn't know what it was.

I mean, it was what it was?

What an incredible catch and it took a couple of replays to realize whether he caught it or not.

I mean, the good thing is there's a cautionary tailing there.

He's got to watch his diet because if his butt was any bigger, it would have hit before his foot did.

So he's got to make sure that that thing remains slim and trim because it was foot.

But what hit one first?

And I want to ask him, was that the greatest catch of his life?

I mean, I could there be a better one than that?

That was unbelievable.

It was unbelievable.

And I'm excited to see what he does this week because Obviously, he was sick earlier in the week.

Last week, missed a bunch of time.

The only day he was at practice was Friday.

That's the red zone day.

That's why we saw him only in the red zone.

But they're pretty adamant about incorporating him into every aspect of the offense this week.

And I'm curious, when you've got Jamison Williams, I'm on Ross Saint Brown, Isaac Tesla Laporta in line on that side, and Jamier Gibbs in the backfield, you know, and now you can get that and you fix some of the communication issues up front, some of the you know, the misd assignments.

What that will look like, because then this kid looks like he's one of the more advanced rookies that I've seen.

And you've been doing this longer than me.

I've been doing it since two thousand and nine.

But kid just kind of gets it.

He's got the right mindset.

He's physical, which the veterans appreciated right from the get go in the run game.

I think he's got something and I'm excited to see him on Sunday.

He's never looked out of place from offseason workouts to the preseason to now, he's never looked out of place.

And I will say this every time.

I say to myself, man, it's gonna be great when he gets some snaps.

Who comes off the field when he goes on, and who's not getting the ball thrown their way when he does.

And it's not to say it's a bad idea, but it's just the thing about this team, and it's probably if you play fantasy football to your biggest nightmare is there's so many weapons on this team.

Yeah, that it's you know, you don't know where they're gonna go with it.

They have so many different avenues they can go, so many guys that can burn you and can move the ball down the field.

And he's another one.

And I'm with you, I'm really excited to see where this goes.

And I think it just it gives this offense another big chance to move the ball.

And his size just brings a different dimension we've already seen in the preseason.

He knows how to use his body.

Yeah, And that's the exciting thing too.

I'm just excited to see how this team responds really in all three phases.

I expect them to play much better football I think a lot of it, like we talked about off the top with self inflicted stuff that they're gonna correct.

It's just it's too veteran of a team.

You know.

I don't want allented of a team.

And I don't want to take anything away from green Bay because where the Lions didn't make the plays they did, so you know, bully for them.

They did, they did a good job and then that was that was obviously a big, big win for green Bay.

But I didn't see the Lions team.

I anticipate that I will see for the better part of this year.

And you need to start seeing that this week.

Definitely need to see it this week.

Dan Miller will be on the call.

I know all you guys will be listening excited for it, and I'll be right back with Derek Barnes.

Welcome back to the Toy in the Huddle podcast.

I am very happy well and Derek Barnes And Derek, it's great to see you.

Ye, it was great to see you on the field on Sunday.

Just what did that that that feel like?

Obviously had the knee injury Week three last year, had that whole season taken away from you?

All the hard work in the off season, the rehab to be back that that probably felt a little bit extra special, didn't it.

Oh yeah, definitely kind of teared up a little bit.

Was super excited.

I mean, like when something gets taken away from you, you know, you kind of cherish it and it kind of respected a little bit more than than you would before.

And I love the game before, but now it's like I love the game even more.

But no, it was very exciting and very emotional for me.

But I knew that I put the work in to to be able to go out there and not worry about my need, not worry about injuries or anything like that, and trusted that got that God got me so and I was super excited.

Energy was great, the atmosphere was great.

You're not Green Bay is around, you know this time of the year.

But no, I was super excited and it felt good to be back out there with my teammates.

You don't want to ask you about this too.

What did it say to you from an organizational standpoint that you get the contract extension?

You know, even though you're dealing with.

Kind of some rehab, there's some question marks there that that the team had faith in you to extend you that you're part of this core, you're one of those guys.

What did that mean to you?

And how much does something like that make you want to reciprocate come Sunday on the field?

Oh?

Man, I mean, I mean obviously, I mean, how can you not you know, think about those things, like contract wise when you get hurt.

I mean, it's funny to say, but when I got hurt, like that's that's the first thing that came to my head.

And obviously like my knee, you know, that's so I wanted to get back.

But like that was just like it's like wow, like I had my shot.

I was you know, I didn't work so hard to get to this point, to be this player, to go out to make plays and be you know, one of the one of the top people in the defense, and uh, and then this happens.

So that was the first thought when I got hurt.

I was like, man, say.

Here we go.

But man, trusted in God and I knew that everything wul work out how it's supposed to work out, and you know, it was it was it was crazy for me because just like I'm talking to my agent and and he kind of says something that you know, kind of stuck me.

Was like, it's just one one more year that all you gotta do is one more year to get what you want and to get that second contract.

And uh and I was the whole time, I'm I was thinking, like, I know, it's probably gonna be one of those one year deal type of things because my injury and stuff.

But man, to have you know, organization like this, have a GM like Brad and Dan chep Uh Sean Dionne, the guys to believe in me and know my potential is know that I can attribute to this defense and and this team allows to go where we want to go.

I mean that tells it all.

I mean that pushed me even more.

They gave me a little you know, I always respected the organization, Brad, Dan, everybody, but that just like like that just to love.

I'm like, man, these people they believe me like that.

Okay, Now I gotta go proven right, like gotta prove them right.

That's that's the biggest thing.

Like I always telling us like I'm always proving my I want to prove myself who I can be and who I will be.

But then that's right, Like it just wants to makes you want to push harder for this organization because that's just type of guys they are, that type of organization we are.

And man, I just lay laid all online for those guys, man, because they believe in me.

So, you know, before we get to to Chicago on Sunday's appointed, let's let's look back a little bit.

Obviously a little bit disappointing to play the way you guys did.

I think, really collectively in all three phases, I thought the second half, you guys played really well.

Defensively, settled down, just got yourselves in a hole and kind of it is what it is.

But look, you had six tackles, tackle phlosophy.

I thought you played well.

Just what was your biggest takeaway coming out of that Green Bay game defensively.

For us?

Defensive wise?

I think that man.

And and I'm never a type of guy a point fingers upon which I would never do.

I just think collectively, I mean, I think we just didn't play you know what they call it complimentary football.

Yeah, like whether that was special teams, defense, offense, no, what I feel like we didn't just we didn't compliment each other.

And that's not a game supposed to be played because usually like when one one one is down, the others up, and I just feel like as a whole collective group, I feel like we didn't.

We weren't who we know we are.

And defensive wise, I mean, it's just those explosives, like we preach it kach Chep prizes all the time.

Like when you give up explosive pass and closest runs, it hurts you in a long game, I mean, even if it's one or two, I mean that could be the game change and play that you know, could determine whether you win to lose.

And I think if we just limit those small mistakes, those small mental errors, I think we're going to be right back on point and be and becoming the best defense and one of the best defenses in the league.

And I truly believe that.

I mean, we got all the tools, we got, the coaches, we got, the scheme, I mean, and and even without without the good scheme, I mean, the players will make it, will make it right.

And I think that we just we we emphasize that a lot, you know, when if the call doesn't go right, I mean, we will make Coach chev right.

And as we pride ourselves on.

But I think that just collectly as a defense, I think that once we start eliminating these small, you know, minute mental errors, I think that, you know, the sky's the limit.

I think people sometimes have to take a step back to write It's it's week.

One, right, There's a lot.

It's a long football city.

You're gonna have ups and downs through the course of the season.

Green Bay is a pretty darn good team, and.

Flambellfield's a pretty tough place to stay football.

So I think you guys did show some good things obviously.

You know, maybe some fans are a little bit concerned with with with some of the pass rush.

I thought Green Bay did had a pretty good plan for that.

You know, some short sets got the ball out.

How much do you guys want to kind of maybe improve that aspect of a little bit get after Caleb a little bit more that than you got after Jordan this week?

Is that kind of a point of emphasis for you?

It's always a point of emphasis.

I mean, I mean you it's it's kind of really hard to explain because it's just like I feel like in that game, because Green Bath, I feel like we didn't really get that a great opportunity as you say, to like, actually really show the rush, show our blue PA.

Tough to because their plan changes.

He only threw six times in the second half.

Yeah, so yeah, it's it's it's a lot to go into it.

And I think that, I mean, I know, like just I mean, I hang around these guys every day, but I already know the pass rush is gonna pick up like it's and people say it's down whatever, But there's just a lot of scenarios in the game where you know you might not have those opportunities, but man, it'll it'll all come together.

I mean, definitely is always a point of emphasis for us.

I mean, we got phenomenal pass rush.

I mean, you got Hudge, who is I don't think it's human honestly in my opinion.

Davenport, who's also not human in my in my perspective.

I mean, and then you got no Muhammed, you got you know, Roy, you got DJ you got like It's man, you got a whole bunch of these guys.

I'm sorry if I'm missing anybody, don't don't don't please, don't you know, but everybody on our on our defensive line, all of them can rush and it's like, and then you got me mixed here and there.

I mean, so it's gonna pick up.

Man.

We got the right people, Man, we got the right scheme.

I mean, just when the opportunity presents itself, I think that people will people will see why you know we Yeah, you.

Know, shep better than most obviously was in that linebacker.

Room free years.

What do you like about just.

The way he runs that unit, how he calls that defense.

Obviously they've been kind of prepping him for this role.

They identified his talent years ago.

Now he stepped into that role.

What do you like about him?

Man?

Well, first of all, man, she have always been a coach who is super passionate about the game, super smart, really intelligent coach.

Man, and I can bet back in his days when we played, he was a super intelligent player.

He just knows a lot.

Man, He knows and he his biggest thing is putting us in the right position to be able to be successful and make plays.

Man, he's you know, I don't know if people do.

You might hear him out there about them yelling and stuff like that, but man, it's all love.

Like One thing out that came to realize is when he getting on you, like, and it ain't out of out of anger.

It's just that he wants to be good so bad, and I mean he installs that in all of us.

And that's why we pushed every day to be perfect.

I mean, you're not gonna be perfect, but you can at least push towards it.

And man, that's just type of coach he is.

Man.

He always going to show love.

He always is a guy that you can go to and have conversations with, whether it's football re lata or not football RELATD.

And I really respect and really respect how he's growing, really respect respect how you know he wants everybody on the defensive sign like he wants everybody to make their plays, you know.

And I think that I said it back in the day, like super aggressive and he wants to get after people.

I mean that's I.

Love it, you know, for for a guy like me, I gotta gotta love that.

Gotta love aggressiveness.

I mean, you got too, man, You're yeah, you're defensive.

Is with a defense man, you got to be aggressor.

And I think that you know, he's doing that's what the that's what he like to do.

And I'm not saying a g didn't do that, but Shepvy's the guy he wants to He wants to get out there.

He doesn't want to hold hold back doing anything.

He wants to get out there right now.

From the from the very first.

We talked to him.

This week he kind of did his first media kind of scrum weekly scrum with us, and tell you what he was fired up in that that he brings energy.

You know, you can just tell when he walks in the room, he brings the energy.

Last one for you, Derek, what are we going to see from lines defense this week?

Obviously got some good skill, guys, Ben Johnson, I got that you guys are familiar with with his scheme.

Caleb looked pretty darn good the other day, you know, getting out of the pocket, making plays with his legs.

Just what are we going to see from this Lion's defense come Sunday you're at home, that kind of atmosphere, you guys are excited to get back into that building.

What are we going to see a bunch of hungry dogs?

Seriously?

I mean, man, that one, that that one the Green Bay, that one hurt and everybody felt that.

I think that you know the preparation we had this week was was phenomenal.

I think the plan going in is phenomenal.

We got a plan for for all that to scramble.

Whatever you want to say it.

They don't want to say too much, don't want to get them no you know, no clues or nothing like that.

But but no, no, we have a good plan.

And I think that you want to say much.

I got the guys out there who are playing smart football, uh, playing fast and physical, especially on their defensive side, and even all of a sudden, I'm super excited to watch them play, man and uh like this is this one of just one of them games, first home game.

Obviously we know what opponent is.

It's gonna be a really good football game.

But I'm super excited to watch everything come together and and people on outside not knowing who we are as a team, because we know who we are and we know we bring to the table.

So I'm super excited for us to show that again and man play for each other and hopefully obviously come away with the dub.

But like I said, it's just it's not easy.

There have nothing this NFL.

No game is gonna be easy.

So however, you can win win and just find a way, find a way.

But no, Yeah, super excited.

NFC North Football Board Field, Black and Blue Division.

It should be fun.

Go get appreciate, Yes, sir, thank you.

Welcome back to the Torn the Huddle podcast.

Now it is time to take a look inside Chicago and joining me now is Patrick Finley from the Chicago Sun Times.

He also does a great job with the Hallis Intrigue podcast.

Patrick, thanks for joining me.

Thank you.

It's a short week, but but it'll be a fun one.

Yeah.

Those weeks coming off Monday night are always tough.

You gotta gotta get right back into you know.

Detroit mode after everything.

Just curious, let's maybe start with this injury updates.

You know, obviously you saw DJ Moore go down in the fourth quarter that game.

He did come back, but you've got you know, Jalen Johnson, TJ Edwards, Kyler Gordon, any updates kind of midweek about their possible return.

No, as you and I sit here right now, there hasn't been an injury report put out.

Ben Johnson said after Monday Night's game that the team got out of there without any significant injuries, so that vodes well for DJ Moore.

I think Jalen Johnson's got a real chance to play.

He hadn't practiced at all this training camp until last week.

I think the Bears were just a little nervous running him out there with that groin injury, but I would look for him as a distinct possibility.

In Detroit, Kyler Gordon wasn't on the injury report all last week and then Sunday morning they put him on because he felt some pain in his hamstring.

See with that and TJ.

Edwards two missed the first start.

Those are three starters and three of the bears best six defensive players probably, so that will definitely be something worth monitoring as we get through this week.

You look at that game Monday night at twenty seven twenty four loss to Minnesota, and for three quarters this team looked terrific really in offense, offensively and defensively.

I'm just curious to obviously fell apart there in the fourth quarter a little bit and giving up three scores.

What was your biggest takeaway coming out of that game Monday night?

Oh boy, the quarterback needs to be better.

I know that that's a reductive statement.

I know you could say that after every loss in the NFL, But there were some accurate accuracy issues with Caleb over the middle.

Once to Dj Moore and wants to Cole Comet that if he hits that, it's probably thirty yards a pop, and it's a very different game.

He needs to be more consistent.

He needs to be more consistent before the snap too.

The Bears had four fall start penalties and an illegal shift that way too many.

So Ben Johnson has been harping on that all training camp and it still doesn't look quite right.

Beyond that, you know, you mentioned it, the defense was very impressive playing without those three players.

And I think Dennis Allen, you know, we talked about him all training camp as somebody who brought this experience of being a head coach that he could help Ben Johnson kind of in his you know, maiden voyage here, I think we forget that Dennis Allen's a really good play caller too, and he was able to confuse the quarterback.

Now, Jared Golf's going to be a lot different than facing somebody who'd never played in an NFL game before.

But I thought that it was really good first game for Dennis Allen.

Yeah, it's funny you bring up the pre snat penalties because obviously we know Ben pretty well here, and whenever you were at training, camp, practice, whenever you at practice, you never saw him get more upset and more vocal than those prestat stuff aligning, you know, miscommunication stuff.

Boy, he hates that stuff.

And you could see him stewing a little bit down the sideline on Monday night.

Yeah, there was a thinking back to maybe may they're doing an OTA in their dome here, which is a pretty small building, and the tight end cole comet doesn't go in motion quite correctly, and practice stops and there is cursing, and there is yelling, and all of us were used to matt Abraflusher sitting there on Oh boy, oh okay, And that's how he operates, and those things, You're right, those things are the things that I think keep him up at night.

I think he's okay with mistakes made, Honestly, I don't think he's okay with preventable mistakes.

Yeah, one hundred percent.

You guys are learning Ben very very well, as we have over the last few years here.

You know, I'm curious obviously, the offensive line, the sacks leading the league with sixty eight last year was a big storyline leading the league in pressures allowed.

You look at the book from Minnesota, it wasn't too bad, you know, a couple of sacks allowed.

I think he was hit maybe three times.

He did get out of the pocket a lot.

I'm just curious when I looked at little deeper though, twenty five pressures is that worrisome at all heading in or they obviously put a lot of resources into kind of retooling this offensive line with some veteran guys.

What was your impression of their play Week one?

Any concerns coming out of that.

When you average four sacks a game for the entirety of a season the year before, there's really nowhere to go.

But you know, Caleb Williams was sacked the third most times in the history of football last year.

So the Bears, you mentioned it, they threw money at a center and two guards, both you know, via trade and then and then contract extensions, and then drewdalmend the center as a free agent.

I think they held up well.

I think that you know, when you talk about those two sacks, one of them was when Caleb stepped out of bounce throwing a pass, So really he was tackled to the ground for a sacked just once.

And you know, you guys know the Vikings as well as we do.

You know, they didn't blitz as much as they usually do.

They still boy it is that their priority is to try and get the quarterback to the ground.

So I thought it was a good first start.

There were times when Caleb looked a little more like justin f fields that I feel comfortable with in terms of getting out of the pocket, maybe a little prematurely.

You know, you'd like to think that as the season goes on, if the Bears o line does, you know, even if they just get back to league average after last season, you'd like to think that Caleb's trust in that pocket will grow and that maybe he'll hang in there a little more than he did the other night.

What was the difference with the defense there in the fourth quarter, Because we talked about it earlier, how now they really did play well, really well overall, But you look at that fourth quarter, Minnesota and JJ McCarthy were able to make some things happen, and both with his legs and his arms, scored the twenty one points for the come from behind.

When what was the difference in your opinion that fourth quarter.

I think it's easy to talk about JJ because it's a great story, but I'll tell you this, I think, well, the Vikings said thirteen runs in the first three quarters and thirteen runs in the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, I think they averaged twice as many yards per carry as they did in the first three JJ through eight times in the fourth quarter.

Four times he was throwing on either third and one second and one third and five or second in five.

Those are all very beneficial downs for a young quarterback rather than being in those obvious passing downs.

So I think the run game really helped him.

And that's not something that I hear being talked about a lot, but that was part of it.

And then you know, you know, you have Justin Jefferson, who is you know, the best receiver on the planet probably and you knew when he let a ball go through his hands earlier in the game that that probably wasn't gonna happen again.

And then he was able to get unlocked against bear secondary.

You know, like I said, that was missing their two time Pro Bowl corner and then their slot cornerback as well.

What grade do you give kind of Ben Johnson for his first performance.

I know you're you're kind of I don't like doing that as well that much because it's one game, right, It's one thing.

But I guess maybe everybody obviously has expectations leading up.

You were there every day in camp, You saw what it looked like.

Did what it looked like in camp looked like it in week one where there's some surprises or is that kind of what you expected?

It's it was the outcome I suspect or I expected.

I think I had the Vikings winning by three.

But the way both teams got there has to be so encouraging for Vikings fans and so demoralizing for Bears fans.

I mean, I'd give Ben a B minus.

You know, part of what was concerning was this wasn't just an offense issue.

You know, Kayleb Williams struggled, you know, like we talked about, with accuracy for half the game.

That's bad, but also you've got a defense to let go of the rope in the fourth quarter.

You have special teams that missed a fifty yard field goal, and then at the end when Cairo Santos was under orders to put the ball through the back of the end zone to save the Bears of time out because the two minute warning would then sound after the first play, Cairo couldn't get the ball out of the back of the end zone.

Their failures in all three phases here, and you know, even talking to Ben about it, Ben said, listen, you know I shouldn't have challenged a player the third quarter.

That's on me.

I should have noticed that a Flow wasn't blitzing as much as we thought earlier.

You know, I don't think Ben would give himself anything above a be minus.

And that's about where I am, because when you have mistakes across the entirety of the team, that does fall on the head coach kind of whether it's fair or not.

Yeah.

The twelve penalties is also something there too, and that reflects on a little bit of coaching as well too.

Yeah, Matt Eberflus never had a team with twelve penalties.

Wow and ah.

And that operation was nobody's idea of anything that was buttoned.

Up Patrick dropping the knowledge knowledge here.

I'm curious, what's one of the key matchups for you come Sunday.

The Bears need to run the football.

You know, you know this, Ben is a running coach who then has great pass concepts on top of it.

You know, I think everything is predicated on that.

You know that.

You know, the play action numbers that he had with you guys for the last couple of years were unmatched across football.

And the Bears can't get into that sort of stuff, especially with Kayleb Williams, who is are more athletic than the quarterback in Detroit was.

They can't get into that stuff unless they actually scare you with the runs.

DeAndre Swift I thought, had one really good possession in the third quarter the other night where he just put his head down and pushed a pile.

That's kind of all they want him to do.

He was last year the worst running back in football in terms of expected yards per carry and what he actually turned out with because he was trying to hit the home run every time.

He can't do that.

So the Bears need to scheme it better, they need to block it better, and Swift needs to hit the hole.

If they can run the ball, then they've got that metronome that they could base everything else on.

I think that's going to be a very big deal.

And then you know, on the other side, not to get too line heavy here, because I know that that's not what the people want.

Usually, the Bear's ability to rush the passer against a Lion's defensive line that's a little different than Ben Johnson left it.

I think is going to be telling because when you don't, especially with the weapons that the Lions have, they can certainly make you pay.

Well.

Patrick, two division opponents that obviously know each other very well.

It's two head coaches who know each other very very well, obviously.

And it's two teams that look for all in Tes's purpose.

They need to win.

Both teams need to win.

You can't start zero and two in this league.

You just put yourself behind the eight ball.

It's not impossible, but it's a tough smart especially Week three.

Who does Chicago have Week three?

They come home for the Dallas Cowboys, led by defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.

So it's never a dull moment around here.

You mentioned it, I thought it was.

I thought it was a tough spot to put anybody in to have all of these teams play two NFC North games in the first two weeks of the season.

But I did think that it was good for the Bears to get JJ in the first game rather than in October for the first time.

And I thought it was good for them to get the Lions coordinators in their second game rather than later in this season.

We'll see whether any of that matters.

As it turns out with the JJ thing, it really didn't well.

Obviously, it's a huge one for Detroit.

They go to Baltimore Week three on Monday Night Football, so starting zero and two with the prospects of having go to Baltimore on Monday Night.

Obviously, it's a huge game for both teams.

Thanks for taking the time so much.

Appreciate the insight into Chicago safe travels in Detroit.

Hey Andy time, Thank you.