Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Bears set to host defending AFC champion Patriots on Thursday Night Football | Take The North

Episode Date: October 21, 2026

It's time to put the Bears' win over the Falcons in the rearview mirror and turn our focus to Thursday Night Football against the Patriots! Dan Wiederer and Mark Grote get you all the details you need in this episode. How's head coach Ben Johnson handling the fast turnaround? Plus, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and Patriots quarterback Drake Maye — the No. 1 and No. 3 overall picks in the 2024 NFL Draft — are facing off for the second time in their careers. How drastically have circumstances changed for both of them since their meeting in their rookie seasons? And will the Bears be without starting right guard Jonah Jackson for this game?

The Take the North podcast is brought to you by the Rorman Automotive Group, home of the $50 oil change. Visit them online at roerman.com. Bears fans, this is Take the North. What's the reason, Duck? It's here with your hosts. I love these guys. Dan Weiderer and Mark Grody.

I'm going to take the North and never give it back. Hello again, everybody. Welcome back in to the Take the North podcast, along with Dan Weiderer of the Athletic. I am Mark Grody of 104. three the score and we find Dan Weeder out at Hallis Hall as we are getting all ready for another game. There's already another game to Bears and the Patriots play on Thursday night. We are pumped and Dan had access to everything out at Hallis Hall on this day. What's going on, Dan?

Yeah, I mean, no matter how long you do this, these short weeks tend to be very jarring, just to the routine, to how much you're trying to pack into the early part of the week. You can feel that from coaches and players out here. You feel it in your own work. Like I wrote a piece for the athletic that's going to go live on Wednesday morning, kind of unpacking some of the good things that came from the wind in Atlanta. And then you get to the end of the afternoon out here in Lake Forest. And you're like, wait a minute, that's a distant memory.

Like that game doesn't mean anything anymore. It's ancient history. And so that's just kind of the way it goes. And I joked on Monday morning that's kind of rough for the bears that they had to sit in that lost to Green Bay for a full week. and then they get a huge resounding bounceback performance, and they've got to turn the page in like nine hours, and we've got to talk about the next game,

New England, coming here on Thursday. It's really unbelievable, and we'll go through it a little bit more diligently in our game spotlight segment coming up here in just moments about what these coaches have to go through and how they game plan and how some of the non-game planning that goes on, if you will, and we'll explain that further as well, because it's really, it is cumbersome,

it is difficult. Get us. It is hard on the reporters out there, but my God, for NFL players, it's a bitch. It really is. It really is. And we get to see a primetime game and we get to see more Bears games, which is fun and good. But for them, it sucks, to be honest with you, Dan. Yeah. And the first of three straight prime timers, right? So this is the big stage now, waiting the Bears over these next three weeks. And I, you know, I think we've learned enough about this group over the last two seasons to feel like they're more than equipped to handle. what's ahead of them. And then you just say, again, it's just about on the day or, or I guess the night here that you play these games. You've got to be locked in and really dialed into whatever preparation you've done for that week. Right.

And get through it. You're right. They host New England on Thursday night at Seattle, then on Monday night football, home against Tampa Bay for Sunday night football. And then we all hit the by and take a deep breath and reassess. And hopefully for the bear's sake, they are in a good place, which they are in right now, they are in right now. They are four and two getting ready to take on this Patriots team,

which also is four and two. The Patriots got over their sluggish start. They have won three straight games. I am staring at an injury report for the Bears that was issued on Tuesday. And here's the way it is looking right now. And that is T.J. Edwards, again, did not practice because of the hamstring injury. Not looking good for Kyle Munnangai. Again, Manung guy with the thumb and toe did not practice.

I should point out here again, this was a walk. Yeah, so this is all estimated. This is what they project if they would have had a full practice. Jack Sanborn did not practice because of a concussion. Here is where we should pause and dig a little bit on this one. Jonah Jackson, the bear's extremely valuable right guard, maybe their best offensive linemen. It was limited, which was good to see with the hip and the quadricep.

I thought for sure, based on some national reports that I was seeing that he is week to week and doubtful for the game per the national report that he was, that would have been projected as limited. Let's pause right there real quick. Dan, what is your gut or what insight, if any, have you been able to gather on Jonah Jackson with the short turnaround and dealing with two injuries, the hip and the quad? Yeah, very little insight.

My gut is that is, you know, just, again, this is a really challenging thing to turn around this quickly. We know how tough this offensive line is, and it's been one of their identity markers. over the last two years. And you just see a guy like Joe Tuny who never misses time. You see a guy like done all right who he gets hurt. And he just finds a way to will himself through that.

Jonah Jackson's cut from a similar cloth. He's been incredibly durable since his arrival here in Chicago, despite some injury history in his previous two stops. But, man, it's just that, you know, you got two body parts listed on the injury report. You've got fewer days to get yourself ready to play an NFL game. It seems like a big ask. But if anyone's up to the challenge, it's Jonah. So we'll get the game designation on Wednesday afternoon

and then kind of get a feel for exactly which direction this thing's headed. Dan, if he doesn't go, it would be Luke Newman, Jordan McFadden's name has been out there for potential depth and playing time as well. So that would be very interesting to see if Jonah Jackson can go. Just finishing it out real quick, Kishon Elliott was a full participant in practice. And it was good to see that Tyreek Stevenson, who also is dealing with a hip injury, was a full participant in the practice. on this day in the, again, the walk-through practice out at Hallis Hall. Hey, what's happening? You know the Rorman Automotive Group has the amazing $50 oil change. Well, let me tell you about another great Rorman deal. Did you know October is Tire Month at Rorman Automotive Group?

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this fast turnaround of the demands that go with it. But yeah, I mean, I think that's the story of the week here, you know, and so you can feel the shortness of breath from the coaches and players out here where it's just like, you know, whatever we're doing right now, let's get it over with because we've got to get on to the next thing. And so it's like there's just a demand here of trying to get yourself ready to play a football game. I think it's really fascinating for a guy like Ben Johnson who likes to empty.

the box of puzzle pieces out on the table and assemble it with meticulous care, when you're in a week where you're not able to kind of do the full volume of study that you want to do on an opponent, where you're not able to do the full volume of game planning to insert things that you want to do for your team for this specific matchup, it just becomes a challenge. And it's a little bit of a mental juggle. I think everyone here is dealing with it. I spoke with Colquamette and Jalen Johnson in the locker room today. both of those guys obviously established veterans.

They've been through this before, and Jalen was just saying, look, like, that you have kind of a human nature instinct to say, like, I got to get rest. You know, I got to rest up so that I'm physically ready to play, but there's still so much that you need to do to get yourself in a position to be successful on game night. So they're all dealing with that right now,

I guess before we hear from Ben and defense quarter of Dennis Allen, you know, you've been through this out here previously. And you just know the pacing of it, and you can just feel it. It's just an added tension to the week. Both teams are dealing with it. The Bears benefit. They don't have to go on the road.

New England's got to fly here on Wednesday. But man, yeah, it's a lot. It's unfair. It really is. Like when you think about the NFL and the nature of the NFL, I'll just say it. Like, it's an unfair thing that the National Football League puts its players through. And every team has to do it. And everybody has to go through it.

And when the schedule comes out, the, Ben Johnson looks at that. And the management begins. the second you see the schedule. They are looking for it. And players know too. And I don't really know what the analogy is in real life, but there are cumbersome weeks in life that we all have. And you look at it and it sucks and you know it's coming and it's a tornado and it really hurts. But at least you know ahead of time that it is coming. And then when it's over, it's over. You and I, before we went on the air, we were already talking about the mini buy, which is, which is always nice, which feels good. And that is like the opposite. That's a nice.

that that's a nice thing that happens in the NFL. Right. You get that break and everybody gets it. But Dan, it sucks. It's not cool to put the players through this. Especially with as much as it is at stake. You know, it's a big spotlight game here. This is against the reigning AFC champion Patriots.

You know, you would love to see a matchup like this with everybody at full strength, with everybody at full preparation and all of that. It is what it is. It'll be the first of two times that the Bears have to do this Thursday, turn around. They obviously play on Thanksgiving. this year against the Lions after hosting the Saints next month. And then obviously they'll have a couple other shorties in there

with the Saturday night trip to Buffalo. But you know, you just got to figure it out, you know. You got to figure it out on the fly. It'll be a short week, you know, after Seattle, you know, because you're going to have to fly back from as far as you have to fly back from in Seattle to get back. And then you obviously get a sunny night came the next week against Tampa. But routines are messed up.

And again, like we, I think we talked about this when the schedule came out. This is where you want to be if you're the Bears, right? Because it means you're a high-profile team that the world expects to succeed. You know, and so this is where you get these spotlight games. This is where you get some of these scheduling quirks. And you just have to come up with the plan and preparations rhythm for your team that works. And that's in progress here at House Halls. They're trying to figure out how to get ready for the Patriots.

Yeah, and the Bears are really fortunate that they came out of the game against the Falcons with key players. I know that there's some, obviously, we talked about some injuries, but that Caleb Williams, and I know he spoke today, he talked about feeling good. You know, he admitted that there were a couple sacks that he took, hitting the turf a couple times, but that he came out of that game pretty healthy. It was really nice, honestly, to not see Kyler Gordon's name on the injury report in any way, shape, or form. Like, honestly, it would not have been shocking to have seen it, and that is not a shot at

Kyler Gordon and all that he has gone through. but the man just came back for the first time and played the 17 snaps that he did. So the management is real when it comes to this Sunday to Thursday schedule. Yeah. So why don't we listen to some of the guys that are handling this on behalf of the team or at the top of the team? And Ben Johnson is one of them. And we're going to play an audio clip here in a second when I asked Ben about just kind of his history in the league and what he's learned about getting ready for these games. But I hope you can kind of detect through his tone the look that.

was on his face where it was it was one of those looks where where he was kind of just announcing to the world like yeah i'm trying to figure this out too and and so this was the back and forth with ben this afternoon i always struggle as a coach of wanting to do more and um making sure really at the end of the day these guys they just need to go out there and play as fast as they possibly can play confident football and uh and so for us it's just a matter of scaling it back streamlining it to where they can play fast they can play clean um you know if we if we have another high penalty game like we did last week, that's not going to play in our favor against a good team like this.

And so we just need to play clean football. And that's really the message throughout and let our playstyle come out and show itself again. So a playstyle week here, right, it's as much as anything. It's a playstyle week as opposed to a heavy, you know, preparation guided week that you go here. And so you just got to figure out who you are and then try to show that opponent who you are. Yeah, you know, Ben, John. is still going to have stuff up his sleeve. It's not going to be generic. I love that he, there's a great question that you asked to Ben Johnson about this and the fact that immediately he said,

I struggle with that. This is not in Ben's nature. You know that better than anybody. It's not in Ben's nature to have to scale it back. Yeah, cut a corner. Scale it back. Yeah. Those are words that don't come naturally to Ben Johnson, which is one of the things I love about Ben Johnson. Johnson, but he at least is admitting, I mean, this is, like I said, this, this whole week is about management. So Ben Johnson, in a lot of ways, as he always is, is the most important person in that building because he's got a, he's got a finite amount of time to get this thing right for the Patriots. You know, one of the things that Cole told me in the locker room on, on Tuesday was just like, you know, you lean a little bit more into some concepts and plays

that through the first six weeks of the season, you know, have worked for you. Yeah, exactly. It's not trying to uncover anything new. It's like, hey, this worked. Let's just lean on that. Let's rely on plays and players that we've seen work before, not exclusively, but you know what I mean. And so that'll be an effort here. On Monday, we had a chance to kind of pick the brain of Dennis Allen, who's not only the

Bears defensive coordinator or has his own head coaching experience. So he's got to go through this rhythm more than once during his long, long tenure in the NFL. And here's what DA had to say about this whole storyline. It's really challenging because, you know, when you play good teams in the this league, it's hard to just say we're going to play training camp 101 and think that you're going to go out there and be really successful. So, you know, you have to come up with a plan that the guys can go out there and execute. And so if you guys let me go, I'll go in there and start formulating that plan. But yeah, but the biggest thing that our guys have to understand is we

have certain rules with which we operate, you know, defensively, certain things that We just, these are the things that we do based on what the offense shows us. And so I always look at these as kind of rules games because, you know, you don't really know what the offense necessarily is going to do. It's really hard to put in a lot of like crazy stuff. You know, you try to have some, some things that, you know, maybe the, maybe the opponent hadn't seen and kind of go from there. Appreciative of the perspective and insight of both those guys.

they were really good at kind of unloading a little bit on the topic and giving us some good stuff to chew on as we get ready for Thursday night. I really love that. I love the way he put it. It's like, follow your rules. It's almost like, hey,

just rely on your training, young Jedi, all the stuff that we talked about, the fundamentals, play defense, like you all know how to play defense. You're all professionally trained. Yes,

there are going to be play calls and there'll be wrinkles. But as he put it, there's not going to be a lot of crazy stuff. could see some familiar concepts from previous games, just be ready for some of that. This is no time to get overly cute. So it's like there's a lot of trust that goes into a game like this. I think that's what Ben is saying.

And that's what Dennis Allen is saying. Just go out there and play football. And we will guide you as best we can through this. Yeah, I talked about the shortness of breath. I think there's also a little bit of you get to Thursday night and you just kind of hold your breath. And you hope that you have your best for that given three-hour window that will experience in close, up close,

person on Thursday from Soldier Field. And good to hear Dennis Allen making little jokes and having fun with you guys too, getting to talk because that was the day after the game. And if you guys, it's funny because it needed a laugh, but since it's on Zoom, you can't hear

reporters. The townspeople are not laughing. So I'm like, that's pretty good. Give this guy laugh. And I remember, oh, yeah, these guys are on Zoom. They're all muted. Right. When you're on Zoom, you have to make your laugh more exaggerated so that they can see the physical mannerism. So you're like, right you want to help him out just a little bit i got it i got that joke but as we were i think we're i think i was talking about with laylor rehemi on our on our radio show i think it was she that was saying you know

he's actually being pretty serious there though there's 80% of him there for sure you know if you guys would let me the hell off of this call i could go plan for our football team and you guys could all watch us win hopefully so so yeah man i mean it it is it's a crazy turn around. It'll be interesting to see what's up everybody's sleeve for that game. Let's get on to our next segment here on our preview episode. Three other things to watch on Sunday. Excuse me. That would be Thursday. That's a little typo in the rundown sheet. That's okay, man. You know, you put it there. I'll read it. You know what I'm saying? That's a copy and paste that you got to update on a short week and say,

that's Sunday, Thursday. So we'll watch, Dan. We'll dive into it with a One guy named Caleb and one guy named Drake, you might have heard of them. A couple years ago, they were the numbers one and two picks in the NFL draft. I don't know if you remember this vividly, but they've played in the NFL one time before. It was in week 10 of 2024. I don't know if you remember the result of that game. If you don't, I'm happy for you because it's one that I think every person in Chicago had to take bleach to and scrub from their consciousness because the Bears went into that game.

Four and four-and-fourth team. Start of that season was showing a little hints of promise. They had had the Hail Mary loss in Washington, but you thought, okay, they're coming back here. They've got a two weeks later. They got a home game against a really wobbly New England team. Their six-point favorites, they ought to be able to just go out and win this football game.

And it was one of the grossest offensive performances in a long library of gross offensive performances. We've watched for the Bears. It was granted. Caleb got sacked nine times. Caleb had an awful day. the offense squeezed three points out of 11 possessions. They end up losing 19 to 3.

The game is so disastrous that within 48 hours, Shane Waldron was launched from his offensive coordinator position and the turbulence of what we know as the 2024 season started to escalate. Anyway, that's one way I'm saying. These two teams are in very different places here two years later when Caleb and Drake get back together. These two guys are playing really good football and both of them doing their part to show the league that that promise is still in there.

They also very, very friendly with one another. And so Caleb was asked on Tuesday for some thoughts on Drake May, and here's how he responded. Kind of grown up with Drake throughout the years. We've been in the same class for a while. We've went to so many camps. We've probably one of the closer guys that I am closer to in my class and just overall on another team, if anybody. And so being able to watch him kind of grow up.

and be around each other. It's been fun. But his mobility and things like that, it's always been a weapon for him, you know, throughout college, high school, all of that. And so it's going to be a good challenge for us and our team. And, you know, we got to be able to bottom up. Yeah, you know, Drake May had a lousy start to his season this year,

but has come on really last three games. He's starting to look like the MVP runner up again, at least three touchdowns in his last three games. Yeah, 10 total touchdowns. touchdowns in that span, one interception after throwing a bunch of picks in the first three games of the year. And it was like, uh-oh, alarm bells were sounding all over the league. And what's wrong with Drake May? Well, apparently nothing, because the last three weeks, he's been great. A couple weeks ago, 150.9 rating in the explosion against the Raiders, they won that game,

45 to 17. He threw for 344 yards and four touchdowns in that game. I think when you look at this sort of matchup specifically, New England's not afraid to take some of these deep shots. And after the struggles that the Bears had in Green Bay, that's secondary. and that entire defense better be aware of how to do a better job of containing some deep balls. Obviously a little different offensive scheme there, but it's going to be a challenge to keep that under wraps. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And then on the Caleb front, I just think, you know, the talk this week inside this building has been of just how impressed everybody has been with him playing point guard on Sunday in Atlanta.

It was just, you know, just distribute it, let the guys go to work when there are plays there to be made, make a big one. I think Caleb has taken some really good confidence out of being able to stack success in that fashion. And so I think that'll be a big deal for him on Sunday. I think it's interesting because one of the traps that the NFL sets for all of us at all times, as you see a performance and you're like, that's the new norm. And so this Bears team has kind of messed with our heads all year because you're like, they scored 59 points. This is the best offense to ever play.

The next week, it's three. It's like, oh, God, I don't know if they can do anything right. And it's been this wild roller coaster. And so you get back on track with this win in Atlanta. And I think the easy thing to do is be like, oh, you know, that's who Caleb's going to be for the rest of his career.

It doesn't work like that. We'll see if he can stack a second consecutive performance together this weekend. Yeah, well, Ben Johnson, yeah, well, Ben Johnson even said that. He's like one of the first answers he gave on Caleb.

So let's, the stack. He said back to back to back. to back. Let's, let's keep stacking. You know that that was good. But it's not good enough to just leave it at that.

I also thought it was funny. I guess another one of the traps, as you said, that we all fall into is wanting to know we see a game like that and we all think, oh, that's Caleb Williams's. That's the best game that he's ever had. Tom Brady said that. I think that's the best game that he's ever had. I've heard. I think Patrick Manley was saying that I think that maybe it was the best game he's ever had. He was asked if that was the best game he's ever had. And right away in the press conference, he said, no, I don't think so. He's like,

I've had lots of games like that. So he flatly was like, yeah, I've been better. And he's had more spectacular, obviously, games. But just what wire to wire, it's like, that's the Caleb I want to see. Well, he was also asked if that was one of his favorite games, just given the emotion that went into returning from the injury and the way

he played. And he also just dismissed that and said, no, you know, like, again, same thing. Like, it's just, it's, it's, it's, it's just the game, you know? And now you got to get on to the next one. And I think that's a good psyche to have, a good mindset to have. And we'll see if he's able to do it. One of the things he said today

before we move on to the second thing is he gave us a new acronym, okay? It's not hits, it's not HITS, it's B-I-W, and for Caleb that stands for Best in World, and he said that's what he's calling his playmakers. And so he realizes that he's got guys like Luther Burden and Colson Lovell and Cole Comet and Roma Dunzee, he calls them B-I-W, and that's his reminder to let them have chances to make plays,

whether that's just spitting them the ball and letting them go to work as a runner, or when there's a contested catch opportunity out there, trusting them that they're going to win in their one-on-one battles. I think that's a cool little step for Caleb, too, to kind of be in that mindset. I love to, Tim, I don't know why it corrects me of the problem child, the Luther Burden problem child, probably because he doesn't even say it with a wink as much

anymore. He just calls him the problem. Luther, Luther Burden is the problem child. That's who he is. What else we got? Okay, so that's one. Let's get on to our second thing to watch on Sunday. Second thing is to watch is the little yellow hankies that fly around when the refs see something they don't like.

The bears didn't do very well in this department in Atlanta. 12 penalties, 133 penalty yards. You heard in that earlier clip that we played from Ben that this is a week for cleanliness instead of scheme. So you got to play clean. You got to play error-free. You got to limit the mistakes. You got to limit the things that set you back. And so I think this is a week where the bears are trying to figure out kind of are they truly a clean playing football?

theme in terms of reducing the number of penalties. Thursday is going to be a good test of that. And I think it might be a big key to the key to victory. And I think Ben probably agrees. Well, and if it's not better, and I feel like Ben's done a pretty good job, at least publicly of not losing his mind over having watched his team commit 12 penalties for 133 years.

And we talked about it on the last, on the post game show, about it hijacking a bunch of big plays for a lot of players. and to add to the stats of Caleb Williams. But yeah, you just can't have it. They got away with it. They got away with it against Atlanta. You're usually not going to get away with 12 penalty.

So that's got to get a lot better, obviously. Clean it up. Clean it up, boys. Clean that up, man. What else you got, Dan? All right, I got three names for you on the New England defense, but we're really only going to focus on one of them. Elijah Ponder is their sack leader.

Just keep that in the back of your head as you walk into Thursday night. Milton Williams, a total load up front, one of the engines of what makes them really good against the run. but we're going to spend this part of the program talking about an old familiar face. Kevin Byard, former captain, all-pro, interception leader in the league last year. He's back reunited with Mike Vrable in New England. You hear nothing but praise again about Kevin Byard. We heard it all last year from inside this Bears locker room and from this coaching staff.

You're hearing them talk about his savvy, his ability to understand route concepts, his ability to communicate on the back end, his preparation habits. This is a guy that is very well respected by everyone in the Bears building. And so he will be back at Soldier Field on Thursday night. And it'll be kind of cool to see kind of how KB is operating in his new home. What a pleasure was to have that. I mean, even just for selfishly from a reporter's perspective, obviously he was a go-to guy. He was terrific.

I mean, you got your monies worth out of that guy when they signed Kevin Byer. And obviously had a terrific year last year. Man does not miss practices. Man does not miss games. He's a veteran who is playing well. I thought this was interesting. I saw a quote from New England. on Kevin Byard saying, talking about Ben Johnson.

He said, quote, I practice against Ben Johnson's offense. You talk about scheme. And I know Ben, it being Thursday night, he's going to have some stuff up his sleeve, close quote. So there could be some winking going on because we know how much Ben Johnson respected Kevin Byrd as well. So that'll be fun to watch. Yeah, and Ben expressed that again on Tuesday,

just kind of how much he meant to this team. And look, like, he's not going to wow you with sort of this high-twitch explosive athleticism. But dude is in the right spot all the time. And if you're not careful, he will anticipate what you're about to do with the football. And he will break in front of it. I don't think he has an interception yet for the Patriots after 70 a year ago. You want to make sure he stays on that goose egg for a little while longer. Oh, yeah.

Don't make him happy on this night. So KB, Kevin Byard, it'll be fun to watch. Are you ready for to oil it up a little bit here, Dan? You're ready to get oiled up? We always love oiling it up, don't we? The well-oiled machine segment, how are you doing, everybody? Is brought to you by the Roorman Automotive Group, home of the $50 oil chains.

They will take care of you and you will be comfortable in the process. They are all great guys over. There are several great locations and they do great work. They'll even give your car a bath, which was my favorite part. Dan, who is your well-oiled machine as we look ahead to Thursday night Bears and Patriots at Soldier Field? I've got a problem with the well-oiled machine segment this week. I've got a problem child.

I've got Luther Burton becoming your well-oiled machine here for week seven. Obviously, had a really nice game in Atlanta. I felt like there were opportunities there to get him with the football on the move and let him go do what Luther does well. And so I think you'll see a little bit more. in that regard and his opportunity to kind of impact the football game at a high level. And so Luther Burton is my well-oiled machine for this week. Wow, we are close. We are thinking similarly, but not exactly this.

I'm actually considered going with Luther Burton. I'm going to go with Roma Dunzee. I'm going to go with Roma Dunes. We talk about stacking games and playing well back-to-back-to-back and all that kind of stuff. O'Dunzee, three catches for 39 yards, made some big catches in the game. I have to get at least one catch taken away. via flag. I like to see his momentum continue. So

Romadunese will be my well-oiled machine. The well-oiled machine segment has been brought to you by the Roorman Automotive Group home of the $50 oil change. And now the moment of truth.

And it's time for us to do a prediction on this game. The Bears and the New England Patriots, I like the Bears to, Dude, keep it rolling in this game. Although the Bears have their own injuries to deal with, the Patriots have some serious, serious issues along their offensive line right now.

They might be without three of their starters or along the offensive line. I don't know, like AJ Brown finally returned. He had three drops last game, which may be good or bad. That may mean that he's going to have a monster game and he's due to have a big game. I just don't know if he is ready to explode yet. So I have the Bears winning this game over the Patriots 27 to 24 on Thursday. holy moly we've got almost identical scores here i have the bears 27 and the patriots 23 and look like i like to really study a matchup short week doesn't allow for it this this is a gut pick as much as anything

else and so i i really do like the way that the bears responded to the loss in green bay i think they are very aware of what this week requires of them in terms of getting ready to play this very good football team at home but they are at home on a short week and they do have enough firepower here to make life difficult on the Patriots. So I'm going 27 to 23, Grody here. And you know what that means? That would mean, if we are correct here, the Bears would move to five and two, which there's something about that record that feels a whole lot more appealing than four and three. And so when you put that in the frame as you're trying to watch this game, you're like, man, this is a golden opportunity for this team to get themselves into a really nice position, particularly given where

the division's at right? Yeah. You've got to keep the role going. Oh, yeah. I mean, Minnesota hasn't lost, and quite frankly, Green Bay has looked. very good in their last two games, one against the Bears and one against Dallas. And they play the Lions on Sunday. So one of those teams is destined to lose. Yeah, man. So, yeah, the NFC is starting to shape. And so is the NFC North. So a W is imperative or must win or anything like that. But as you just said, five and two looks a lot to better than four and three. Mr. Weederer short week. Great work by you. Anything else you would like to add in this short week and in this Bears Patriots preview episode before we get out of here and you and I get to meet at Soldier Field.

We get to actually hang out and have a cup of coffee together and eat some delicious food from Soldier Field. Yeah, I like it. We'll have a pregame appetizer together and then we'll do our little walk and talk or however we set it up after the game. We found a new rhythm with the night game schedule to get me a chance to spill some thoughts into your ear before you record the full podcast. So yeah, looking forward to it. It should be fun. Awesome, man. For Dan Weiderer of the. athletic and of the score. And by the way, the next Monday that we all have in life, Dan Weeter and I will be doing a full show together on the score coming this Monday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Take the North will become Rahimi and Grody. So Dan and I will have lots of time

to hang out. And I'm sure that we will talk to majority bears, which will be fantastic. Find me a chance to catch up on the Blackhawks. Yes, we will have plenty of Black Hawk talk. Well, actually, one of our founding fathers. If we had Haw on, we'll let him do, have, during transition with David Haw and Jared Payton, we'll let Haw do five minutes of hockey talk. Perfect. All for it. He's Dan Weeder for our guy, Adam Stizzynski in our downtown Chicago studios. I am Mark Grotie of 104. 304.3, the score saying thank you so much for watching and listening to the Mighty Take the North podcast. Great talk. See out there. Thank you, everybody. Good best.