Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Best of the Bears: Week 2 vs. Vikings

Episode Date: September 20, 2026

In the Best of the Bears this week, Tribune reporter Brad Biggs joined the Haugh & Payton Show to preview the Bears-Vikings game Sunday at Soldier Field; Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote discussed the chess match that awaits between Bears head coach Ben Johnson and Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores; and Haugh, Jarrett Payton and a special guest shared their predictions for the Bears-Vikings game.

Thanks, everybody. The Bears. You're listening to the best of the Bears. He's it for the touchdown. And the Chicago Bears have taken the league. A weekly mix of 670, The Score's best NFL talk to get you ready for game day. Biggs time. Box football with you.

Beautiful Friday morning in the city of Chicago. Welcome back to the Hahn-Payton Show on 104-3. The Score. You are listening to a four-season heating, air-conditioning, plumbing. Sewer and Electric Football Friday, presented by your local four dealers and Advent. And it's time now to go out to the Plumbers 911 hotline. Plumbing emergency call 1833 Plum. 911. Local 130 plumbers get the job done right.

The first time, Brad Biggs is a football man from the Chicago Tribune. He is the best source for all bears information anywhere. And he joins us now. Morning, Brad. Morning, boys. What's going on? What's going on is they're kicking off in 48 hours. I can't wait.

Sunday. On the lakefront. Brad, we just talked to Mike Palm out in Vegas. He cited a Minnesota source that said that J.J. McCarthy is getting significant snaps with the number one offense. I figured Carson Wentz is going to be ready. Kyler Murray, we see throwing the football. What are your expectations? What are you hearing about the Vikings Planet quarterback Sunday?

Wow. Well, that's interesting. I mean, Kyler Murray limited, I believe, the last two days. So you figure it looks like that's sort of inching in the right direction for him. Carson Wentz came off the bench and played pretty well. And Wentz actually started five games for him a year ago. So he's got some familiarity with O'Connell and vice versa and some of the skill position guys they have. I'd be really surprised if JJ was the guy,

but maybe there's something that we're not aware of. You know, when I start talking about the Minnesota Vikings and what you're going to attempt to do with their offense and how you're going to try to snap a losing streak to them at Soldier Field, I believe Minnesota's come in and won six straight games against the Bears on their home turf. I start with Justin Jefferson, and he's had 10 career games against the Bears guys. went for 135 yards in his rookie season, first meeting with them back in 2020, and he looked unstoppable, right?

He had four 100-yard games against the Bears in his first five. And a couple touchdown passes. The last five games for Justin Jefferson, excuse me, against the Bears, with a couple different defensive coordinators and systems and Dennis Allen last year, they've done a really nice job against him. Last five games, Jefferson against the Bears, has averaged 48.6 yards per game.

He hasn't even averaged 50 yards a game in them in the last five meetings. And here's the big thing to me that tells you they're doing a really good job against them. in those first five games, 51 targets, 37 catches. That's a really big ratio for a guy that's on the outside. In the last five games, 22 catches on 40 targets. So while Jalen Johnson said yesterday he doesn't like playing against Justin Jefferson,

I think you've got to look at the video. He had a big kind of wry smile on his face. And I think Jalen's like most of those other guys that are, competitors, they want to measure themselves against the best in the league. Biggs, what stood out to you the most about DA at the podium yesterday and what he had to say about his defense? You know, the thing that probably stood out the most is him saying that they've got to control the line of scrimmage better, both against the run and the pass.

And I think that was pretty apparent with how that game went against Carolina. they just they need to be more disruptive they need to they need to finish more plays like here's a stat that jumped out at me that I you know I was like really wow um pro football reference so they're just you know pulling statistics here they're not it's not pro football football focus which is which is attempting to grade stuff um 21 quarterback for the Bears in that week one game against Bryce Young and the Panthers. And the pressures they define as hurries, knockdowns, and sacks. Well, that was number two in the league.

The Vikings were actually tops with 22 from their game against the Packers. And so, you know, yeah, you remember Young having to leave this spot a handful of times in that game, right? The pressure kind of slides out of the pocket. and what the bears weren't able to do is finish the play up front, right, by getting the ball out sooner or getting the quarterback on the ground, and they weren't able to hang with their coverage in the secondary, and that's why I threw for like 360 yards, but they were, I guess, disruptive initially.

They've just got to be more thorough, more complete, no matter who is taken. snaps from the Vikings, be it Wentz, Murray, or even McCarthy, which I, boy, that would really surprise me. It's Biggs time on the Haunt Payton Show 104 3, the score and this segment

with Brad Big, sponsored by S-Wing Professional Tools, made in the USA for over 100 years, swing.com. Brad, all right, you wrote about Dallas Turner, which I think is interesting because Jonathan Grenard moves on to Philadelphia. Turner first round picks 17th overall

2024. Kind of a disappointing season. Then last year comes through with eight sacks. He could be a problem because he does have that burst. How big of a problem might he be and whose challenge is that most? Yeah, well, I mean, it's a challenge of whoever's going to be, whoever's on the outside of tackle where he's lined up. Last week, we saw the Bears put Theo Benedict in for a series and play some Braxton Jones, kind of a pre-planned thing there to get him a little work. Turner, blossomed a little bit last year. I think he had, I think he had two sacks against the bears, or he certainly got two sacks against the bears in his career. And the hope was that they would be

able to move on from Gernard, who I think was their best pass rusher. They traded him to Philadelphia, probably some cap reasons involved for making that move. But you've got a first round pick in year three who you feel like is ready to spread his wings a little bit and he had a whale of a ball game very disruptive against that packers offensive line and jordan love was consistently uh being disruptive in the pocket i think he had eight quarterback pressure like eight's a huge number uh for for one game and and you know if you hear that miles garrett went out there at 8 or J.J. Watt, excuse me, T.J. Watt, you're like, okay, well, yeah, that's, those are two of the best in the league. Dallas Turner throwing up a number like that really grabs your

attention and he's going to be a guy that the bears need to have an eye on. And Ben J. Johnson, when he spoke earlier in the week on Wednesday, reference their defensive tackle Jalen Redmond. is a guy that they had circled because they feel like they're going to have to be very effective against him probably to get the run game going. Didn't he name check him last year as well? Ben Johnson talked about Redmond last year.

He's a problem if he's not paid close enough attention to. Right. I mean, he's a guy that can take on double teams. Yeah. So how do you account for him to get your, ground game going, which the bears have done a really nice job of running the ball. Really since after the buy last season, they've been one of the very best teams in the league at running it, and you know that that's going to be a major part of their game plan.

Like you look at what the Packers wound up with the other day when they lost at U.S. Bank Stadium, and it was totally lopsided. And they're chasing at the end. but Jordan Love with 42 pass attempts and four sacks. So that's 46 pass plays right there. And they had 20 handoffs. So the bears aren't going to have a run pass ratio that mirrors that in this game unless something has gone awry.

This segment with Brad Biggs is brought to you by four seasons, heating, air conditioning, plumbing, sewer, and electric for all. the right reasons called 8664 seasons. Brad, we don't always talk about special teams and it doesn't get enough love, but last week, Cairo Santos was, there was no issues with field goals and extra points, but he was flagged twice for kickoffs that didn't reach the landing zone. How much of emphasis goes into this week as they try not to give good field position to the Vikings? Yeah, that's something that Richard Hightower was asked about yesterday and they were, were certainly acknowledging you can't hand the ball to the Panthers or the Vikings or anybody

on the 40-yard line because your kickoff has come up short and they want to be aggressive with what they call those dirty balls that can be difficult to field in the landing zone and so they're not going to shy away from a high power he must have some data on it believes that Santos was the most effective kicker in the entire league using that specific kick last year, which you're not going to use every time, but you are going to, from time to time. And that's something that they believe is a weapon for them, is an advantage for them. And so I think the message is, you know, you got to get it inside that landing zone. weather was a non-issue last, I mean, it was hot, but it wasn't like they had the wind blowing

or anything like that. High Tower said, hey, there were some kickoffs he had that were exactly what we wanted. They've just got to get a little bit better in that area because in a close ball game, any ball game, that's a short field. If you're starting on the 40-yard line, to me, that's kind of that outer range of the short field and the bears gave them two shots there and obviously the panthers i believe had two possessions that started um in bears territory as well so you want to talk about limiting the points and getting under 37 or a good bit under 37 a field position is going to play a big part of that

brad what's your prediction for sundays game well i uh i think the bears are going to be i think are going to win this game. You know, I try to go at it from a couple different directions and, you know, okay, what if and what could give them problems? And I just think the more you look at this, the bear should be in good shape. I don't know that can you get to 59? Brian Flores does a nice job. And truthfully, if you talk about.

the series with the Vikings a year ago. The Bears are 0 and 2 against Minnesota if Devin Duvonnei doesn't have that really big kickoff return in the final minute of that second meeting that was up in Minnesota. That gave the Bears a short field. They went down and they got the win. If the Bears are starting at their 20 with the time that was left on the clock, in the situation, the chances for victory would have been significantly reduced. He flipped the field.

Off the top of my head, I want to say it was a 50, 55-yard return, something in that range. So Flores did his job, and the Vikings defense did their job against the Bears a year ago. I think the Bears' offense is better. I think we got immediate evidence of that at Carolina. with eight offensive touchdowns from scrimmage. Like you look at some of these huge numbers, the record for points in week one is the 1973 Falcons had 62 points and an opener against the New Orleans Saints.

Well, they included in that mix of 62 was a defensive touchdown. The Bears put up 59 without their defense putting the ball in the end zone. So I've got bears like 34 to 24. I think it'll be high scoring again. I think for the time being, most of these Bears games will be relatively high scoring. Maybe it'll look a little bit like

the Chargers, the San Diego Chargers in the early 80s under Don Coriol, which, like, I don't know, as a young kid back then, that was must-watch television. It was fun stuff. And Brad, before let you go, I've picked the Bears as well.

And if they start 0-1-2, we talked about this early, and I offered this premise. I think it was assuming a victory. Haven't been impressed with the Lions through two games. They look like they're lacking a lot, a little vulnerable. I thought the Packers really let go with a rope and their offensive line is in disarray.

And the Vikings, if they go down to the Bears, I think we're going to know why, because they have some questions that really begin a quarterback perhaps, but do have maybe extend to the offensive line. Could this become? Is this looking like the Bears and everybody else in a division we thought coming into the season might be one of the best in football. I do.

Obviously, if the Bears get a win on Sunday, they've got a early head start. They've got a great jump on it, right? As opposed to last year where they blow the game in the fourth quarter to Minnesota and then they head to Detroit in Week 2 and have 52 hung on them by the Lions. And they're not only 0-2, they're 0-2 in the division. And, you know, the list of teams that begin the season 0 and 2 in the division and rally to make the playoffs is thin. Like the bears buck the odds there. I think it might be a little premature to go there, Dave, just because of injuries and how that can dramatically shift things over the course of the season.

I agree with you. The lions have got some issues specifically in the secondary. You saw it in the first quarter of that game last night. Like they're missing some key guys and they are really struggling. And Josh Allen and Buffalo took full advantage of that. The Packers are the Packers trying to play 500 ball or somehow just above that until they get Michael Parsons back? Like, you know, do they become a different team with Parsons? Or are they really struggling until he gets back?

And then it's a month-long climb to kind of, get back to where you need to be to strike and contend later in the year. And then the, you know, the Vikings, I've got questions at running back too, because Aaron Jones was a really good player earlier in his career. He looks like he's got to be the primary back now with Jordan Mason, sideline with thumb surgery. I think Mason's the better of the two backs, and he's just kind of okay.

So there are questions about the Vikings, but Minnesota's got to be looking at this as an opportunity to stun some people and get off to a fast start as well. Great stuff, Brad. Looking forward to seeing you Sunday, which, correct me if I'm wrong, 26th home opener for you, correct? At 26, yeah. Eventually we're going to lose count of that. But hopefully the weather's all right Sunday. I know it's supposed to be crummy tomorrow.

looks like a high probability of rain on Sunday. That's not what anybody really wants, but it's going to be a gorgeous day in Chicago today. And glad the football season is here, guys. Enjoy your weekend, Brad. Take care, Brad. Thanks, guys. When you face someone like Russ,

not only is he very accomplished, but someone that you have faced so many times, is there ever a trap to avoid of just overthinking and trying to guess what he thinks you think, he thinks you think he thinks you're going to do? Yeah, yeah. Yes, there is. How do you avoid going down a path where you're just overdue?

I'm in that path right now. No, I mean, there's a lot of that. Man, end of the day, our guys, I want them to go out and play fast. I want to make sure we're sound. It's not very different than what we talked about a week ago, making sure we have a hat for a hat as often as we can. and if he gets us on something, that's fine. Then we've got to come together and make sure we get it corrected and we'll move on from there. So this game will end up being some adjustments going on over the course of it.

It might be in the tab a little bit more than I'd like to over the course of a game. But that's how these ones have tended to go in the past. I love that both Brian Flores, the defensive coordinator of the Vikings, and Ben Johnson, from whom you just heard the head coach of the Chicago Bears, have sort of accepted the duel that this game is going to be between those two masterminds for the Bears and Vikings this Sunday along the lakefront as we welcome you back into Rahimi and Grotie on 1043 to score. There's not the usual downplaying, Leila, that we typically get where it's not.

No, this is not just another game. These two coaches are both accepting their geniusness coming into this game and I think it's absolutely beautiful. It's about them. Babe, wake up. It's Ben Johnson versus Brian Flores week. That's it. It's on. That's really what this is. Wake up! Wake up!

Oh, yeah! Hey, can we take that back now that it's not part of the morning show theme song anymore? System of a down belongs to everyone. Yes, it does. Because, Ray, you put that in initially, right? Well, yeah, this is true. Every time I hear that, I get that jolt that you guys just heard. Like, that just runs through my body.

See, that's the point. You've got to understand people's reverse triggers, the things that make them focus for example. For markets, when'd you get in and wake up? And that's. So for Chris Gets, it's finding him on an elevator. When'd you get in? Dan, it was a catchy headline. You've just got to learn these things about your people. That's right. And that's how it comes together. That's the quine. Babe, wake up. It's Brian Flores versus Ben Johnson week. And that is the thing. All the seamheads, so to speak, in the NFL, I know that's baseball term, but all the NFL, all the NFL junkies right now, the football fiends.

This is their week. This is it. And Ben Johnson smiled whenever we heard our friend Jason Leisure asking that question in that way, because that's really what this is. A lot of times I think that there are coordinators who think they're too smart and they're trying to outthink somebody else. And it's like, you don't have the athletes for that.

It doesn't matter. It's not going to work. This is not that case. This is truly two people at the elite levels of their coordinating game who respect each other's talents, their abilities, and then what they're going to do to make the other one just crumble. And I enjoy this at many levels. Let's get into some of it.

And as we learned with some really specific analytics and statistics yesterday from our guy, Clay Harbor, and I'll get into more of that as this segment goes on for people who did not have the benefit of hearing yesterday, that I'll just start by saying that Ben Johnson is five and one in six games against Brian Flores since 2023. Wait up. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wake up! Just so good. System.

That blasts through my place often, too, by the way. That's a real thing that goes on. Dave the Cat digs system of down as well. Does he get the zoomies? Does he run around? Yes, he does. He understands New Metal. Yeah, he does.

Let's get more into the audio here. You heard from Ben Johnson coming into the segment here on Rahimi and Grotie. How about Brian Flores, though? Brian Flores, again, the defensive coordinator for Minnesota, with the media, discussed how the Bears' offense will be a test for his defense. There's a chess match every week. We just had that with another, you know, one of the top lay callers and that. So every week it's a challenge. You know, Ben's certainly a challenge. I mean, any type of offense that's out there, whether it's ground and pound, whether it's, you know, run and shoot, whether it's RPO, whether it's, you know, four by one.

he's got it. And so what are we getting? What are we getting week to week? It's hard to know. And so a lot of the game is adjustments. Hey, if they do this, we want to do that. If they do that, we want to do this. And we're going to have our own game plan to start things off. And it's the same thing on his end. You know, what are they doing? And how are we going to counteract what they're doing? So it's certainly a chess match. And one of the things I love about, you know, coaching defense in this division. And really in the NFC, you know, in the NFC, you know, whether it's, you know, Ben or LaFleur, you know, obviously, KO on a daily basis. And so, you know, it's a lot of fun.

And it's a major challenge, and that's what we all signed up for. And from what I understand, talking to people in Minnesota, like, because I don't know the day-to-day, Brian Flores, he is similar to Ben Johnson in that he is not one to just throw out compliments and talk about challenges. against other teams unless he's being genuine. And this guy is a killer when it comes to the Blitz. I just love all of this. That's it. It really is listening and going to football school with two coordinators who the entire league just respects immensely.

It's fun. And you can tell they're having fun trying to figure out what the other one is doing. Brian Flores, to throw out the run and shoot reference, too, is that's a man after my own heart. an old school one. You gotta love that. Yeah, the old run and shoot. Who ran that? Atlanta. June Jones. Yeah, Rodney Pete back in the day. Didn't he, wasn't there some of that with him? Andre rising. Andre good moon rising or the bad moon rises. I just can't do things right. I just can't. It's the way, it wouldn't be me if I didn't say things like that. They had to run a 4-25 and that was considered against the run and shoot.

and that was considered such a wild alignment, and now it's something you see pretty often. Yeah. A few more numbers here. This is like from Clay Harbor from yesterday. The Ben Johnson offenses have outperformed league averages against the Minnesota defense. His EPA per play, expected points added,

essentially the amount of successful plays that you have percentage-wise versus the Vikings, plus 0.07 for Ben Johnson against every, everybody else, minus 0.04. Successful plays when blitzing. When blitzing, Ben Johnson, 46% rest of the league, 41%. And then I'll give you one more quick number here, and then I'll give you the rest later. But points per drive, Ben Johnson 2.33, rest of the league, 1.77.

This is since, by the way, since 2023, when Brian Flores came into the division, for which, of course, Ben Johnson was the offensive coordinator of Detroit, so that's how far back we go. I don't know what this means that Ben Johnson is better than Brian Flores, but he's had an edge that other offenses haven't necessarily had against his defense. I'm thinking I'm the best coach in America.

I think given sample size and percentage difference, it would be considered statistically significant. So therefore the numbers do bear out based on the production that Ben Johnson does have an advantage that other

league coaches do not against Brian Flores. I know that his teams average 27 and a half points per game in those six games. And that's also pretty high when you consider how good Minnesota's defense is. Here's the other part, though, is last game, Vikings blitzed on 70% of the dropbacks. You say last game you're talking about against the Packers or against the last game they played against the bear? So you're expecting blitz if you're Caleb Williams when you see it, right? it's a matter of making the proper read to know who's dropping back to show it's not the blitz. And then also, how are you sliding your protections?

Because that's something I think we're still seeing the Bears work in progress on. I know that sounds crazy after scoring 59 points on Sunday. But when you consider that there are still those finer points of this, and we saw it play out, how much is that going to go into play? Yeah, and keep an eye on this. If you're at the game or if you're watching on TV, watch what Ben Johnson does with some quick snaps getting right up to the line, not allowing the Minnesota defense to disguise,

which is a famous part of what Brian Flores is trying to do. We talked about it yesterday, too, the condensed formations, and I'm sorry that that triggered Luke Getzzi for you yesterday, Lela, but that's understandable. Just don't start open, like, don't start empty against the Vikings, and then have your fullback be your hot read and a pass pattern when it's a full back.

Like, there's a lot wrong there. Was Getsky. Oh, man, Luke Gatsy. All right, so let's go back and forth here. Let's go to Ben Johnson. Now, Ben Johnson yesterday discussed what to expect when it comes from Brian Flores' defense. He's tried to have answers for everything. So, yeah, I mean, he's been in this division three years now.

And, yeah, I mean, you'd like to think he's put everything he could possibly do on tape until you play him next and you realize he hasn't yet. And so there'll be something new. there always is with him. And that's what makes him such a good coordinator. It's a great challenge. It really is. You have a lot of fun on game day. Now the week of preparation is not so much fun.

But, you know, there's a lot of back and forth that goes into it. He loves this. I love how he says it's not that fun. Ben Johns is up here having a blast. Lies. You used to write down numbers for fun. Yes. Lies.

He gets off on this. this is him man I do like I compare it to modern day baseball I got a baseball analogy here for you for Brian Flores I'm going to try this here

okay yeah thank you Brian Flores is wholly unpredictable with what he's going to do like when you think he's going to blitz maybe he won't like on the obvious blitzing down

he's going to blitz on spots that what are you doing blitzing here it reminds me of a time in baseball when you knew what a pitcher was going to throw when it was 3 and 0 you're going to get a fast basketball right down the middle. That's old school baseball. Now that's not the case.

Right? Unproductive, you might get a slider. You might get a curve. You might get a heater, but you're probably not going to get a heater. First pitch the same way. It used to be really bold to go first pitch breaking ball. Not anymore. That's the truth. And that is the unorthodox way with which Brian Flores leads his defense. And even if you want to go back to, I think I mentioned this yesterday. But we had this whole, oh my God, here comes Flores and the Minnesota defense is going to blitz the crap out of Caleb Williams. Man, I had Caleb, other Caleb's in my mind just now. What's up, Caleb Wilson? Your season starts soon. We see you. And then he didn't in that first game last year. There was a 35% blitz rate from Flores. And of course, the Vikings win the game

with the devastating 21 fourth quarter points. But in the second game that the Bears won, 66% blitz rate. It's really, it's really hard to argue against Kevin O'Connell, who got coach of the year, and Brian Flores, man. What a one-two punch that is. Yeah, it's really nice. And when you consider, that was the real chess match was, no, I'm gonna,

I'm gonna sit back. This is your first game in this new offense with your head coach, who I know as a coordinator. I'm just gonna, I'm gonna see what I got with this personnel.

And they had a very expensive defense last year did Minnesota. You know, spent a ton of money on the D. They had to unleash a lot of cap space and let people go after last season. So with my personnel, which I think is pretty early, like, let's, let's see and let's wait and see what you guys, what you guys are going to do. I almost wonder if it was information gathering

before than just the wrath came in the second half. I like that. I like that. But also remember Caleb Williams did a lot of checkdowns. He was running, he threw a lot of balls away to try to avoid the sacks. Like that game felt like it was on fast forward watching it because it was so sped up from what we were used to seeing, and then also how Caleb Williams' job, as we knew at that point, was avoid getting sacked. Congratulations. Avoid getting sacked against Brian Flores' defense.

Congratulations. Let's hear from Caleb, since you brought him up yesterday, discussed the difficulty of going up against Brian Flores' defense. He finds ways to your blocking scheme on offense. He finds ways to challenge that and create as many one-on-ones. And that's, I mean, that's what football comes down to, was beating your man one-on-one. And so he does a good job of that is, you know, for your, for your blocking schemes, run or pass, find as many one-on-ones as he can. And then having, you know,

the players that he has and the scheme that he has, you know, that is their advantage in that way. And so that's what's challenging about going versus him, is trying to not allow him to play or not play, but, you know, coach up and, you know, get his scheme into where the guys are one-on-one, you know, throughout the whole game. Yeah. And they do, I mean, like, you're right, they don't have as much talent as they did, but Dallas Turner's on the rise, Van Ginkle is still there, and the guy that Ben Johnson kept mentioning this guy, and if I'm not mistaken, he did the same thing last year, Jalen Redmond, the defensive tackle, who he just kept name checking last year, four tackles. He is a great story, though. I was just going back on

Redmond, undrafted Free Agent with Carolina in 2023, waived, then he played first. for in the XFL. You remember the XFL? Is that still a thing? I don't even know. He hate me? He hate me. That's right.

Good call. The Arlington Renegades. And then he, in 2024, he signed with the Minnesota practice squad and then eventually got elevated to the 53 and has been living there ever since. Last year, six sacks and 62 tackles for Jalen Redmond. So I guess circle that guy because Ben kept mentioning him.

He did. That was somebody who clearly was on his map. But Caleb Williams talking about. the one-on-one battles too. I think that's as valuable information to this as anything. Ben Johnson has talked about those when it comes to just how he's judging his personnel week-to-week. So I wonder what one-on-one battles they're keying on.

I assume Redmond is part of that, but just how they feel like their personnel can best win those. Yeah, and we'll get into more of this tomorrow because we've got a whole football Friday tomorrow with all sorts of great bears stuff and some interesting things about how some people in Minnesota think that they may attack the Bears' offense and may not be exactly who you would have thought of. And I'm talking about the interior of the Bears' offensive line. We'll get into some of that tomorrow.

But it's really just some fascinating stuff. Before Chicago takes on Minnesota, tune in Sunday morning from 9 to noon for one of my favorite shows. Your local Ford Dealers pregame show right here on 104.3, the score, Olin Croutes, Patrick Manley and Gabe Ramirez will get you set for the game, then immediately following the game. They'll have instant reaction on the Timber Tech decking and railing postgame show presented by the Rorman Automotive Group, home of the $50 oil change. I've had it.

Visit them online at Rorman.com. This week's postgame show can be seen exclusively on YouTube and on Twitch as well. When we come back, we started to get into this a little bit. our baseball conversation in our first hour. Are we special here in Chicago? I think we are. We're special because we have two athletes who are a must watch at all times in Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and Cubs outfielder Pete Crow Armstrong.

We are taking your calls if you are interested at 312, 64-67-67 is the number. Do you remember a time like this? tundoms of players in this city at the same time. 312, 644, 67, we could even add on to the conversation we were having earlier trying to find comps and precedents that had been set earlier just on Pete Crowe Armstrong and who has ever been like him in Chicago where you didn't really know what he was and then he became this explosive player that we didn't necessarily predict. So let's talk about that.

Craig Counsel had some things to say about that as well. came a fanboy last night, which is great. But we are here for you. 312, 644, 67 is the number. It's Rahimi and Grotie on 1043, The Score. And with the extra point pending. It's time for the extra point with Ha and Peyton. Come out for the extra point.

On 1043, the score. Set it this extra point. It's prediction time. We've got a very special guest picker who knows something about playing linebacker play that must improve if the Bears hope to beat the Vikings on Sunday at the lake front. Who you got? Stallwer in the middle.

Samurai Mike, 81 to 92 played for the Chicago Bears. A Hall of Fame linebacker joins us now. Mike Singletary, thank you for joining us. Good morning. How are you? I am doing very well. Very excited to get going this weekend. I want to see that game.

Hey, what's going on, Unk? I appreciate you for joining us this morning on Hall and Peyton. Listen, how excited are you to be in town for alumni weekend and to be back at Soldier Field with some of your guys? Well, you know, it's always an exciting time and it's going to come down to the wires to whether I get a chance to be there or not if my son is coming in town. And so we're trying to work that out. But I'm really excited about the game and really excited about last week. The points that were up on the board was very. exciting. Looking on the other side

of that, on the defensive side, it was kind of okay. Let's see what we got here. All right, Mike, so looking at both teams, Sunday, the Vikings don't know what quarterback they're going to use yet. The Bears coming off, as you said, a tough defensive effort, but boy, can they score

the points. What happens Sunday on the lakefront? Well, you know, I, of course, I'm looking at the Bears winning this football game. I think that you know, right now, the bear are just doing a great job offensively. I think they're clicking on all cylinders. And defensively, I, you know, it's a work in progress. And I'm hoping that it

continues to move forward. I think at this point, as long as we continue to make, you know, small advances every week, we just get a little bit better every week. We just get a little bit better every week, we work toward mid-season, end of the season, then we could possibly be where we need to be. All right. You have a score prediction for us. Well, wow. I don't see 50-something points.

I see maybe Viking 17, Bears, 29. 2917. All right. They take that. I'll take that. They take that going away. I'll take that. Mike Singletary, thank you so much for joining us.

Have a great weekend if you're able to get back to Chicago. If not, enjoy your family. It's been a pleasure talking this morning. Thank you. God bless. Take care. Love you, man. Mike Singletary, Hall of Fame linebacker, 2917 Bears.

That's he's on the board for. That's his score. How about you, Jared Payton? I'm going 2723 bears. 2723? Close. Yeah. They're not getting in the 30s?

No, I don't think so. I was leaving the rate last night. One of the security guards said to me says, you know what, who's going to win Sunday? I said, well, I think the Bears are going to win Sunday. He said, do me a favor. No more Brian Floor's defense. Brian Flores' defense this.

Brian Flores defense that. They're sick of hearing about the Brian Flores defense. If the fans are, you know how much Ben Johnson is? Uh-oh. The Brian Flores defense is going to give up 34. Wow. 34 points for the Bears. 28 for the Vikings.

34-28 bears on the lakefront. put a sweetness on it? Two and O. They're going to go your favorite number. 34. Dustin. I'm going to go. I'm going to take it a little further. What? I know Mike Singletary, one of my all-time favorites. You're putting a 34 on it.

I'm putting a Singletary on it. I'm putting a Singletary on it. I'm saying 50 to 21. 50 to 21 bears. Okay. Brandon. I can't beat that right there. I got the Bears. It's funny idea. I write it down before you even said, I have the Bears winning 34 to 23.

I also because it was home coming. It was home. I was going with the Walter Payton vibe too as well. So I think they're going to have 34. That boy said a 50 burger. 50 burger. We got all the Bears winning. We have them improving to 2 and 0.

If they go 2 and 0, this time is going to be up for grabs next week. You thought last week we exaggerated. They go 2 and 0. Just wait. All right. Our predictions are in. You heard from Mike Singletary. It was fun.

When we come back, got to talk about the White Sox. What do you think, Sox fans? You feel much better today about the rest of the season. The nine games left. 312, 644-67 caller text. Bears fans, how confident are you? Are you as confident as we are about what's going to happen Sunday

between the Bears and the Vikings? Open up the phone lines. Let us know. Call in Texas. It's Hall & Payton, Chicago Sports Radio. 1043, the score.