Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Interviews of the Week on 104.3 The Score: Sept. 14-18

Episode Date: September 19, 2026

In Interviews of the Week on 104.3 The Score, new Bulls assistant coach Taj Gibson joined the Spiegel & Holmes Show to share his excitement for getting his coaching career started in Chicago; FS1 host Danny Parkins joined the Rahimi & Grote Show to discuss the Bears' 59-point explosion in their season opener and to preview their matchup against the Vikings this Sunday; and NFL Network/ESPN reporter Stacey Dales joined the Haugh & Payton Show to discuss the latest Bears and NFL storylines coming out of Week 1 of the season.

Sixth pick in the 2009 NBA draft, the Chicago Bulls to select Todd Gibson from the University of Southern California. It's hard to put in the words, but Taj, Todd, Todd, get me crunk, Todd, get me crunk, man. Chicago! What's up? Watch it for three. Oh! Godfrey! To whip out. Look, it bounces in air.

Tudge! Gathe! Housel! Let's go home. Drive home safely, Chicago. I stand before you a grown man now, but when I came here, I was a young man still trying to find my way, still trying to figure out what life is going to take me. Gibson is a fake. Oh, my goodness.

He closed, especially with their second unit. Fort a pass. Great peace by Noah, French Gibson in charge. To my teammates, so that was just up here. Bad Joe Lou. Tos. Bayless. Threats on underneath and that's blocked by Tosh Gibson.

This is what he does best. I'm Tos Gibson, and I approve this man. message right get it out of here. I love the fact that you was older than me but you used to listen to me because of my experience you knew that my year or extra year that put me a little bit ahead of you but you never used to look at me crazy whenever I used to yell at you and I was younger that's respect that's called being a professional. three on one watch it gets it up in the hall.

It is the great way it is the Eastern Conference final. It goes. Wilson. Full muscle, right? Station. Yeah. Yeah, he gets a chance to get this ovation from the United Center crowds.

It's just a great guy. A poe. A poe. Spiegel and Holmes. Afternoons on the score. Seeing that Todd Gibson is now going to be an assistant under Tiago Splitter with this Bulls team, there's something that just makes you smile about it. because this is one of those guys that is beloved by Bulls fans.

And look at the 17-year career of just incredible work. We are happy that Tage Gibson is joining the Bulls coaching staff and that he is joining us right now on the score hotline, brought to you by Potawatomi Casino and Hotel, the Midwest Best Casino. Tosh, thanks for making some time for us today. Guys, how you guys doing? Lawrence Fees.

What's up, baby? Oh, man. Oh, that's so cool to talk. to you, man. It's hard hat, lunch, pale. Let's go. I mean, Lawrence, you're right. It just feels so nice. It feels right. 17 years as a player, but a draft success story here and the bulk of your career here. Does this feel like the right way to start the next phase of your life, Tosh? To tell you the truth, yes. It's kind of like it just feels like something, I don't know what it is, something that has a hold of me, and it's just directing me

to my next path. And the thing about basketball, and when you're going through your career, you always want to be around awesome people and try to just make something out of nothing. And I'm so blessed. Like, just coming in here every day, just getting into being a coach. Like, I'm so blessed. I'm so thankful for this organization. You need to give me a chance. for Tiago to even give me a chance. Words can't explain how blessed I am and how happy I am to be back in Chicago. For you, throughout your career,

no matter where you were, like every roster and every fan base appreciated what it is that you brought to the table. But here in Chicago, like, I'm curious of whether or not you felt that from Chicago fans and what it was like to not be the superstar. Like, you're the guy that's there helping

the superstar, in some cases being the bodyguard for the superstar. Did you feel that appreciation that Bulls fans seemingly have for you? Without a question. One of the best things about being in Chicago around the time I got here, I got to be here around a young Derek Rose, a young Joaquin Noah, just a whole, this young group of guys, who all dang, I was around Kirk Heinrich. I was just around a great system far as nurturing players.

And not only that, I was around a great team of just great people because I tell people every day, a lot of my careers is just being known as that guy that's always there and different utilities. But I give a big testament to my career to my teammates, always having my back, always making sure I always had anything I needed or anything in Chicago I needed. Derek was always the first one to make sure I had no worries. And then even now, you always look at how my teammates always bring me. me along from Derek, from Jo King, from Luau. They always keep my name right in the thick of everything. So it just comes down to this being blessed, being around great teammates. You know what I'm saying? We held each other accountable, but like I told Derek during my speech, that's one thing about my career. You can always say Derek Rose going on the lane, but you can always remember

seeing Todd setting that screen and being there. Having fun being there for Luau Day. And these I was a big testament to my career, and I'm just happy to be back in Chicago. Tadj, we love that team. This whole town loved that team. No doubt. And we still do. And it's like, and I don't know, maybe it's because we knew we didn't have the, you know, we didn't have LeBron and Wade and

Bosch and all those, all those dudes. Like, we had you guys and it would have been such a massive success story to overcome it because of who you guys were. But like, we believed in you and it was a mutual love affair.

You felt it, right? Every day I woke up. When I come back over the years, each time I would come to the United Center, people don't understand the difference between the teams. Like, we really were in the city. We really were outside. We were in the hubs, the bars, the restaurants.

The city grew up with us, and we grew up with the city. So when we look at my look into the stands, I don't just see family. I see family through from the north side, south side, west side, everybody from, construction workers, high businessmen, Chicago, we all can relate because we really hung out and we were really about this city. And plus we had, we was with Chicago's native son, Derek Rose. So Derek always kept us or had us in tune with Chicago. And it was such a great feeling. It was

such a wonderful time to be in Chicago around that time. Our guy, Chris Sanahill, always does an incredible job of bringing guests in with highlights. And all over your highlights are Stacey King. And he coins heart hustle and muscle. And you know that he's talking about that era of bulls and talking about you specifically. And when Stacey died, like it hurt all of us. I'm curious to someone that knew this man and has all of your highlights with his voice on him as a bull.

What will you remember about Stacey King? What I remember about Stacey King is first, he was just that veteran that was there for me. He was that guy that I always asked him questions. and he will always give me the greatest answers because that's not often when you can get to a league and you have a veteran that's kind of been in his position where he's coming off the bench, he's doing all the different things, and he understands how to be professional. But Stacey took me right underneath the wing.

And a lot of my highlights, he gave me my nickname from everything. Like, Stacey's like the uncle for me because that's how solid he was for me. Even when I wasn't playing in Chicago, each time I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do in my life, life, Stacey always gave me a call. He always gave me an interview. He always wanted to make sure I was okay. And not have him here anymore. I'm just so thankful to have the time and to get to know him over the years.

Because people don't really understand. They understand the highlights. I understand so many great things. But Stacey was a one-of-a-kind person and one-of-a-kind OG. Man, that's a really cool human answer, Tosh, to think about you guys in a relationship like that. I never thought about it. It's like him being able to. able to understand Tos's role.

Yeah, of course, because Stacey was a superstar in college, but then all of a sudden, in the pros, he's just, he's got to do everything else to set up Michael and everybody. So you guys would talk about that stuff? Yes, but other than having him talked to me about it, I was able to see the city embrace him. A lot of the times, he didn't have to tell me, do this or do that. I would just see how Chicago fans embrace him just for just playing hard. the main people who kind of miss about playing in Chicago is that these fans this city

they get behind players and people that really push themselves to the limit and know even if it's not going to always come or the outcomes always going to come out on top they can at least live with the fact that you gave at your all and that's one thing you can always look back and think about our teams we always fought

we love to fight but we always gave it our all Even if we came up short, we just made sure we gave it all. So what, how much Tom Fibito is going to be in your coaching game? Like, is there a lot of, how much tips? Like, be honest with you, yesterday was such a world, like a whirlwind, but one of the first calls I got was from Tom Tibdo. And it went, I thought it was going to be like a quick little 10 minute. It went from a 10 minute to like almost an hour and a half call. So, and we were just talking about from everything we need to do, kind of like an uncle.

Like, he really was giving me the cues and a, what to do, what not to do. And that's one thing I always appreciate about our coaching staff, because it wasn't just a coaching staff, it was family. And one thing I love about our Chicago board teams, and it's how the organization deals with players that come back. It's a family. It's a family. That's what I love about coming back. It feels good to be back around the family and a great organization. But the even bigger family is Chicago people.

I'm just happy to see Chicago be people back again. Bull's assistant coach, Taj Gibson, and yes, that does feel weird to say, but it's great. It feels right. You're right. Like, it's great to say. When I see a lot of the guys that played the game that now have TV shows or podcasts, they talk about like a lack of vets inside of locker rooms. and you, especially the second half of your career, like you're that for a lot of teams.

When those guys are talking to us about a lack of vets, what does that mean to you? Like what does a good vet do for a young player? Well, we look at a real OG vet. You can always most definitely see the scars on him from a mile away. This is how he carries itself, how he carries his mannerisms, and how he speaks to people. And one thing I noticed that the rook,

all the young players, always respected me because I was always trying to better my teammates. I was always challenging my teammates. And I was always getting going through just trying to teach them the ways that I had to get taught when I came into the NBA. I would teach them different attributes of like a Derek Rose or Westwood-Westrures. And they all just ate up most of the stories I always gave, but they can always count on me being a great person first. to get all the X and O's, but when it comes to Taj being the first-class person, that was the main thing I was always trying to be there for my teammates. And it's always prospered for me and it worked out for me.

Tash, who are some of the young players that you watch play still and take pride in how they are as pros? We know of you as a mentor to those bulls, but like you kept going, man, whether it's Knicks or whether it's, You know, whether it's Hornets that you were a part of or T-Woles. Who are some of your dudes out there that you watch with pride? Basically, once you get this age, fellas, you kind of let everybody. You're the oldest guy in the locker room.

You're the oldest guy in the class. So you're like, oh, man, it's like, it's like, what a more. It's just mainly coming back to reality. Kind of always, every year I always try to do this, keep it simple. I never tried to go into any locker room or any place and just try to put down 17 years. I always acted as if I was just a new guy in the class and you would get to know me through the ups and downs of the season. And then once we got through that, you will understand it. But my whole career, I was going to situations where we were always rebuilding.

But I take pride in the Knicks, Carlton, Youngtown, Jeline Brunson, so many guys. You go, then you go further now. to Charlotte. And I had a lovely time of Charlotte being around Musa. The young man had an awesome year last year. And that's one of those vet moves where I'm so proud because I remember vividly crying into myself, really standing praying like, God, give this kid a chance. This kid has a chance.

Just give him a chance, God, because in our league, you need a lot of luck. People always just say it's so easy as good. But you need luck with some good people around you. And that's one of the young fellas I'm extremely proud of in the organization. It's so many players. It's so many players I know through this league. I'm just so blessed. Be honest with you guys.

All right. So, Taj, you got three really interesting young players. I know it's a full roster and I'm not trying to throw shade. But looking at Josh Giddy and Modis Bezellis and Caleb Wilson, I see three young guys with a whole world of potential. What do you see? I see young guys with a whole order of potential, but they're going to have to challenge each other.

And that was the whole, that was the best part about just being young because you get to challenge each other. Joaquin, D. Rose, Lou, and Kirk, all of us didn't have this instant, like, we just locked in from just going, everything being easy. What I like about our team now was the guys are challenging. challenging each other. It's a fresh start. Everybody's just trying to just get to know one another, but I think those three, the sky's the limit. But again, it comes down to them challenging each other

and being there for each other. But so far, it's been great. I'm looking forward to it. I'm extremely happy to be around these young men. What have your interactions with Caleb Wilson been like? We've heard that he's very smart. Very intense. Very intense, but also very coachable, that he's, that he's ready. Be honest with you, it's been awesome. They show me a lot of respect, and I could just see it's been welcoming but Caleb is a special player.

I got a chance to jump in a couple drills with him on a 505 and like he's just so talented. When he can get an old guy like me, an open look, that shows you a lot. That's how talented you are. I just showed you how talented

he really is and he just has that chip on the shoulder all of our young guys had that chip on the shoulder and it and it gives me that deja vu feeling like when tips first came and how how we were just like so like I was going to happen but we knew we wanted to be good and that's kind of feeling like it from these young men Taj what will you tell your grandchildren about Derek Rose what I will tell forget forget all the attributes forget all the MVP forget all the scoring and all that Derek Rose is a first-class human being. For basketball, he's the kind of guy you want to give your shirt off your back for. That's how, that's kind of, and he was a leader amongst men. That just speaks a lot.

And I try to tell guys, being a point girl in this league, you're going to be looking at a lot of guys, and guys are going to looking at you, like, where to next? And one thing I was blessed enough to say and being a part of is Derek. be like, no, wherever I got it. Let's do it. And then we responded. And I hope that, look forward, going forward, I can be a part of that with this young group. Trying to picture Taj, like, as a coach, you know, like whether it's...

I think it's going to be awesome. Oh, I know. But, like, just like, like, Bo Cheeks or all these other great assistants we've seen, you're going to carry a clipboard, you're going to go... Let's take it one day at a time. I just got my collab. topping my internet working today. Are you going to do the one?

See, that's what hard-hack guys do. Got an office? I got an office. Hell yeah. Yo! It's, it's, and yeah, I don't leave it. I had to pull me out of my office just now to come. And then just being around tips, being around our coaches, I understand what I have to do now.

So I'm not going to 50%. I got to give 120, 150% now. We're really happy that they pulled you out of the office to talk with us. Thanks for doing it, man. As we will be the ambassadors of the city and just say, man, we love you. And we are so happy that you are back and wishing you all the luck and success in this new venture because of what you mean to this city. So thank you so much for giving us a little bit of your time. Thank you guys.

Love you guys even more. Love the whole city of Chicago, even more, one big hug. But yeah, moving forward, just continue to support us. And yeah, look forward to seeing you guys. You got it. We'll see you soon. Todd Gibson. Amazing. Amazing.

I could do Stephen A's job, guys. It's not that hard. Danny Parkins. Danny Parkins, Chicago Boy. QB1 party. All are invited. Host of Fox Sports 1st, first thing first. Our old friend Danny Parkins said that you have to do a bad take audits,

where you audit all of your bad takes, and then you could find your bad. He can't get any sleep if he does that to himself. Danny's up all night. That's how he got that show on FS. Hey, Pat, he's on no doze. He's on no dose right now. Going over to that tape. The Bears, plenty of reason to doubt them.

Caleb Williams, no. Former host of 670 the score before he abandoned us. That's the Caleb Williams custom, baby. Jersey number one is going to the Raptors. You guys made it seem like a Chicago Bears fans. We had our guy, Danny Parkis, all these guys. Danny Parkins. on 104 3 the score.

Wait. Parko is a former score star, and we always look forward to talking to our guy here on Rahimi and Grotie on 1043, The Score. That's right. Check Danny out on First thing's first OT from 4 to 5 p.m. every day on FS1, and Danny is joining us on our video stream to watch. Search the Score Chicago on Twitch and on YouTube,

and that is where you will see Parko right now. Danny, boy, what's going on, man? man. Roady, Layla, it's great to be here. It's great to be back. It is true. I lose a lot of sleep, Olin, Pat. That was a good line, doing my own take audits of my bad takes.

That's an excellent point. I'll be back in Chicago for 20 hours this weekend, by the way. The brain up 5K is Saturday morning, Lake Villa Park down there on the lakefront. I'm going to raise a bunch of money. So hope some people will come out. We're going to do the check presentation. from the Radiothon, $805,000. So looking forward to be back in Chicago for just a few hours this weekend.

Why would you not stick around for the Bears game and put on like a ridiculous outfit and bring all sorts of attention to yourself at Holder Field? Danny, why? Well, I do that only for Bears Packers' playoff games. Going to NFL games kind of sucks. I don't enjoy it. I like to watch all of the games. And, you know, I got to get back. I got to coach Eli's four-year-old T-ball Sunday mornings.

And so I got a few weekend things the next couple of weeks where I'm going to be going away. So I've got to minimize the time away when I can. So going to Vegas in a couple of weeks. Got parents weekend in stores, Connecticut for nephew Jack in a couple of weeks. I got a lot going up. Okay. That's an East Coast hack since the games don't start until one. That's good time management out of you.

It is, except Owens games are at 2 p.m. on Sunday. And so I am confronted with the like, do I go and then just be the unattentive dad who's like watching games on my phone? Or do I not go and have Steph FaceTime me for his at baths? So his first one is the Sunday, so we'll figure it out. Oh my gosh. This is a debate. This is a parenting conundrum. Yeah.

I mean, listen, I'll be honest, like, for my, I have to watch the NFL. Like, it's not great. And so I don't, I don't want him to like, I think he understands that like daddy watches football for work or whatever. And so I, what I don't want is him to see me there and then see me distracted. So, you know, so I feel like that would send a worse message. Yeah. So I'm going to be picking and choosing based on the slate and the quality of the games, which games I attend versus which ones. I coached him last year, so I'm coaching Eli this year. So, you know, we'll figure it out. It is the part of the job that's hilarious to explain to people. Like, I have to watch, I can't go out to make because I have to watch the Cubs and White Sox. Well, just come on. We'll put the game on the TV.

No, it doesn't really work that way. Like, you can get away with that sometimes. Yeah, I will for a regular season baseball game. Well, yeah, yeah. But not, but not the NFL. And I understand that. And, Danny, while we're talking about audits, the audit so far, so good for you as it pertains to Caleb Williams. How much did you enjoy what you saw in game one from the Bears

of 5937 went over Carolina starring Caleb Williams, the 16th best quarterback in the league? You know, I just follow the leader. I just follow Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams, and they didn't seem all that impressed by it. I loved the quotes that came out of it so much. They were like, we should have had more points. We left points on the board. That'll be our worst game all year. Yeah, the worst game. You got a really great defense over there. It was so great.

I did a thing yesterday on the show. If the Bears had done that to the Eagles on Monday night football in two weeks and all of those same quotes would have came out of the game, even if they are truthful. They did leave points on the board in the first half. Luther Burden had the fumble on the opening drive.

Caleb Williams was talking about the operations. It'll be the worst game of the year. And Dave Canales did not take it as an insult their defense when he said that you have a great defense after he hung 59 on him. But if that would have been a standalone national TV game and all of those quotes would have come out after a 59 point ass beating that they put on another NFL team, everyone in the world would be talking about the arrogant bears, bulletin board material and how the bears are the villain.

And so I obviously loved it. And I loved how understated relatively they were to the performance. But you're right, Danny. We've talked about it too. We talked about it last year. Caleb Williams, don't give him a chance in the fourth quarter. He grew up idolizing Aaron Rogers. This idea of who Aaron Rogers was to the league. Now that he's in his last year, I do think he was one of the great villains of the league who was left. I do feel like you do. I've brought it up too. The bears have the chance to be that team. You don't want to see him coming even with a multi, multi-digit lead in the fourth quarter. We saw that happen. with the Packers? I do think the villain thing is taking shape here. Yeah, I think right now they're still very likable. They're very interesting. Their defense isn't very good. So, you know, I'm not sure how many people look at them as a legitimate like Super Bowl contender yet. But there's no question that if and when the Bears lose someone on the other team, especially depending on who the opponent is, is going to have some sort of postgame comment about, oh, I thought it was going to, I thought you were going to be

the 13 Broncos or I thought we were going for, you know, blowouts and shutouts and like the all-time wins record. Like, Ben Johnson is arrogant. He is cocky. And I say that as someone who can border on arrogant and cocky. Like I, I mean it as a compliment. I mean it as a compliment. It is a compliment. Like, if you think you are great and you are great and you perform at a great level, it's okay to call your shot and walk the walk if you can, like, talk to talk if you can walk the walk. okay, I respect that in high performers. And like, that's what Ben Johnson is. He doesn't want to be, like, included in the conversation of the best coaches in football. He wants to be considered the best coach in football. He doesn't want to be, like, among the best offenses. He wants to be the best offense. That is how you achieve greatness by holding yourself to completely unrealistic standards. And then even if you fall short of them, you still exceed everyone else's normal standards. What do you think about the thinking about, I should say, as it pertains to the bear's defense and the part and the dirty little secret that none of us really wants to talk about and that is the bear's defense. I mean, listen, I think we should talk about it.

Like, they were, they were in on Max Crosby. They were reportedly in on Vita Vaya before he resigned in Tampa. Like, you know, the Bears, if the Bears defense is just awful, then they're not going to do anything. If the Bears defense is merely bad, and they feel like they're a player or two from it being average and good enough with an elite offense, I think Ryan Poles will go out and do something. Like, you know, is that Joey Porter Jr. from the Steelers? Is that Kvon Tibido from the Giants? Is it Max Crosby?

If he has a good first four to eight weeks for the Raiders, like there are names that, you know, I can point to that would help the Bears that would help any defense. You know, I think the bills are going to be doing the same thing. the Cowboys might be doing the same thing. I think the Bengals might be doing the same. The Bears won't be the only team looking for a defensive mercenary to come in for a team with a high-level offense this year. But, you know, it's not going to, like, if Jalen Johnson plays like that again, like it's going to be moot. Like, he needs to be much better. Tyreek Stevenson needs to be much better. So, you know, the guys who you pay that are in their prime on defense, and I know Tyreek Stevenson hasn't gotten his big payday yet, but they used a big

draft pick on him. Like, the guys who are supposed to be your main guys need to be good. And a lot of them were not good in the opener in week one. Danny, I also want to ask you about all the props that you had. I've seen a lot of clips from First Things First this week. What was the favorite for you? Was it the sunglasses? Was it the chain? Was it the Blazer with the Ice Shards? Like, what's going on here? Well, the Blazer of the Ice Shards, I don't know anything about because that's Ice Man. I don't know. I don't know. I don't no Iceman. I've never been in the same room as Iceman. I can't believe that Kevin Wilds, Nick Wright, and Chris Brousard continue to get Iceman on the show. I am very jealous of them having Iceman, where his superpower is identifying all forms of disrespect towards Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears, and he's a great

defender of all the greatness that is Caleb Williams. So I can't wait to meet him, but I haven't had an opportunity to yet. And listen, Leila, you know, like I don't take what we do. I don't take what we do, I don't take what we do seriously, and I don't think that anybody else should either. So, yeah, whenever I can introduce some historiotics, some pranks, some hijinks, some props, and use Fox's spectacular prop budget, I'm going to push that to the limit. I did love that. Please tell Ice Fan that I am a fan. I can't wait. I can't wait to me.

I can't wait to me. I did hear that that costume took weeks of preparation, because I heard that those icicles are, stitched into the fabric of the suit. So it's quite an elaborate outfit, so I'm told. But again, I haven't seen it in person yet. So I can't really confirm that. As a football junkie, what excites you the most about the Brian Flores Ben Johnson matchup? How much of a mismatch it is in favor of Ben Johnson? Snap. Tell that to Ice Man. Hell yeah, man. Well, I mean, honestly, I think it's a little silly. Like, I think, I think Brian Flores is, obviously very good. He deserves another head coaching job. But I mean, Jordan Love destroyed them

for the first two and a half quarters of that game and then fell apart. Ben Johnson gives Caleb Williams the answers to the test. Ben Johnson is one of the best coaches in football. Ben Johnson is a significantly better coach than Brian Flores. Caleb Williams against the Blitz since Ben Johnson has been his coach. So week one of this year and all of last season. He has 1,601 passing yards against the Blitz. He is a pass rating of 107.1 against the Blitz. He is 8 yards per pass against the Blitz, and he has 19 touchdowns against three interceptions against the Blitz.

All of those are top seven in the NFL over that time frame against the Blitz. And the only player with more touchdowns against the Blitz is Matt Stafford, who won the MVP. So, like, Blitz Caleb Williams, 78% of the time he will put up 35 on you. Like, I am not concerned about that at all. And Ben Johnson is 5 and 1. against Brian Flores, even going back to his days with the Detroit Lions. So he has matched up well against him, the number say,

and they can get a lot more specific than that as well. Danny, I know you skip over baseball as much as you possibly can. But have you been... That's not true. It's a little true. Well, I know. I just want to see if you're spreading the good word of Pete Kroar Armstrong, who had another two home runs last night into triple-44 home runs,

37 stolen bases. Are you making sure that everybody gets a little... PCA and them just about every day out there. I've done a monologue. First things last on PCA for MVP a while ago. You know, we do a weekend update style thing where I slide onto the desk in a Cubs jersey at the end of Nick Wiles and Brew Show before I come on for first things, first overtime when PCA has a big game. Good work. And I do 30 to 45 seconds on PCA. Yeah, listen, I mean, you guys have talked about it at nauseam, but it's the idea of like a player basically just deciding,

I want to have plate discipline now. And doing it in the middle of a season is so absolutely obscene and insane and just not how it's supposed to work. I thought the piece about the new batting stance and the feet being closer together and the bat being a different spot on the shoulder and everything. The Wall Street Journal by Jared Diamond was really, really good. But it's just a, it's a spectacular natural athlete who has, you know, where it's clicked. and the game has slowed down for him, and he's going to end up running away with the MVP award amidst Shohay Otani's run as the best player in the sport.

So it's a pretty incredible thing. Well, and also, Danny, we were bringing this up earlier on the show. He's become must-watch TV every time he's at bat. I feel the same way about Caleb Williams. We do. And then you start to think, well, this is a special time where you've got two athletes in town who you feel that way about. Then you start to think about the rest of the country,

and that's not very common. You know, I thought about maybe Matt Stafford and Shohei Otani if that combination with Shohei were more healthy. If Aaron Judge were more healthy, perhaps in New York, he and Jalen Brunson. But to you, who somebody studies the national sports scene every day, I wonder what you think. Yeah, I mean, you know, Jailud Brunson is a god in New York at this point. So, you know, Aaron Judge and Brunson is definitely a good one. You know, Stafford, I don't know if he is like that show. stopping athlete. He clearly was the MVP last year, right? So having Shohei and Stafford have two

MVPs in a town is amazing. And you could add Luca to that mix. I think the Sixers are going to be a traveling circus this year out of Philadelphia. And those are rabid fans that now just saw the Knicks get their title. So that's one that would come to mind. Like LeBron's going to be a fascinating figure there once again. But yeah, I mean, it's a, that, video and that scene of all of those guys sitting in the first row behind the Cubs dugout was amazing. I was actually just looking at it this morning. Caleb Wilson's the favorite for rookie of the year, even though he was the fourth pick in a star-studded draft, which surprised me a little bit. Probably we'll still bet it.

But it was like, yeah, it's a good time to, you know, a million people have made the point before. But it's a good time to be a Chicago sports fan. ask one more question about the Bears? Yeah, absolutely. What you got for us, buddy? Do you, well, do you think people, like, are people giving the greatest offensive all-time thing credence? Are they taking it seriously in Chicago? I think, yeah. I think after the 59 points, yeah, you're like, Bears fans, hell yes, they are. Like, this has been, I don't remember, I mean, like, we always extend Bears games,

whether wins or losses, but people are holding onto this game like I've never seen. taking it very seriously. So yes, yes, I think people are taking that seriously. Good. No, they should. Like I saw one video, like, Ben Johnson was joking about, like, being the highest scoring offensive all time. It was like, no, he wasn't. Like, he was, he was definitely not joking. Well, Danny, this is the evidence for a lot of the things that he's been saying about wanting to embarrass teams. And I don't know if he necessarily accomplished that and running up scores and like just being relentless. Like, these are all the things, like, this wasn't the first time he said it. Like, you go back and read.

stories from last year that he wrote about what he wanted to do. Like you said, Danny, it's real and this is evidence. This legitimizes it. Yeah, he's, you know, the thing with Joniak about like the, you know, the thought, like he was like, yeah, I don't think you were the only one thinking about going for two to get to 60. He brought that back a little bit yesterday. Yeah, good.

But like, yeah, good. Because like, yes, but like, but, but do you, which do you believe? Like, do you believe that he thought about it? because I do. Like he blowouts, shutouts, highest scoring team of all times, score every time on the field. We haven't scored any points yet this week,

like knowing exactly how many points to the decimal point, the Broncos average to be the highest scoring team, knowing to the game what the win streak is for season over season for the 0304 paths, that the all-time win streak is 21 consecutive games. And now that they've scored 59 points, in order to be the highest scoring offense, the history of the sport. They have to average 34.2 points the rest of the way, which has been done

by one, two, three, four, seven teams in the Super Bowl era. Like, it is, is it likely? Of course not. But it is possible. And what's so amazing about that, and I could do two hours on this. But like, if you asked anyone, like, do the bears have top five wide receivers in the NFL? They'd say no. Do they have a top five offensive line? the NFL. Probably not, maybe top 10. Do they have a top five quarterback in the NFL? I don't think people would say yes yet. But the fact that they can be the best offense in the league and one of the greater offenses of all time, and that's not like a completely ridiculous notion speaks to how special Ben Johnson is as a coach. He went for it on fourth down on his own 20. So that's a guy.

And that's partly about the defense, right? Yeah, yes. That's partly about the defense. But it's also like he's, he, they built an offense to be great and to be hyper-aggressive. And by the way, like, Declan Doyle in Baltimore, Ben's guy. That was the best game of Zay Flowers' career in his first game with Declan Doyle. And Derek Henry was getting to the outside and Lamar Jackson looked amazing. And it was like, these guys being killers and like, Sean McVeigh is a great offensive mind, but he's a little conservative in-game. Like, Ben Johnson's a great offensive mind.

mind and psychotically aggressive in game. And I think that that lends itself to a much higher ceiling. Danny, enjoy Chicago for 20 hours this weekend. We'll look forward to talking to you next week, brother. Anytime, guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Danny.

Good morning, Stacey. How were you? Good morning. I could feel Jared's energy. He's just dancing in there. It's feeling good this week, right? Best. Stacey, it feels good when I'm watching this bear's offense put up numbers in

historic fashion. and puts a smile on my face because everything that Ben Johnson was talking about and Caleb Williams and guys on this offense, it came to life in week one. The biggest question is, can they, not the same thing, but can they kind of recreate that

against a good Vikings defense with Brian Flores at the helm? It's a totally different opponent. And Brian Flores, as you guys know, there's two coordinators defensively. I have so much respect across this league for all of these play callers on both sides of the football. well, but there are a couple that I just continuously come back to.

Jim Schwartz, obviously, who's just, he's so lethal with pressures. And we're not getting to see the beauty of his play calling this year after, you know, he departed from Cleveland last year. And then Brian Flores. And it's really remarkable. You know, you go back and look at the numbers. And since last season, I think it's roughly a 52% blitz rate against quarterback dropbacks. That elevated to 78.

percent against Jordan Love. It is remarkable. They play a ton of zone coverage, obviously. I think they were in man at one of the lowest rates of roughly 13 percent against the Packers. So they want to keep you in front and they want to bring all that pressure. They also love to live with a stacked box. And the problem is, is they're going to face a quarterback, Jarrett and David and Caleb Williams, who threw two touchdowns against what I consider a pretty good revamped defensive front with these Carolina Panthers, and it's just week one, of course. We'll pump the brakes a little bit.

But he threw two touchdowns. He was 9 of 14 against Carolina's blitz, and he had a 138 passer rating against the blitz. So Brian Flores is sitting there this week, you guys, to your question, JP, and he is thinking to himself, scratching his head, like, what am I going to do against Caleb Williams, this dynamic run game, which was incredibly impressive,

and all of these perimeter eligibles that are so dangerous in open space? What do you think the Bears defense can do to make this a game that can compliment the offense? It didn't really happen. Stacey in Carolina, 37 points. We focus so much on the offense, but certainly the concerns lie in Dennis Allen's group ability to, I think, make some corrections and be a little bit stingier against the Vikings. Well, you better circle Justin Jefferson because, I mean, Dennis Allen's defense in week one, play the the second highest rate of man defense in the league, right around 50%, excuse me, 42% of man coverage.

And that is exactly what Justin Jefferson wants. And how are you going to allocate your safeties to defend him? So you better circle him because I think Carson Went should probably be the guy. I don't know how severe or significant or what the protocols stand as today, as of today for Kyler Murray and his concussion. But so presumably it would be just Carson Wentz. And he has an incredible relationship throwing the football to Justin Jefferson. He was the best of all four.

I think they played four quarterbacks last year in Minnesota. He had the best success with Justin. And that is the concern for the Bears after what we saw defensively. And I think we knew guys going into this season as I had multiple conversations about this past rush for Chicago. It was going to be a combination. nation of a unit rush up front. And the numbers speak to that. I mean, Grady Jarrett actually had the most pressures for Chicago against Carolina. He had four. Austin Booker had three, Tess had three, and Dio had two. So they're sharing that load up front, but you've got a tee off. We know Carson

Wench is a statue in there. I always liken his size to Ben Rafflesberger. That's how big he is. And you got to find a way to hit him and knock him down in this game. It's going to be tough, Stacey. I mean, you think about the two rookies that had big impacts on the defense with Malik Muhammad and also Dylan Thineman, especially in coverage for making some bracket coverage to be able to help over the top. That's going to put a lot of focus on Dylan Thineman in week two. Yeah.

And you know, that's a great point, JP, because the Bears love to sit in single high and the responsibility that you bear as a rookie in this league, although I thought he was very impressive. This was not an outstanding performance. I think everybody would agree defensively. I mean, Bryce Young looked awesome. Their offense, I mean, I'm sitting in Detroit watching this thing, you guys. I've got all my screens up in the press box, and I'm watching this Bears game go back and forth. And the scoring in week one across the league was exceptional. It was dynamic. It was so much fun as a fan of football to watch it. But, you know, the Carolina Panthers simply couldn't keep pace.

And I don't know, you know, with this change at quarterback, if Carson Wentz is the guy, because he's been very sporadic in his career. You guys know that. He can throw a beautiful deep ball, and he can also throw some that just don't look right all the time. So pressure is important in that mix. And although, back to your point, JP, I thought Thineman had a nice showing in his first outing and debut in the NFL.

We know you were on the Zoom conference on Monday. Your exchange went a little viral with Ben Johnson just because it was one of those awkward moments. But Stacey, aside from that, what did you hear from the coach of the Bears that made you feel like this was something that he was very highly anticipating? The chess match with Brian Flores, the respect that I think both guys have for each other and how great this is all going to be for everyone watching. This is maybe one of the games of the week.

I mean, this is what you live for in the football world. And by the way, that exchange with Phil, it's sometimes hard to do these zooms. Phil's an awesome guy, and I think he's an outstanding journalist. And sometimes you get delays. I froze a couple times on my own feed. So they are tricky.

So I'll just say that about Phil. And, you know, I won't be able to head out to Hallis Hall today, going to New York to do big day with Peter Schroger tomorrow. But I am going to try to hit up the Bears on Friday. And I want to feel the energy build. And I want to feel the plan. And that's what I keep coming back to with Ben Johnson. Ben Johnson, I've said this to you guys from the beginning.

When he became the head coach of the Chicago Bears, he is so incredibly strategic. And right down to the details at the heart of, I don't know if anybody did a better job than ensuring his players, his starters, so all 22 and change, hit their benchmarks for reps this preseason. And I felt that offensively from them. When I went back and I watched the game, most of the game on Monday, because I am covering it this week, I felt like it was so precise offensively. It was almost shocking to me. The ability to run the football, the ability up front to win in the trenches with this offensive line and all the questions we had about left tackle. And this is a really good group. And these running backs are incredible. They're outstanding.

And they change the way that you defend because they're both different. Swifty is different than Manungi. And the use of the tight ends. And, you know, Colston Loveland and what he does in the blocking game. And I loved when Courtney brought up, you know, no block, no rock. It's something that Ben lives by. And he again told us that when she asked the question on Monday. It started in Miami for him. And this is the heart and soul of their team. And gosh, when you can run the ball to the tune of nearly 300 yards, guys, the last team that ran it 300 plus for Chicago, JP, how about them 84 bears? Got to go all the way back to 84, Stace. Week two, week two. And I think you know who had a hand in that, my friend. So, yeah. So this is, these are some good times. It's just

Week one, we have to be cautiously optimistic. I think everybody in the league does. We saw some just outstanding offense. We saw the Baltimore Ravens. We saw the Buffalo Bills. Teams were putting up some numbers. And even with this game that we saw Minnesota and Green Bay, Green Bay scored now, and they blew a lead. So I think when you go back and you look at the numbers, you know, one thing that stands out is Ryan Flores' group gave up some yards now. And I cannot wait. to see how Caleb and Ben attack this thing because you know it's going to be a strategic plan. Well, Stacey, we had the conversation earlier about Colson Loveland just being a bigger part of this offense in week two. But Kleefe Raymond was also a big factor in week one.

And with the blitz that Minnesota likes to bring, a guy in a slot like that could have a big day if they're trying to get the ball out quick. Do you see that maybe being the case? No question about it. No question. Now, we'll see how they stack the box guys and we'll see how they decide to allocate those resources to getting pressure. But, you know, when I go back to training camp and I always reflect back to times that I've shared or spent observing things, there was rarely an occasion on the sideline. I didn't see Caleb Williams at some point talk with Khalif Raymond. They were like two BFFs over on the side, constantly talking. And if you recall, Khalif was one of the guys who

reminded Caleb early in camp. Yes. You needed to change. Check your body language because, hey, I've been in this thing for, what, nine years, whatever it is. And Holy Cross, undrafted? Come on now. Is it Holy Cross? Yes, I think it is. I've got to go back and check. I was incredibly impressed by that pairing immediately. And I think of Alamede Zakias and kind of how he was a veteran last year. I feel like Khalif Raymond has stepped into that. And he is so fast. And he is so quick. And he is so smart. And so this is really a nice assembly of eligibles for Caleb Williams, who, gosh, you know, Ben alluded to this on Monday, you guys. This guy's clocking. No quarterback since last season has more scrambles at 20 plus miles per hour than Caleb Williams.

It's incredible. And it doesn't even look like he's really moving because he's so smooth. And I just go back to his base. If you watch Caleb work the pocket, you just watch him out there at practice, again, the eye test. he's got like powerful legs and that is something Aaron Rogers always had. Rogers has an incredible base and was able to generate so much momentum from the pocket from his midsection down and Caleb just has that but then he has this level of next gear speed that is just so difficult because you think about Brian Flores this week right?

Am I going to risk letting this guy beat us outside the pocket? I think they got to keep him in there, you guys. I think they have to keep Caleb inside the pocket at all costs and try to make somebody else beat him. That's easier said than done, though. We were saying similar things, though. You've got to be very careful, but how aggressive you come after them. Yeah, you can't. You can bring the pressure, but you got to get home.

If you don't get home, he's shown you that that speed and finding ways to have that awareness because Stacey, he's always keeping his eyes down the field. And it's a special. knack that he has in his game that is deadly to defenses. There's no question about it. And you know, Josh Allen has this too. Like Caleb is elite, man. He is an elite quarterback.

And he is one thing I've noticed and I went when I went back and watched this game Monday, he does not look puzzled anymore to me, right? You've heard Ryan Poles talk about and I had these conversations in training camp where it was like white knuckles on the wheels and you're just like, everything is you're just drowning your heads just above water. Caleb looks so much more sure. He doesn't look as puzzled. The use of play action, by the way, I mean, the play action rate for the bears.

Remember last year at this time? And him getting used to being under center more, that's gone. Like, he has figured so much out so rapidly. I am so impressed with the teaching, the willing to be taught, the willingness to be taught and putting it into practice because that's all you want as a coach or a competitor, right? Can I learn it once? Can I go out and do it?

Can I put time on task and do you see it manifest? We saw it in week one and we'll see if it continues this coming Sunday against the Vikings. Stacey, before we let you go, because of the place you hold in your profession and how much your opinion is respected, I wanted you to comment on Arch Manning's apology, the Texas quarterback who stepped forward yesterday after being caught in a moment where he was immature and he laughed at the depiction, the AI depiction of Steve Sarkisian hitting Holly Roe, a friend of yours and a colleague in the profession. And Arch was at a press conference and the room was uncomfortably comfortable with that moment and there was laughter and he apologized for it

yesterday. What did you think of the apology? And do you think that Holly Ro handled things the way that she should have. I thought it was an incredibly heartfelt apology as somebody who is a colleague in this business and I have to understand something, some layers to this. When I was a rookie in the WNBA, Holly was working out of Utah as an analyst and she was covering me. So that was my first interaction as a player with Holly. And my first game shadowing anybody in college football for ESPN was Holly Roe. And she was so good to me. And she, this was all the way back to the University of Connecticut where I just, I went to a game and I just kind of watched her work.

And I see all the places she is and shows her work ethic is really unparalleled and it's respected. And it goes back to the Sarcesian interview that he didn't do. Now, in his defense, he's emotional. You just beat Ohio State the way you did. And I understand that. And so that was one element, although I think he should have done the interview. However, it didn't happen.

Well, that trickled into the laughter and the jokes. I think Archmanon is awesome. I think he's a great quarterback. I think he's going to be fun to watch and grow and develop. And look at his jeans where he comes from. I don't think it was ill-intended what happened. I think it had a bad look. And I felt upset because Holly was taking a lot of bullets on Monday.

And so I try to hold back sometimes because I am passionate. And I do know how hard sideline reporting it is. It is a very hard job. And you are the, you are two, three percent of the broad. which is totally okay. But you are there to find something that may happen that they need somebody at. And that's the sole purpose of it. And I think Holly tries and she works hard at it. And I would say that for any of the reporters at her level. So that's where I came from. I love the apology. I thought it was handled well and I'd like to move on. I don't want this to trickle in next week for

Arch. He's going to be fun to watch to develop. And I don't think he had an ill intention in his his words, although sometimes in this world we live in now, it can come across as such. And I just wish, fellas, people were nicer. I wish we had a nicer culture in society because it would sure help our hearts and our souls to have better days. I'll just say that. Great perspective, Stacey. Thanks a lot for your time.

Thank you guys. Stacey Dales from the NFL Network and ESPN.