The Josh Innes Show - Are The Bears Actually Good?

Episode Date: October 14, 2025

We often talk about the crappy teams and the QB's who are never going to amount to anything. I'm actually a Caleb Williams truther and I think the Bears could actually be good. Why? Because no one is actually really good. So, why not the Bears? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Introducing the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus, powered by Peloton IQ, built for breakthroughs with personalized workout plans, real-time insights, and endless ways to move. Lift with confidence, while Peloton IQ counts reps, corrects form, and tracks your progress. Let yourself run, lift, flow, and go. Explore the new Peloton cross-training tread plus at OnePeloton.C.A. So last night, the bills got beaten by the Falcons, and really the game wasn't all that close. It was like a 10-point game, but it felt like the bills were always, I mean, they literally were always playing catch-up in the game. But again, you watched that game last night, and you ask yourself, who are the actual good teams in the NFL?

Who are the dominant teams? Who's going to be there? We're through the month of September. We're midway through October. are the teams that are legit? Who are the teams you think could win the whole thing? Who are the teams right now that you're circling go, holy shit, they're a juggernaut. And those teams do not exist.

Let's play a couple commercials. We'll get into that. Yeah, I don't know who those good teams are. I don't know who are the teams that you look at and you circle and go, these teams are really good. Like, Buffalo is fine. But, like, Buffalo defensively is not that good. Like, if you look at what they've done, their point differential is 30.

They've given up 137 points this year with Buffalo. That's fine. It's not terrible. But, I mean, juxtapose that to the Broncos who've given up 95, the Texans who've given up 61 points. Like, I get competition matters, all that, who you've played, who you're, like, I get it. But look around the NFL and find me the team that you circle and go, that team's a juggernaut. That team's a beast. That team can beat anybody.

That team is going to, that's, like, let me again, go through the A. I get we do this every week. Do you believe the Patriots are a juggernaut? No, well, they're four and two. They have the second best record in the AFC. The bills, do you think they're a juggernaut? No, they're four and two. Does anybody truly believe in the Steelers?

Absolutely not. They're four and one. The Colts are five and one. They seem pretty good, but could you see a world where the Colts fall off a cliff? Sure. They've scored 194 points of the Colts. Like, they're out there. You know, just to compare 194 points, the next highest number in the AFC is the bills with 167.

Again, I'm just looking at these teams and I'm trying to figure out what team do we really believe is that good. And maybe that team doesn't exist and maybe that's a good thing because you just don't know who's going to win the whole thing. But look around. And then you look at some of the teams that have shitty records and you go, I think that team could beat someone if things are figured out. Again, I go back to the Texans. the Texans can prevent a lot of teams from scoring right

so if you can stop teams from scoring you can find ways to win yeah the Texans offense has been putrid and yeah among teams in the AFC there's only like three teams that have scored fewer points than them and those teams are teams like the Titans and teams like the Browns so I get that

but as far as AFC football goes they're in a team that's close to giving up as few as they have at 61 so again You look around the league and you ask yourself who is good. What teams in the NFL are good? Is Denver good? They're fine. But on any given week, I can see Denver winning to someone and losing to someone.

There isn't a team that I would circle right now and go, that team is exponentially better than everyone. And it's obvious they're exponentially better than everyone. And they are clearly head and shoulders above the pack. And you know what's inevitably going to happen and it sucks. is that the Chiefs are going to be back there again despite the fact that we hate the Chiefs and they are the worst.

Again, put yourself in a playoff spot, and let's say you've got Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs and you've got Josh Allen in the playoffs. Who are you taking to win that game? Who's going to advance farther? Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen, and you know it's going to be Patrick Mahomes. So the fact that anybody even gets excited about the Buffalo Bills

and anybody says, oh, look out, this is the year for the Buffalo Bills. It's not. It will never be the year for the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo Bills. As long as Patrick Mahomes is breathing and as long as the chiefs are in the playoffs, it will never be Josh Allen's year. You can say it and you can wish it and you can hope it and you can talk about how you like him and that his fiancee, his wife is far more appealing and less annoying than Taylor Swift and you can talk about how you hate the Kelsey's. That's all great. We all know this when we watch the bills play. The bills are at some point

going to lose and it's probably going to be the Kansas City in the playoffs. And until it happens, are ever going to circle that and go, yep, this is the Josh Allen year. Only delusional Buffalo Bills people will tell you that this is the year for the bills. It's never going to happen. Patrick Mahomes is your Freddie Kruger. He is your boogeyman. He is your Michael Myers. You shot him six times and he fell off the little porch and he still got up and you couldn't find him.

Then you look around the NFC. Are the Eagles good? Not really. The Eagles have a negative point differential. Fun fact, the Eagles have a negative point differential. It's only negative one, but the Eagles have a negative point differential. Are the Packers really all that good? Not really.

I like the Lions, but they were a no-show against Kansas City the other night. I love the Buccaneers. At some point things will even out, and these three-point miracle wins will turn into three-point miracle losses. That's just the way this shit goes and eventually evens out. I love them. And when they're healthy, their offense is. is disgusting, and Baker has brass balls, just fucking

cantalope-sized balls, and I love the guy. But do I really believe the Buccaneers with Baker-Mayfield are going to win the Super Bowl? No. Look, the Falcons and the Panthers in the NFC South, the worst division in football, right? It's supposed to be. Oh, the Panthers are three and three, and the Falcons are three and two.

Again, those teams aren't very sustainable. The Panthers are 14 points negative in the point differential, but still, Point being in all of this is there's no team I look at and go, wow, this team is clearly better than everybody else. Now it's October. Come November, maybe things will shake out.

You know what's going to happen come November? We're going to be looking at the chiefs again. That's the part that's maddening is we're going to sit here in November and we're going to say, holy shit, the chiefs are good. I see it. I foresee it. I hate them. But that's what's going to happen. And they're going to continue to haunt the dreams of teams like the bills.

And that's just what they do until something changes. That's going to continue to be the case. and that is despicable and gross and I hate it. But that is inevitably what is going to happen. Ew. Yeah, but watching those games last night, the Bears are an interesting team. They're three and two.

They're in the most arguably the most competitive division in the NFL where all the teams are above 500 and the North and the NFC. Like, I kind of like Caleb. Like, I haven't written him off. Like, there are some dudes you watch and you write them off and you're like, I just don't think this guy's ever going to be any good. I don't feel that way about Caleb. Like, I think the guy can be a baller.

He's got huge weapons. We know that. Like, I think he could be good. I think he's got potential to be a stud still. Like, I don't know that, like, Bo Nix to me is never going to be a stud. Like, I think Bo Nix can be a solid quarterback. I think he's fine. I like Bo Nicks.

He's fine. But I don't look at Bo Nix and go, that guy's a potential stud. I look at that guy and say, all right, he's a product. like to Sean Peyton and Sean Peyton's done it with Drew Breeze and why couldn't he do it with Bo Knicks and I just don't see enough out of Denver's offense to make me go hey I think Bo Knicks is a legit superstar there I think Caleb's got it I don't know if he's ever going to fully figure it out but I think he's got the talent to do it and he's got the weapons to do it and now he's got the offensive coach to do it I haven't written him off a lot of

guys that's easy to write off like I'm watching Dylan Gabriel and And maybe this isn't fair. I watch Dylan Gabriel, and I'm like, I don't think this guy's ever going to be good. I don't know why they drafted this guy. And maybe he will be. Maybe I'll be wrong. But I don't look at Dylan Gabriel and go, that guy's a future start. Now, it's important to note.

When you watched Baker Mayfield play for the Browns, you didn't feel that way either. And now Baker Mayfield plays for Tampa, and he's a rock star, and he's slinging the ball all over the yard. It could just be the Cleveland thing. Maybe Cleveland is just, as we know, the place where quarterbacks go to die and in this case to never be to never live and perhaps that's what we're dealing with with guys like Dylan Gabriel maybe he will never be worth a shit because he's in Cleveland and they can go off to somewhere in the right situation and the right weapons and be a rock star you know who knows but I think Caleb is good do I think the bears are like good

good not really but they've won three in a row they're playing better football in those three in a row. They had one game where they just got smoked. That was that game against the Lions. But outside of that, they've been competitive in every game. They've played good football in every game. They should have won their opener before they blew it down the stretch, right? They could very well be a four-in-one football team. You start to look at sleeper type teams. Like, if you get the bears on the schedule with the head coach they have that's a play calling mastermind and the weapons they have on the offensive side of the ball, Swift, Adunze, DJ Moore commets pretty good.

Loveland still hasn't popped yet, but they've got players. Oh, and by the way, Luther Burden is getting involved in their offense now. He's getting three, four catches a game and putting up big time numbers for them. So he's a threat. They have threats all over the field for the Bears. Like you talk about teams that, like, you see them on the schedule before the season starts and you think, hey, we got a shot to win that. And then you actually see what they have coming up and you go, oh, shit, they got some ballers.

And by the way, look at the bear's schedule. the bears have the Saints which should be a win the Ravens who we don't know if they're going to have Lamar or not and if they don't have Lamar that's a win the Bengals who have fucking Joe Flacco that's a win the Giants should be a win Vikings who knows what their quarterback situation is going to be when they play them they've got a stretch here to do the bears where the bears have a legit shot at this thing and by the way the bears should have beaten the Vikings in week one they were crushing the Vikings in week one and they're and had a bad fourth quarter.

The Bears are a team to circle. And, of course, it could just be recency bias. And yes, they've won three in a row. And the teams they've beaten aren't all that impressive. But the commanders are a pretty good team. The Cowboys are a team that can score a shitload of points, and the Bears held them to 14. But they should beat the Saints at home this week.

The Saints are not good. And if Lamar's not back, they should crush the Ravens. Like, there's a legit possibility. We're talking five and two bears. Then the Bengals, who are not going to have Joe Burrow back, by November 2nd and who knows what they're going to be with Flacko. Like there's a legit possibility we're talking six and two bears when they take on the Giants who I get that I love my dude Jackson Dart, love him.

But like they're not doing huge things offensively with him and maybe in five weeks they will. But so far they've just kind of done it with smoke and mirrors with him. I made a couple of big plays when he's had to, but it's been nothing overly impressive. the bears should be circling this little stretch here and saying we got to come out of this at worst with six wins because they're at three and two right now and you've got the saints the ravens the bengals the giants the Vikings like you could win three of these games three of the next five and you're a six-win team you're a six and four team through ten games the bears can play and if their defense gets stingy

I get the lions embarrassed them outside of that. They've been in every game, and they should have beaten the Vikings. And Caleb can sling it. I'm not saying they're a contender. What I'm saying is that they're at least a team that you circle and go look out. The bears are one of those teams. I don't buy that the Redskins are the Redskins. The commanders are one of those teams.

I don't believe that. The Falcons have weapons, too. If the Falcons get it figured out, if my guy pinnicks figures shit out, and I know that's an easy thing to say, But with the weapons they have on offense, you get them in that dome and get them going. Like they've got, look what they did the bills. Like how many yards did London have last night? Like 1,000 and like 15 catches?

What did Bejohn do on the ground? Like 170 yards? Like the Falcons are another one of those teams too that I don't circle as a contender, but could be a team that could rattle off four or five wins in a row and be threatening for a buy. That's the kind of team they are too. So anyway, more to come.