How are you feeling about the Bears' defense ahead of the season opener?

0:00Hey, I arrived almost here. Are you ready? Just grabbing my shoes. That's what you said 10 minutes ago. I just wrapped a video call, uploading this giant file on my tablet, looking at my watch group and Nana's with the group chat, and of course, still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once? Yep, story of my life. That's why I switched to D-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. Okay, multi-tasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more, I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload. That's a sign you've got to get D-Mobile. So many reasons to join D-Mobile. Find yours at T-Mobile.com Fastest based on analysis by Uclos Beat Distant Intelligence data of national speed score results in incorporating 5G download to upload speeds for the first half of 2026.

1:25You know what's up on Rahimi and Grody on 1043, the score today. You are 100% absolutely listening to a four seasons heating, air conditioning, plumbing, sewer and electric, football, Friday, presented by your local Ford dealers and Advent. We will act accordingly today. Lots of football and bears. We've got Kevin Fishbane at 1025 from the athletic. He'll be with us all year. At 11 o'clock, the former NFL safety Eugene Robinson will be on with us. He is also part of the Carolina Panthers radio network. We'll do predictions. We'll talk about Caleb. We'll talk about offense.

2:26We'll talk about defense. Layla, we'll do it all. How you doing on a football Friday on the score and Rahimi and Grody? It's about time. I still can't quite wrap my head around it. It doesn't really hit for me until the first real game, which I don't think was yesterday. And I don't think it was the day before that. That we'll get to it. They tried. I told you guys, I didn't want Niners and Rams to be ruined by travel and low and behold, it was ruined by travel. Be here for five on it at noon because Layla will have much more to say about that. Hey, one team showed up yesterday. The Brock Purti team showed up yesterday. The Mike Evans, Debel Samuel, the Marcus Robinson team showed up last night. They also showed up days in advance, which is why they looked like they had slipped. The forever conundrum with the travel. I remember we went through all of this with the Bears going to London. Should they go early, which they did? Should they go late? What's better? What is better for the team? Is it you act normal? Who's going to be more prepared for week two?

3:26We'll get into more of that in five on it. But Layla, I think that the consensus of the Chicago Bears, if there is one thing that we all seemingly agree on, it is that the biggest question mark on this team and maybe even the part of this team, this Bears team, that will make it or break it, will dictate how far you go or don't go in the postseason this year is the defense. Do you think we're on the right track? Are we at a consensus that is the defense that we truly need to zero in on if we are to talk about a potentially successful Chicago Bears season? Well, I think what the Bears are hoping for is that their offense is so much better that the defense isn't as much of a question. That's where the investment has been. That's where the personnel focus has been. Even in the draft, you could argue they added a lot to the offense when they could have added more to the defense. And then they trade away, guys like Jervon Dexter, late in the preseason process.

4:28So they've told you that has been the focus. Ben Johnson is your head coach. The secret's out. You know that this is more offensive minded team. So I still think they're leaning on that for the majority of their success. The question is, is this defense going to do enough? Enough. Ben don't break whatever you want to call it to be able to survive the injuries in the secondary. The lack of a pass rush last year, somehow turning into with the backups you signed. And Jordan Vanderberg, hopefully, being the guy you thought he was in the preseason, is all of that going to help you get to a place where you feel better about the team's defensive unit? And I don't know that I'm there yet. Question Mark for me is, is the defense going to be good enough? I'm not even asking for good. Right. I'm just asking for better than in the lower third of the league when it came to the important defense and metrics, which is what they were last season. Can you be the 18th best defense? Can you be what the Carolina Panthers were last year?

5:29The 16th best defense. Can you have more than 35 sacks as you had last year? By the way, Carolina had 30, but they did more discernible things to up their defense this year with a couple of guys that they added, obviously, in Jalen Phillips and Devon Lloyd. I was listening to it, and I know you were this morning as well, to the Bears' defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen. And I thought that by not saying very much, he was saying a lot, as the Bears' defensive coordinator met with the media yesterday, and shared his observations on the Bears' defense from last year to this year. I think it's still to be determined. I mean, we've had three preseason games, a couple of joint practices. We've had a training camp. I think the guys are buying into how we have to play defense. I think there's still some things that we're learning on in terms of exactly what to do and everything.

6:32But how we play in the speed that we have to play at, I think our guys are buying into that and our guys are playing hard. Listen, I like where we're at, and yet we'll find out more after Sunday. It's important to point out, too, and that's Bears' defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen, right there, that the question that he was asked at the beginning of that is, who is your defense going to be better this year than it was last year? And he says, right off the bat, it is to be determined. That is about as honest of an answer as you are going to hear from him or anybody else out at Halislaw, because he very well could have said, oh yeah, we're excited about our linebackers this year. We've got the rookie first rounder Dylan Thineman out there. We've got Monteswet coming off at double digit sackier. He could have gone the cheerleader route, just saying the positives for the sake of saying the positives. But he's right about that. I said it, look, the Dervon Dexter thing, I don't know if you are a better defensive line without Dervon Dexter.

7:38But I am excited to see what these new faces on the Bears' defensive line can do. I am like everybody else, excited about what I saw from Jordan Van der Berg, the rookie. I am excited about what we saw in training cap from Contavia Street. I am excited about Neville Gallimore coming off a pretty good year last year and what he might add. I am excited about Jaden Loving because he stood out in the practices that I went to. So I am excited. I've turned the corner a little bit on the defensive line, but I don't know. These are all what ifs. What if Van der Berg is really good when the lights come out? I don't know if he's going to be. I don't know if Neville Gallimore is an ascending player at this point. I don't know what we saw from Jaden Loving will translate actually to real NFL games. I feel even be dressed on opening day for the Chicago Bears is James Lynch, some sort of revelation. While I'm excited to see the new guys from what I saw in camp, I don't know.

8:38It's to be determined as Dennis Allen said. I'm going to say this, Laila, last thing that I'll say about this, the position group that I am pretty convinced about with the Chicago Bears on defense is the linebackers. I like to Marco Jackson, two great games last week in particular where he was NFC player of the week. I am excited about Devon Bush and I know Tremaine Edmunds had an excellent year last year, but I think Bush is a little bit better. Getting to see TJ Edwards look like TJ Edwards in the last preseason game was heartening for me. I'm excited about that position group right there, but it feels like the rest of it is, Per Dennis Allen, to be determined. We don't even know what's actually being determined when it comes to the depth chart. We have the unofficial depth chart, which I just pulled out of my backpack. The Bears defense on the unofficial depth chart has Montesweck, Grady Jarrett, Contevius Street. Do you think the Contevius Street is going to be the guy on Sunday starting?

9:38I asked this to Herb. Herb Howard when he was at Hallis Hall and joined us with a report yesterday. So Herb. We were trying to figure it out. Okay, well, that's a case. What's the snap count looking like? How much are you going to have to rotate these guys in and out to maybe just also get that tempo, get that pace, get everybody the experience they need. We don't know the rotation yet. It's a great point. And so when we don't even know that, I appreciate Dennis Allen telling the truth because this is a Bears team that if you look again, Mark, and you've got the numbers as well as anybody else, let's just start with the obvious one, 29th in the NFL in a loud yards per game in the regular season. We know the run defense was bad. They know we didn't run, they didn't rush the pass or enough. How comfortable are you going to let Bryce Young get on Sunday? And that is really going to be a key in this. The Bears want to start fast and score fast, but they're defense. You've got to be able to keep off the field too. Those two go hand in hand and I really hope the plan works on Sunday.

10:39Hey, all right. It's almost here. Are you ready? Just grabbing my shoes. That's what you said 10 minutes ago. I just wrapped a video call uploading this giant file on my tablet, looking at my watch group and Nana's with the group chat, and of course still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once? Yep, story of my life. That's why I switched to team mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. Okay, multi-tasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more, I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload. That's a sign you've got to get team mobile. So many reasons to join team mobile. Find yours at teamable.com. Fastest based on analysis by Uglospeed Distant Intelligence data of national speed score results in cooperating 5G download and upload speeds for the first half of 2026.

11:39Nice! Today's episode is sponsored by NerdWellIt's Smart Money Podcast. Every Google and Money question and end up 12 tabs deep with 12 different answers. This podcast is your shortcut back to clarity. NerdWellIt's Smart Money Podcast breaks down financial decisions with a team of trusted journalists. They explain the why behind decisions like investing, home buying, and choosing credit cards with clear research-backed insights. No jargon, no misinformation. Make your next financial move with confidence. Follow NerdWellIt's Smart Money Podcast on your favorite podcast app. Aging control systems can increase downtime and risk. Greybar helps you plan the right automation upgrades to improve reliability and prepare for what's next. Yep, Greybar does that. I like some of the the chance. We'll get into this as the show goes on, but specifically the Bears' defense against the offensive line of Carolina. Their inside guys, their guards are really good, but their tackles are suspect with Monroe Freeling and Rashid Walker having to step up for the injured players

12:41in Tyler Moten and Iqou McQuanu out as well for the Carolina Panther. So that's an interesting storyline to keep an eye on and if they can take advantage of that Montess wet. This segment is being brought to you by almostfreeteeth.com save on dental implants today. Dennis Allen continued to discuss his expectations for the defensive line for this season. At the end of the day, you know, I want our guys to go out there and play hard, play fast, play physical, and execute their assignments. And then look, if it's a physical thing, then, you know, that happens in Arley, you know, everybody here gets paid, everybody's under contract. So sometimes there's some physical things that take place and guys make plays, but I want our guys to be relentless. And, you know, at the end of the day, however many plays it takes, 60 plays, 70 plays, 80 plays, whatever the case may be, you know, hopefully if we continue to play with the relentless intensity

13:47and we force the offense to have to execute, that's ultimately what we're looking for. Everybody wants relentless intensity. So he's just using those words. He doesn't know, well, he probably has a better idea than he's letting on right now. But you want to see sweat break through early. You want to see Austin Booker break through. And I'm intrigued, Layla, if not optimistic about Diode Angbo, because he's just got to be good, right? He's just got to be better. There's a lot of that with the defense. Are you optimistic or are you just wishing for something? No, well, I'm optimistic. I guess maybe this is naive of me, basing it on one preseason game where he made a couple of plays and had that quarterback hit, I believe, was in the second preseason game where it was like, okay, there's an idea of what Ryan Poles told me the first time I asked about him, watch how he interrupts games, even if he's not getting the gaudy sack numbers, which he did not do in Indianapolis, he invited me to watch the tape, see what he does, and he was interrupted in that particular game. So it was a sign of life, I guess, and I'm buying it to a certain degree.

14:50I don't think it's a secret that they signed him based on his quarterback pressures and what his potential was. I don't think that at all, but that wasn't a secret. That was what they thought that if he had that kind of potential when it came to his pressures and just how he looked making the offense look different, then that was going to be something that turned into more of a pass rush. But the bottom line isn't hasn't. So prove me wrong on Sunday, show me how motivated you are and how this helps. And we've gotten questions, well, what about Carolinas tackles being injured? If they can run it up the middle, like a lot of teams did against the bears last year, I don't know how much that's going to hurt him. Well, that's the issue. Well, I said that's, I mentioned that in the fact that the good guards are really good. I was answering a question on the text line. Oh, I got you. But the point is, you know, Mark, it helps, but not if you have an alternate gameplay and that's successful against a team that didn't do either well last year. Truth, opening week on the score is presented by hands-free sketchers,

15:51slippens, just step in and go. Let's keep the conversation cooking. We'll get into the offense a little bit and other things with our next guest, Kevin Fishbane, senior writer at the athletic covering the Chicago Bears, and more will join us next year on a football Friday on a Rahimi and Grote. On 1043 The Score. Hey, I arrived almost here. Are you ready? Just grabbing my shoes. That's what you said 10 minutes ago. I just wrapped a video call, uploading this giant file on my tablet, looking at my watch group and Nana's with the group chat, and of course, still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once? Yep, story of my life. That's why I switched to D-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. Okay, multi-tasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more, I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload. That's a sign you've got to get D-Mobile.

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