It’s the latest Bears Banter Podcast and Dick Butkus is the featured guest! Bill Zimmerman and Dick discuss a variety of topics including the #Bears100, his thoughts on the current team and Matt Nagy, playing in his era, his acting career and the current struggles of his friend and teammate Gale Sayers.

• The schedule is out. Bill and E.J. discuss key games, oddities about the schedule and the misnomer of having a hard schedule based on last year’s strength of schedule and how little that really means.
• Snyder, draft analyst from Windy City Gridiron, breaks down the running back prospects in detail, plus some key prospects to look out for at safety, corner, edge and tight end.
• Bill and E.J. breakdown draft strategy – should Ryan Pace look to trade up or trade down? Should he take a running back at 87 regardless?
• A full discussion on how to approach the kicker position.

Adam Rank of NFL Network joins Bill and:

• Breaks down the Jordan Howard trade (and why Howard/Nagy didn’t work).
• Deciphers whether the Bears free agency period was successful.
• Takes on Bill’s “holder conspiracy theory” when it comes to punter Pat O’Donnell.
• Makes odd pop culture references to the TV series How I Met Your Mother and the film Independence Day.

Listen! Now! Do it!

Bill speaks with Jim Miller on:

• Mitch Trubisky’s development and what he should work on for next season.
• Jordan Howard’s struggles and if he’ll be moved.
• Review of the NFL Combine with some draft names to watch for the Bears at running back and in the secondary.
• Preview of NFL free agency and what the Bears should do.  Kyler Murray vs Josh Rosen vs Dwayne Haskins…who would he take?
• Plus, Bill’s thoughts on Amos, Callahan, the running game and all.

Bill Zimmerman is going to be DBB’s podcast guy moving forward through 2019. I’ll still have the occasional conversation with Adam Jahns (and record them) and force Reverend Dave’s bullshit upon you. But ultimately, I’m going back to writing and editing and letting a broadcast professional handle the broadcasting.

Bill is the Executive Producer of Mad Dog Radio at SiriusXM. And he’s good at this. Here is his excellent work from Super Bowl week with Mitch Trubisky, Akiem Hicks, Allen Robinson and Trey Burton.

(And the logo on the podcast will be changing moving forward.)

Weird part of this Denny Green video is he wasn’t wrong. The Cardinals absolutely dominated the Bears in this game, offensively and defensively. It took some of the flukiest developments ever for this result to happen. How fluky? The game actually has its own Wikipedia page.

Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears this Week?

I always like the Chicago Bears.

To paraphrase the great Lou Brown from Major League, the Bears won Monday night. If they win this Sunday that’s called a winning streak. And they’re the heaviest favorite they have been on the road since probably the mid-2000s. I just don’t see any way this group loses this game.

Game Haiku

Hitting Sam Bradford

Will lead to the dink and dunk

And Glendale glory!

Why the Bears Will Win?

• Run Game. Arizona is allowing over 136 yards a game on the ground and Matt Nagy acknowledged this week the Bears need to give the ball to their workhorse back more. (Yes, I’m going to make this a primary bullet point every single week because I truly believe this coaching staff will wake up and realize Jordan Howard is their best offensive player AT SOME POINT. Oh, and once the power game starts working you’ll see a different, more comfortable Mitch Trubisky.)
• Arizona is averaging 114 yards passing through two games. Yes, that’s an actual statistic. 114. That’s 26 yards less than Buffalo and the Bills started Nate Peterman – the worst statistical QB in the history of the league – for one of their two games. The Arizona QB rating through two games? 55.6. Touchdowns? Zero. This is one awful passing attack.
• Third-Down Conversions. The Bears are tenth in the league, converting more than 40% of their third-down opportunities. (They’ve already significantly improved on this stat from a year ago.) Arizona is dead last in that stat, somehow managing to only convert 20%. Arizona is also mind-bogglingly allowing opponents to convert their third downs half the time, exactly 50%. The Bears should have little problem staying on the field on offense / getting off the field on defense.
• Road Game? Is there any doubt there will be more Bears fans than Cardinals fans in University of Phoenix Stadium? Hell, they just opened a Lou Malnati’s in Scottsdale! This could become a demoralizing affair for the home side.

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