Kap & J. Hood
10/7 8 AM: Matt Eberflus
(air whooshing) - Matt Eber Flus. - Eber Flus. - Hey, Coach of the Chicago Bears. - It was really good. I mean, there was a lot of good situations that we had. - Breaking down the Bears and the latest updates. All season, I was. - You know, there's some really good players on both sides. Can that person function with that match? - Matt Eber Flus with Captain Jaybird on ESPN Chicago. - It's the Captain Jaybird morning show on ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. Also, watch our show on YouTube, YouTube.com. Make sure you hit the ESPN Chicago channel and hit that subscribe button as we go to the hotline. - That'd be the car, it's Tiger and Auto Hotline. (air whooshing) ♪ Rattle, rattle, thunder, batter, boom, boom ♪ ♪ Boom, boom ♪ ♪ Don't worry, call the car accident ♪ - We turn to the head coach for the Chicago Bears, Matt Eber Flus. He joins us here on the Captain Jaybird morning show. Good morning, Coach, how are you? - Good well, thanks for having me on. - Thanks for coming out, Coach. Let's talk about what I thought was the key drive in the game. And I know there were a lot of good things, but you go three and out, they score on a, there was some kind of a mix up up front, Chewba Hubbard's in the end zone. And I thought Caleb taking you down the field and hitting DJ for a touchdown, that was huge. Because if you go three and out again, and they score again, you're like, oh God, we're down two scores. I thought that was a massive statement. - Yeah, I really liked the way they were sponsored, was they're on offense. Really good job, really good execution there. And obviously the big chunk play, 34 yards. Really good protection, crossing route to DJ, and that's a good run after the catch too. - Coach, when you talk about execution, it's almost like you're saying, hey, every individual player, every coach has to just do their job. You do your job well enough, you could be able to increase your chance to win ball games. So what's the difference between week one and where the ball club is today? - Yeah, just more clean execution. We're not perfect, but the protection's better. The route disciplines are better. And the guys are just working to continue and to improve that as we have time on task. Like we said, it's a new offense together, and I think we're building every single week and getting better every single week. - You say execution though, but it was that Coach McKay from Tampa says, what do you think of your team's execution? He says, I'm all for it. - Yeah, exactly. - So would you say that-- - This is better execution. - This is what you say execution. Break that down. What does that mean? What does it that you tell the players regarding that? - Yeah, it's just, you know, we have a play called offense, defense and kicking. And then sometimes there's an investment that needs to be made and the communication needs to be made. And then we have to execute that play. And that's, you know, the looks are different, you know, all those different things, but we have to make the adjustments to execute at a high level. And when you do that, you know, the play works. And once in a while, the other team makes a good play and you have to live with that, then you just got to move to the next play. It's like all the snap and executing one play at a time. - I want to talk, hoodie and I were talking, coach, about complimentary football. And the sequence before halftime, you guys go on fourth and one, you run Roshan, and he does not get it for 18 left in the second. And then what is it like to be in your shoes, you're the defensive play caller, not just a head coach, where you go, all right, we're not punting from the 39. I don't want to try a 57 yard field goal here, but I know what I got in my back pocket is a hell of a defense. So it allows you to be more of a gambler in that situation. Talk about that whole sequence because your defense picked you up. - Yeah, you know, you look at the margins, you know, when you're going to go for things during the game. And again, those are in for the first half. And then you got to kind of adjust based on school in the second half. And that for us was a go all the way at that particular point, you know, based on wind and based on field goal, you know, kick distance and all that. So it was a green light for us, a no-brainer. And again, we didn't get it. And you know, the linebacker made a good play on that particular play. And then we ended up going three and out, which was great. And on the third down, it was a really good, you know, cause fumble by brisker and then recovered fumble, you know, by Dexter. And that was really good on that one. And then we turned that into a touchdown, you know, and a quick touchdown. So we really wanted to score fast there ahead of the two-minute. So we could double dip on them and we end up getting that done. So those guys really executed well. Tariq made a stop on downs on fourth and three and the 37 and we come back and score our second touchdown there, you know, in a short amount of time. - Cap, did you see the stat about the Bears defense? - The Bears pressured the Panthers on 21 to 41 dropbacks, which is 49%. That's the highest pressure rate in a game since 2009. So when we were talking about the Bears defensive line, we talked about Billings and Dexter and Walker and Sweat and trying to figure out like, who's going to be able to emerge? This whole line has been productive. They give you something. What, why have they been so productive, Coach? - Well, we always say, you know, the term, we always say rush and cover, cover and rush. It all goes together. So, you know, when the rush is humming, the ball comes out faster. You know, when the coverage is really good in terms of guys are, you know, where they're supposed to be, when they're supposed to be there in terms of the coverage contour, then it gives them another second to get home, another count to get home at times. So it's always working hand in hand that the rush and the cover. - I do want to ask you about the touchdown throw to DJ. We've watched it a billion times here on video where he looks the safety over. The safety bites thinking it's Keenan Allen on, I think it would have been a post route. And then Caleb, you can almost see a smile on his face. Guess what? I got him, one-on-one. And he puts it where either DJ makes a play or it's incomplete, no under throw on the ball. That's growth in a quarterback. Can you take us through that play? - Yeah, so it was a good play design by the office staff and, you know, and Shane. So they did a really nice job with that. You know, he ends up, you know, signaling over to the one side. And then, you know, for a particular play, a short play. And then, honestly, you look back to the post route to DJ and did a really good job. What DJ did a really good job of was he, you know, the stem at the top of that route, he did a really nice job to create that extra space. So Caleb can throw him open right there. So it was really good play design, really good operation by the whole offense. - We get this question every now and then from our callers regarding quarterbacks in the shotgun. Coach, can you remember a time where you've seen so many quarterbacks, not just Caleb, just talking about quarterback play in general, where just so many that are in the shotgun, there was a time where that was an optional play. It was always under center, except if there was a certain play. But what changed, Coach, when you take a look at quarterback play across the board, it seems like it's exclusively in the shotgun. - Yeah, I just really think that the college influence really came into the pro game and that's where it really comes from. So to me, guys can see better. You know, it gives them more vision. You know, they don't ever have their back to the defense and they can really look and discern what's going on in front of them. And I think the college, you know, it's just the way it is now. It's just the way it has been that way for a long time. But I really do think they operate well there. - I guess, Cap, it's just like, whatever you're comfortable with in college, you bring over to the pros and you just bring that skillset. - Correct. - Is that right, Coach? - Yeah, I would say that's true. That's where you saw some of the up-tempo stuff. You know, Cam's really, he's really comfortable doing that. And he operates well in that hurry up. Not necessarily hurrying up, you know, to snap the ball fast, but you know, really look at the defense, get on the line and look at the defense and then get the calls. And he's operating well that way. - Coach, in terms of going to London, I was talking to Jonathan about this. I love that city, I've been there, it's awesome. But you're going, I want to have vacation. You're going on a business trip. You leave tonight. Can you take us through the decision to leave tonight? 'Cause I think the last time that bears in London, you weren't here yet. They left like Thursday night and they thought that was the way to do it. Take us through that and then how do you let the guys enjoy a super cool trip, but it's business. We got to get the one and all this week. - Yeah, it is a business trip. But you know, we got also, you know, enjoy, you know, enjoy each other, enjoy the time over there. And I think that's important. You know, we're going to fly outside, like you said. And then tomorrow the players will have the day off and that's, you know, getting used to their clocks and the schedules and all that. Then Wednesday will have a walkthrough practice, which will be good for us, you know, get the bodies acclimated still. And then really it's about Thursday's going to be a normal Thursday, Friday will be a normal Friday practice. And Saturday will walk through and then Sunday will play the game. So, but to me, it's always about your preparation. It's always about the focus and the intent of, you know, why we're there and that's to play a football game and to compete in that football game. We're excited about competing against Jacksonville this week. So it's just a business trip for us, but again, we'll have some fun when we're out there and get our preparation in as well. - Why leave tonight is that something that your sleep advisors have told you? Well, how did you guys figure on tonight versus what they did to previous staff? They left like five days later. - Yeah, it was just our performance, you know, performance staff, you know, thought it was best to do it this way. And, you know, I just went over to Italy by so, you know, in the summer and it takes you a day or two to get used to the time. And once you're there about, you know, three days, I think you're back on schedule and you can operate the normal way. And I think that's a good thing to do. - You've been to London before. You got a special spot that you'd like to go to from time to time when you're there. - Yeah, I know what the Dallas Cowboys, we had a dinner there, I think, at the palace one night. It was really cool. - Oh, that was cool. - It was the cool thing. I was looking back in 2014, I believe. - That's super cool. - That sounds good. - Yeah, absolutely. - What's the fair? I mean, it's not like American food, but I'm sure they give you, you know, some great food. Is there any particular thing that you like there, food-wise? - The only thing I know is tea and crumpet, I think. - Oh, we're having such fun. (laughing) You want a good steak, what the hell? - Or fish and chips, that's it. - Oh, God. - Yeah, fish and chips, I guess. I don't know. We'll figure it out when we get over there. - Okay. Coach, as always, we appreciate the time. - Good luck this week, get the one and oh. (clapping)