The Charter: A Chicago Bears Podcast

The Bears improve to 5-1 as the defense shows up big time against the Panthers in a 23-16 win. JJ Stankevitz, Cam Ellis, and David Kaplan review the Week 6 win and discuss the Bears’ dominating defense. The three of them also discuss the "ugly" way the Bears are winning games, whether it can be sustained all season, and Matt Nagy's play calling down the stretch. (1:22) - Is this 5-1 real? (9:10) -...

The Bears haven't been 5-1 since 2012, and they look to do that with a win vs the Panthers. Could this be the Mike Davis revenge game? JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis breakdown how the Bears run defense will stack up against the Panthers and Davis. Later in the podcast, JJ goes 1 on 1 with NBC Sports' Jac Collinsworth to discuss former Notre Dame players Cole Kmet and Alex Bars, and Jac helps breakdow...

The Bears are 4-1 but according to Olin Kruetz the offensive line play needs to be better. Olin joins JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis as they discuss the Bears' offensive line and the lack of production in the run game and pass protection. They also dive into can the offensive line with injuries be better in the middle of the season and what needs to be done going forward to address the issues. Later...

Is Cole Kmet another Adam Shaheen? Why won't the Bears fire Ryan Pace or Matt Nagy? Which Under Center podcast crew member forgot his birthday as a child? All of those questions and more will be answered by JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis on the weekly mailbag episode that's on a Monday because the Bears made Tom Brady forget it was 4th down on Thursday. (1:04) - The Bears have their first COVID-19 ca...

The Super Bowl magic of Nick Foles appeared as the Bears take the tough and close win over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-19 as the Bears improve to 4-1. JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis breakdown the big Thursday night win, give out game balls to the most impactful Bears of the game and OMG did you see what Khalil Mack did to that grown man. SHEESH! (1:30) - Nick Foles' "Trubisky" like play...

After losing to the Colts on Sunday, the Bears have a short week to get ready for Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night. JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis are joined by former Bear and current Football Aftershow commentator Lance Briggs as they discuss the Bears loss on Sunday, how they have to prepare for Tom Brady, and Lance's new graphic novel THE TRAP. Later on, JJ and Cam break d...

After a 3-0 start, the Bears suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday. JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis discuss the poor offensive output in Nick Foles' first start, wonder whether Matt Nagy is to blame for the lack of scoring, and debate whether should fans be worried that a QB change didn't fix the problems. (1:22) - Did the Colts loss change anything you thought about the Bears? (7:55) - Th...

With Nick Foles’ first start as a Bear looming, JJ Stankevitz is joined by NBC Sports NFL analyst Chris Simms as they break down why Matt Nagy ultimately chose Foles over Trubisky. Later in the podcast, JJ and Cam Ellis are joined by a very special guest to breakdown the matchup between the Colts and the Bears. It's not Andrew Luck...or is it? (1:30) - How does the rest of the Bears receive the me...

The Nick Foles era has begun and according to Matt Nagy, Foles will remain the starter until further notice. JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis discuss the new Bears starting QB, and answer listener questions in our weekly mailbag segment. Later on, former Bears coach Dave Wannstedt joins the podcast to discuss why Matt Nagy made the switch at QB, whether fans should be worried about the Bears defense, a...

The Falcons HAHAHAHAHA! The Bears staged another comeback win on Sunday, beating Atlanta 30-26 after benching Mitch Trubisky for Nick Foles. Is this the last we've seen of Mitch Trubisky? Has the Nick Foles era begun? Has the Falcons..HAHAHAHAHA! (1:20) - Atlanta Falcons have another breakdown at the end of the game (11:20) - Jimmy Graham on the difference between having Foles in as QB (20:08) - T...

The Bears are looking to go 3-0 as they head to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis preview the week 3 matchup discussing if the Bears defense will hold up the Falcons' high powered offense and can Mitch Trubisky build on his first 2 performances this season. Later on in the podcast, JJ is joined by legendary sports writer Fred Mitchell to discuss and remember the career an...

The Bears are 2-0 and are tied atop the NFC North, but something still feels off. JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis are joined by former Bear and Football Aftershow analyst Alex Brown as they discuss the 2-0 Bears, and what they need to fix before heading to Atlanta on Sunday. Later on in the pod, JJ and Cam answer your questions in our weekly mailbag segment. (1:40) - Feelings about the 2-0 Bears start...

In another close call, the Bears pull out a 17-13 win over the New York Giants at Soldier Field and improve to 2-0 on the season. JJ Stankevitz, Cam Ellis, and David Kaplan discuss the win and how ugly the wins were. The crew dissects Mitch Trubisky's play, the defense allowing a comeback at the end of the game, and they hand out game balls to the Bears players who most impacted the game. (1:10) -...

The Bears are looking to go 2-0 this Sunday as the New York Giants come to town. So how can they build off of their Week 1 comeback win vs the Lions? JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis are joined by NBC Sports lead NFL analyst Chris Simms as they preview Sunday's matchup. Can Mitch Trubisky be better in Week 2? Will the defense come into form? Can the Bears continue to run the ball effectively? The three...

Bears star wide receiver Allen Robinson isn't happy with how contract negotiations are going, and he made his frustrations known by taking to social media and deleting everything that affiliates him with the Bears. JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis discuss the craziness of Tuesday and get to the bottom of why the Bears haven't given Robinson a new contract. Later on in the podcast, JJ's joined by former...

The Bears had an awful first half but managed to get the Week 1 win against the Lions thanks to some late game heroics. JJ Stankevitz, Cam Ellis and David Kaplan discuss the play of Mitch Trubisky, the defense, and everything that led to the surprising comeback victory. (1:30) - First impressions of the unlikely comeback win (8:40) - Bears lost these type of games last year (15:00) - Bears were pa...

Football is finally here! Actual, real football has come and we have you covered. JJ Stankevitz is joined by NBC football analyst Tony Dungy to discuss the Bears, their in-season QB competition, and how head coach Matt Nagy can return the Bears to a playoff contending team. Later on in the pod, JJ and Cam are joined by Mike Rothstein of ESPN to discuss his prediction that the Lions will win the NF...

The NFL season is almost underway, and there are still so many questions about the Bears left to be answered. JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis field requests from listeners on a wide variety of topics, ranging from tight end concerns, to QB predictions, to figuring out why Staley da Bear doesn't wear pants. (2:40) - Over/Under 30 touchdowns for Mitch Trubisky (9:14) - Why doesn't Staley Da Bear wear pa...

On Friday night, it was leaked that Matt Nagy had named Mitch Trubisky the week 1 starter for the Bears and on Sunday he confirmed the leak. In a position battle everyone had their eyes on, Trubisky showed the coaches that he was best to start the season so far. JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis discuss the position battle and everything that led to the decision. Also, later in the podcast, a very speci...

On Wednesday, Bears head coach Matt Nagy announced that the QB competition is officially over and a final decision will be made soon. J.J. Stankevitz and Cam Ellis discuss who they think the starter is and if he'll keep the job the entire season. Later on in the podcast, the guys go position-by-position and guess who they think will make the final 53-man roster. (1:20) - The competition is over an...

Over the weekend, Hall of Famer Brain Urlacher faced backlash for comments he made about the shooting of Jacob Blake on social media. The Bears quickly distanced themselves from Urlacher, with both current and former Bears players speaking out about the remarks. To start the podcast, JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis discuss those comments and the Bears' reaction to them. Later on, JJ and Cam dive into...

Bears running back David Montgomery went down in practice with a groin injury that looks pretty significant. JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis are joined by Bleacher Report’s lead NFL columnist Kalyn Kahler to discuss Montgomery’s injury and the impact it has on the Bears as they prepare for the season. Later on in the podcast, the crew discuss the QB and kicking competitions in camp, and predict where...

On Sunday, it was reported that the Bears had 9 players and coaches test positive for coronavirus before learning that other teams were experiencing the same thing. Fortunately, these tests were false positives, but the fact remains that if this was the regular season, those players would be out for the week. Host JJ Stankevitz and Bears writer Cam Ellis discuss the scare, and what it means for th...

The Bears started training camp and the position battles have begun. Host JJ Stankevitz is joined by Cam Ellis and Adam Hoge to discuss the first few days of Bears’ training camp and the key position battles, notably the starting QB contest between Nick Foles and Mitch Trubisky. (2:00) - QB competition, Nick Foles vs Mitch Trubisky (14:00) - Who will be the starting at right guard? (18:38) - Deon...

As training camp is set to go this week it's time to take a look at why fans should be interested in the 2020 Bears. JJ Stankevitz and Cam Ellis are joined by co-host of Good Morning Football and local Chicago area guy Kyle Brandt to discuss what fans should be interested and looking for from the 2020 Bears. The group also dives into Kyle's new podcast "10 Questions" and what Aaron Rodgers has sai...