Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Could Bears be an improved team with a worse record in 2026?

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote pondered if the Bears could be a better team in 2026 but have a worse record than their 11-6 mark in the 2025 regular season.

You would hope from year one to year two with this coaching staff and personnel department, we're so much further along than we were a year ago at this time. So that's what's encouraging to me and Ryan. And really look forward to seeing these guys hit the grass here in a couple weeks. That's the voice of Ben Johnson. He is expected to speak at Hallis Hall today. We will bring you his comments here on 104-3, The Score. And Mark Rodie, did you recognize the song that was played for you by Tyler Bueberbaugh just now?

Oh. This is Big Bank Take Little Bank. Oh, no. This isn't Ice Cube, is it? It is? No, this is YG. Okay, my reference to Big Bank Take Little Bank is Ice Cube, no Vaseline. Big Bank, Take Little Bank, it's a lyric.

But this is the song that was created off of that sample. Oh, so this is the original. No, no, this is the song that was, yeah. So the sample is the original, so that's the Ice Cube line. Yeah. And then the song was created from it. So are you saying that? One gave birth.

to the other. So they switch the sample? Is that what you're saying? Kind of. They switch the style up. And if they hate them, let it hate, watch the money pile up.

Next, can I put my request in for the next return music? Yes. And you know what? Because the socks won and they're playing a day game today and we can't go.

Anybody else who wants to request a song on the text line, go ahead and we'll see what happened. 312, 64-64, 67, 67. But Mark is first. I love that. I love that idea. Yeah.

If there's a bumper, some bumper music you would like to, sorry to step all over here, Tyler. I know some producers get really angry when you tell them, when you make requests for the bumper music. So... We like the request line.

Yeah. No, request line. It's a skull thumping Thursday today here on the score after the Cubs skull thump the Pirates 10 to 4. I'll stump your skull for you. I don't know that we need to keep yelling that. Don't forget the white socks in that, by the way. I don't know

that we need to keep yelling that. The White Sox be of Minnesota 15 to 2, but my request will be. What about Danks? Don't worry about Danks. It was Mark Burley we needed to worry about. Danks got his extension. He got his money. There's nothing to worry about when it comes to John Danks and there never was. Blackout game.

Actually, yes, there was. I was very upset when he got traded away. What about Danks indeed? And I was like, what the hell did he get tried? I was so mad when that trade happened. Nobody ever talks about the other side of the John Danks trade. the side where the Rangers lost him, except me. And then I'm, do you know what I call that trade?

The Akonori Outska Magic Beans trade. Because I'm like, John Daniels basically traded away. John Danks were Magic Beans and Akonori Outska. Why can't Jay Buter hit the baseball? How could you get $12 million to a Dekki Aramu? Buy bumper music that I would like to request young Tyler Buterbaugh, and this will be for five Butes is I would like to hear Ice Cubes telling me Big Bank takes the Little Bank.

probably can't play many more of the lyrics from that particular song, but I would like that isolated and I would like to feel that coming out of the next break or into the next segment. I got you. I'll make sure you feel the Vasily. I'm sure Danny Parkins. No. No.

No Vasily. You're down to three Buttes, Pat. No. I'm sure Danny Parkins will love the Ice Cube conversation. It's a big music guy, Danny Parkins. Wait, isn't he in the next segment? Obviously. So we had to play Danny's open in the next.

next segment. You won't be able to hear it. Oh, yeah. We got all sorts of good stuff coming up with Danny because Danny, Danny has attracted a celebrity, hasn't he? Oh my God. Lela. Yeah, this is pretty incredible. And there's some news. There's some news from Take the North as well that collided with Danny Parkin. So we got to, we got to, we got to, we're going to have a juicy parko segment today for once. For one. I'm kidding. That's just jokes. Mark spent six hours with Danny last week doing a show. I love Parkins. I love the band. And frankly, all of this is a little more comfortable than the thought that Jeff Schwartz threw out there. And this is NFL offensive lineman Jeff Schwartz.

Jeff is a respected football mind. There's no doubt about that. He is a valued guest here at the score. And he joined our friends. Yeah, that's right. They're friends now. Chris Black, Adam of Dala on Westwood One Sports. To talk about the idea of the Bears being better, but not showing better.

This is going to sound odd to say, but I really do believe this. I think Chicago will be better this season, but have a worse record. Better this season, but a worse record. The NFL has showed there are a couple of things that hold true year over year. The Bears earned two of these from last season. One, turnovers. Turnovers, you're hot, you have great turnover ratio one year. The next year it stinks.

And the Bears' defense last year thrived on forcing turnovers, right? They forced a ton of interceptions that is unlikely to happen year after year. But again, right, like their defense has. got better this off season, okay? So that's good, right? That's good. But they had a plus 22 turnover differential.

That is wild. They forced 33 takeaways, okay? That's a lot of takeaways, all right? But they might be better on defense this season, all right? With forcing less turnover, which is odd to say, but that's the truth. The second thing they did last year, which is not

going to happen again, is they won six rare season games, they're trailing with two minutes left. Six of them. They won seven in the postseason. That's not going to happen again. Now, you can argue that they might not play as many close games because they're better. Certainly fair.

But the NFL is a seven-point league in the fourth quarter. It's what the NFL is. So I think the Bears could be better defensively. Caleb Williams better this year, completes more passes. Like, they're better per se, but so are the Vikings. So are the Lions. So are the Packers. And the 50-50 games go not in their direction.

They're 9-8, right? But they're sort of better DVOA, better efficiency, better EPA. Williams is better. So the Bears to me as Stan out as a team that could even finish last in the division, but really not be like that much worse than last season or even be better. Damn it, Jeff Schwartz and your logic and stats, football experience. I think that's an easy go-to. I hate to say it, but that's pretty obvious, right?

You're not going to be able to depend on comeback victories in the final two minutes of every game. Nishon Wright's magic is not here this year. Kevin Byard's prowess has left the building as well. We all know that they're... His savvy. He's savvy. So we all know that there are some really easy areas to look at the Bears and say, yeah, that's probably not going to be as good.

And he didn't even mention the gauntlet of a schedule that the Bears have this year. Maybe he did throughout that. Hold on. Don. So you're just joining in on the raining on the parade here is what you're saying. Well, I mean, I'm not necessarily agreeing that the Bears are going to have fewer wins this year and be better. But there are logical reasons to point to, and I think obvious areas, which he pointed to. So I agree with that. I haven't even done my record prediction this year because nobody has asked me to. Well, we waited. We wanted to do it as a team. Oh, we still have to do it.

Because like Marshall's out of town and we wanted to go over it with you. And no, that's on Lela and Ray Industries. Yeah, all parties must be present. So then when everyone is right and or wrong, we could say like, you know, we could call everybody out. We're like the Cubs lineup. We suffer together and we succeed together. That's right. Amen.

I thought maybe this would be my first year at the score in life that I didn't have to do the going through the schedule. Let me ask you this, Grotie, real quick. Were you hoping for that? slightly, like not to have that pressure. A little bit, a little bit, but I also have been a leader in enjoying. I mean, last year, I did an evening show, and I had Marshall on and studs, and we went through every single game, and so I was, we did it because of me.

So, but I kind of was enjoying not having that pressure on me. Like, Weeder and I, when we did our TTN episode, we did not do the thing. We did talk about the gauntlet of five night games. and the fact that you have, you do have three straight from week seven through week nine, three straight night games. Like the Bears are going to be living a primetime lifestyle for a while this year. They should. As I look on the calendar, our Monday, June 1st show, Rahimi Harris and Grody. Sounds like the big day to make our Bears predictions, Grody.

All right. I'm in. I mean, why not? The NFL is a year-round discussion, whether or not you like it. How many wins are the Bears going to have this year? Hey, no, not yet. This is baseball season. It's my season.

I do like the idea of it being Bruce season. Yeah, it is. Bruce came unglued folks by the idea of the White Sox or Green Bay Sucks chance breaking out at the rate Cubs and Sox because it's baseball season. It is, but it's also bear season because we want to say it is. The problem is Jeff Schwartz is on to something. And he's not the only one who said it. our guest in the next segment, Danny Parkins, has talked about the Bears being candidates for regression.

Yeah. The schedule itself says, hey, congratulations, you won the division. Here's the hardest schedule now because of it. And you start with a playoff team, and then your next game is a division rival, and then your next game is a team that definitely has you on their bulletin board and the Eagles because you beat them at home.

You know, it gets, it's tough to start. And so I understand why he's saying that. We all know the turnovers are incredibly likely to not be replicated. But at the same time, they did prioritize it in their acquisitions. You know, Devin Bush with the pick sixes, multiple. You have Kobe Bryant as a part of that as well. Dylan Theanman seems to be described as having a bit of a nose for the ball.

They seem to prioritize speed more than anything this year. Which I get. Yeah, that's the thing. Both of those safeties that Dylan Thineman and Kobe Bryant are faster than their predecessors from last year with Kevin Byrd and Jaquan Briskar. And that's no shade to them because I was all for them bringing both of those guys back. Devin Bush brings you some little extra speed at the linebacker position as well. So I feel like that's the – and they've said that. And the times that I've been out to Hallis and the offseason, it has been about the speed at the team speed.

And it should be like the image of the Packers running everywhere all over the field, especially on a crossing pattern. CJ Gardner Johnson, hello? Yeah, rests in my mind and the image of the bears chasing them. And, you know, Malik Mohamed, by the way, is no slouch in that department. His 440240 at the combine wasn't exactly bad. That's pretty impressive. One of the most intriguing stories, I think, in training camp will be that, and we talked about it yesterday, that cornerback spot opposite of Jalen Johnson, assuming Jalen Johnson

got his step back. Yalen. Yalen. Well, we're still trying to figure out the health of Kyler Gordon, too. I'd imagine that question gets asked to Ben Johnson today. I hope it does, yeah. Ben Jonson. Ben Jansen.

Are you ready to unleash the soft J on Ben Johnson? This might be the year. Yeah, he had one year to get comfortable and get familiar with me a little bit. So he's earned his soft J. Yes. His softier. Was it that you said Yalen too? It was a player.

I couldn't believe I did that. It might have been. Oh, it might have been Tyreek. It might have been Tyreek. But he just went with it. You guys had to point that out to me because I didn't realize I had done it. And you're like, you said Yalen to a player. player. I don't know what goes through my head sometimes.

Well, that's why I'm like, do you know, you can have fun with an inside joke, but the problem is it's going to stick in your head and it pops out in strange places. Sometimes that happens. I forget which inside jokes I have with which people, because as you might expect, I have lots of little inside jokes with a lot of people. Yes, it's so true. Oh, we've gotten some really good requests on our text and our Twitch request line for return music. So I'm happy about that. Jeff Schwartz brings up a, I think the problem is he is bringing up something that we're going to have to get used to thinking about. And how much do you accept it?

If they do regress or the record isn't as good, and it's a bit of lose the battle, win the war. This is a multi-year investment in this team? We know that. So how much is it going to bother you if what happens to the Lions, per se, last season happens to the Bears? I don't care unless they don't make it to the playoffs. That's what happened to the Lions. Well, right. Now, they had a lot of injuries.

They also had a center retire. I hate to say it, but it would be, it's unacceptable. It would be unacceptable for the Bears to not get to the playoffs. And I mean, not necessarily just from me saying it, from the fan base as well. I don't have to hit you over the head again, Leila, with the fact that the Bears just can't put together consecutive winning seasons. It feels different now if for no other reason that they have the coach and the quarterback. It feels different, but this has crept up on the Bears in their franchise in the last 30 years, way too many times where you have the pop-up season and then the next year you suck.

Well, and the NFL is built that way. Our friend Cole Commet, friend of the show, pointed that out by saying there's about seven new playoff teams every year when you do the math. And I get that. But at the same time, I just don't, the Bears were not luckily making the playoffs last year. and I know they had a bunch of wins where they came back, but I don't feel like we've scratched this surface of what the Ben Johnson-Kale Williams' offense can do.

Right. And if that's the case, you have to like your chances. But yeah, overall roster-wise and schedule-wise, I think we do have to take our licks. Yeah, you've got, I said the five-night games, you've got two, three-25 games on the schedule. You've got Thanksgiving Day against the Detroit Long. I mean, the Bears earned it.

They won 11 games last year. This is what you want. And as Layla said, this is the way the blocks that the NFL sets up for you if you win. You just don't want to be the ones left out. That's the problem. But in this division, the place where I think there is some protests to be had with Jeff Schwartz's take is Minnesota, where they still don't have an actual GM. There's still an interim one.

and we came across some audio that we're going to play for you in five on it at noon that does not give me confidence about the situation at quarterback, which I haven't heard yet. It is so much your sense of humor. I had to surprise you. Oh, I love it. Yeah, Layla told me I couldn't listen to that she wants my reaction on the air, so I don't want people to think I'm ill prepared.

I was told not to listen to it under any circumstances. I purposefully kept Mark Grady in the dark because it is a billion percent his humor. Why do you keep keeping me in the dark? Why do you keep doing this to me? Well, you won't watch the other guys. That's true. I have been a huge letdown to this show, to you and Marshall. And really, Ranji and also Lawrence. There's so many other guy references that happened on our station and with your friends. I'm hurting myself, I think. Yeah, yeah. You don't, you shouldn't be hurt. I am hurting myself. I am not as informed of a person as I could be. And I'm not in on the conversations that other people are in on because I haven't seen it. I'm sorry, Leila.

No, you're not. Are you even going to see it? Maybe tonight. Well, we have baseball to watch? Oh, wait. There's like, well, but it's, it's an early game. You got to love these 530 games, right? So maybe in that 9 o'clock zone, oh, you know, there's always something I'm going to. As long as I don't leave Dave in the hallway. You and your night old day. Oh, you mean, were you, you thought somebody had left their cat out? I thought somebody And you realized you had left your cat. You ever have that happen, cat owners? There you are.

You're living in a high rise. Your cat's in the hallway. You think it's another cat. You're laying down. You're like, boy, you're judging that cat owner. Oh, that's my cat. It kind of happened to me to a degree. I went out to the store.

I went to Target a while back a couple years ago. And I guess I didn't close my front door quick enough. And my cat got out. And I didn't realize. So my cat was roaming the hallways while I was out shopping. And then I came back and, one of my neighbors was sitting on the floor with the cat, like, oh, this cat was scratching at the door.

And I know she was looking at me, like, I'm the worst cat owner ever. And I said, like, oh, I usually, this never happens. I don't know if she believed me. Isn't the old 97 song murder or a heart attack about an escaped cat? Don't know. And I'm leaving the back door open until you come back. No, I think it is. All right.

So we'll ponder that and we'll join Danny Perkins. who's just out of your hobnobbing with celebrities next. He's a unique cat.