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Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show

Could Bears be an improved team with a worse record in 2026? (Hour 2)

28 May 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: Could the Bears be a better team but with a worse record in 2026?

1.111 - 4.295 Layla Rahimi

This hour is brought to you by Vasectomy Clinics of Chicago.

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6.879 - 21.178 Ben Johnson

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 I really look forward to seeing these guys hit the grass here in a couple weeks.

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22.39 - 35.258 Layla Rahimi

That's the voice of Ben Johnson. He is expected to speak at Hallas Hall today. We will bring you his comments here on 104.3 The Score. And Mark Brody, did you recognize the song that was played for you by Tyler Buterbaugh just now?

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35.278 - 35.438 Mark Grote

Oh.

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36.14 - 37.703 Layla Rahimi

This is Big Bang Take Little Bang.

37.723 - 51.032 Mark Grote

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

51.213 - 54.419 Layla Rahimi

But this is the song that was created off of that sample.

54.579 - 56.002 Mark Grote

Oh, so this is the original.

56.142 - 61.512 Layla Rahimi

No, no, this is the song that was... Oh, off of Ice Cube. Yeah, so the sample is the original, so that's the Ice Cube line.

Chapter 2: What factors could lead to the Bears having a worse record despite improvement?

230.82 - 234.445 Mark Grote

So we're going to have a juicy Parco segment today for once.

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234.728 - 240.275 Layla Rahimi

For once. I'm kidding. That's just jokes. Mark spent six hours with Danny last week doing a show.

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240.395 - 242.077 Mark Grote

I love Parkins. I love the band.

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242.358 - 258.778 Layla Rahimi

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.

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258.758 - 268.378 Layla Rahimi

Chris Black, Adam Abdallah on Westwood One Sports to talk about the idea of the Bears being better, but not showing better.

268.879 - 290.642 Jeff Schwartz

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 things that hold true year over year, and the Bears earned two of these from last season. One, turnovers. Turnovers, you're hot. You have great turnover ratio one year.

290.983 - 321.291 Jeff Schwartz

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, their defense got better this offseason. So that's good. That's good. But they had a plus 22 turnover differential. That is wild. They forced 33 takeaways. That's a lot of takeaways.

322.673 - 324.436 Jeff Schwartz

But they might be better on defense this season.

325.678 - 325.738

But

Chapter 3: How did the Cubs for a Cure Radiothon perform this year?

595.713 - 615.01 Layla Rahimi

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 have Devin Bush with the pick sixes, multiple. You have Kobe Bryant as a part of that as well. Dylan Thienemann seems to be described as having a bit of a nose for the ball.

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615.175 - 619 Mark Grote

They seem to have prioritized speed more than anything this year.

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619.1 - 619.441 Layla Rahimi

Which I get.

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619.601 - 640.49 Mark Grote

Yeah, that's the thing. Both of those safeties, Dylan Thienemann and Kobe Bryant, are faster than their predecessors from last year with Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker. And that's no shade to them because I was all for them bringing both of those guys back. Devin Bush brings you a little extra speed at the linebacker position as well.

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640.51 - 647.259 Mark Grote

So I feel like that's the – and they've said that in the times that I've been out at Halas in the offseason – It has been about the speed, the team speed.

647.279 - 653.006 Layla Rahimi

And it should be like the image of the Packers running everywhere all over the field, especially on a crossing pattern.

653.126 - 654.608 Mark Grote

C.J. Gardner-Johnson, hello.

654.708 - 668.316 Layla Rahimi

Yeah, rests in my mind. And the image of the Bears chasing them. And you know, Malik Muhammad, by the way, is no slouch in that department. His 440-240 at the Combine wasn't exactly bad. That's pretty impressive.

668.396 - 679.793 Mark Grote

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.

Chapter 4: What was Danny Parkins' recent interaction with Ben Stiller about?

712.017 - 712.938 Layla Rahimi

But he just went with it.

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713.278 - 721.188 Mark Grote

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. I don't know what goes through my head sometimes.

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721.208 - 728.918 Layla Rahimi

Well, that's why I'm like, 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.

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728.938 - 736.948 Mark Grote

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.

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737.3 - 756.012 Layla Rahimi

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 are going to have to get used to thinking about. And how much do you accept it?

756.733 - 773.593 Layla Rahimi

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?

773.794 - 776.637 Mark Grote

I don't care. Unless they don't make it to the playoffs.

776.837 - 778.539 Layla Rahimi

Well, that's what happened to the Lions.

778.739 - 779.159 Mark Grote

Well, right.

Chapter 5: What are the implications of the Bears' tough upcoming schedule?

924.195 - 926.718 Mark Grote

Why do you keep keeping me in the dark? Why do you keep doing this to me?

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926.958 - 928.499 Layla Rahimi

Well, you won't watch the other guys.

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928.579 - 933.424 Mark Grote

That's true. I have been a huge letdown to this show, to you and Marshall.

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933.404 - 940.494 Layla Rahimi

And really, Ranji and also Lawrence. There's so many other guy references that happen on our station. And with your friends.

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940.534 - 954.093 Mark Grote

I'm hurting myself, I think. 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, Layla.

954.413 - 956.056 Layla Rahimi

No, you're not. Are you even going to see it?

956.396 - 957.117 Mark Grote

Maybe tonight.

957.923 - 959.646 Layla Rahimi

Well, we have baseball to watch.

960.147 - 970.507 Mark Grote

But it's an early game. You've got to love these 5.30 games, right? So maybe in that 9 o'clock zone, there's always something I'm going to. As long as I don't leave Dave in the hallway.

Chapter 6: How do turnovers impact the Bears' performance predictions?

1111.08 - 1112.282 Layla Rahimi

Hey, Danny, how are you?

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1113.123 - 1135.236 Danny Parkins

Layla Grody, thank you. We raised $805,000. And the official total from the Cubs, I think, is coming out at some point today or maybe tomorrow at the latest. But it's going to be a big number with the full Cubs for a Cure weekend. And listen, I don't know. Are you hobnobbing if they're just responding to your tweets and dunking on you for bad takes? I don't know if that's hobnobbing.

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1135.256 - 1145.054 Layla Rahimi

I know. You are so close to hobnobbing. I thoroughly enjoyed it. No, you're hobnobbing on the internet. You're communicating. I bet there's a lot of people who Ben Stiller hasn't texted back.

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1145.114 - 1155.074 Mark Grote

You got him to end his subtweet to you and sign it Focker. That is amazing. Brody, that was my favorite part of it, too.

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1155.195 - 1181.689 Danny Parkins

Oh, beautiful. He signed it, Focker. And then I know that a comedian hates when you cite someone's bit to them. And then I just couldn't help myself, and I just quoted Heavyweights, and he hit me back with the gif from Heavyweights. I was like, here's the problem. I could have done that all night. Just pivoted from Heavyweights to something about Mary. Pivoted from something about Mary...

1181.669 - 1205.635 Danny Parkins

uh to Zoolander from Zoolander to uh Tropic Thunder like I could have gone all day he's literally one of the greatest comedic actors of all time so yeah it was it was a thrill uh Nick Wright texted me as soon as it happened and he goes how like is it the greatest moment of your life that one of your comedic heroes uh roasted you for a bad sports take

1205.615 - 1226.695 Danny Parkins

Because it really is like right in my sweet spot of things that I love in the world, takes and comedy. So it was very cool. I'm thrilled for Ben Stiller and all Knicks fans. New York is just jumping right now. It's a basketball town, first and foremost. So it's been pretty exciting out here.

1226.675 - 1239.49 Layla Rahimi

No, it's the most surreal, bloody thing. And they always say, never meet your heroes. And then it turns out Ben Stiller is awesome and a fun sports fan. This is as good as it gets. What is this? A center for ants? Somebody had to do it.

1239.51 - 1244.396 Mark Grote

Don't you think, Layla, because you were quoting it yesterday, the prayer that Ben Stiller did during the dinner scene.

Chapter 7: What are the key areas of concern for the Bears this season?

1328.238 - 1331.421 Danny Parkins

It's like it's like Sandler, Jim Carrey.

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1331.401 - 1361.239 Danny Parkins

will ferrell uh if we're like best comedic movie like resume of the last 35 years like post eddie murphy the original snl cast sure you know like starting in 94 for jim carrey through now so you're going 30 plus years i think those are the three biggest sandler stiller carry dumb and dumber right yeah yeah well and like it's also it's just such a murderer's row of comedy it's unbelievable

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1361.219 - 1376.407 Layla Rahimi

You're right. And for Ben Stiller in particular, the run of movies that didn't have to be sequels, that didn't have to be recycled material. You know, like you talked about, there's Zoolander, then there's Meet the Parents. Meet the Fockers. Yeah, that did end up being a sequel.

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1376.427 - 1397.723 Danny Parkins

There's a few of those, yeah. Well, no, Zoolander was, too, actually. There is a Zoolander, too, that we have forgotten and we've left to the era. But, yeah, I mean, they're incredible. Listen, there's so many that you could name. But it's just, yeah, he's one of the GOATs and a true, like, also a filmmaker. You know, like...

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1397.703 - 1426.641 Danny Parkins

He is the creative writing inspiration behind Severance, behind Tropic Thunder, behind The Cable Guy, behind Heavyweights. So he's also like a creative behind the camera, in front of the camera. Comedy has a ton of drama chops as well. Along came Polly, a great movie. I I think one of the comedies that is equally popular among men and women, it's 50-50, just absolutely hilarious.

1427.583 - 1435.715 Danny Parkins

So yeah, the guy's got one of the all-time filmographies and is a genuine Knicks fan and genuinely thinks I'm an idiot.

1436.876 - 1438.238 Layla Rahimi

Mazel you too.

1438.258 - 1442.745 Mark Grote

Whatever it takes, Parkins, to get the attention, man, even if it's at the expense of you being an idiot.

1442.894 - 1449.063 Danny Parkins

Listen, again, nothing but all of the respect in the world to the great Ben Stiller.

Chapter 8: How does Danny Parkins reflect on his experiences and interactions?

1556.99 - 1558.913 Mark Grote

Yeah. So Robert will be on Take the North.

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1558.893 - 1564.181 Layla Rahimi

I love that. I love the Take the North Pod guest star. I feel like that needs to happen.

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1564.622 - 1575.619 Mark Grote

And honestly, genuinely, I told Weider about it, and he was thrilled and moved by it, too. He really, really appreciated it. So thank you, Robert, and thank you, Danny. I appreciate what you do.

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1576.291 - 1576.712 Danny Parkins

Oh, good.

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1576.933 - 1579.84 Mark Grote

That's great. And then a nice little moment right there. It's all on board.

1579.94 - 1583.408 Danny Parkins

Yeah, I guess I could have texted both of you guys. I just texted you.

1583.548 - 1585.112 Mark Grote

No, I appreciate it. I appreciate it.

1585.132 - 1593.372 Layla Rahimi

That is okay. You had a lot going on. How was the rest of the weekend, Danny? I saw the pictures at the game. I saw the kiddos got to go in the field, and you saw Craig. How was it?

1593.638 - 1620.422 Danny Parkins

Yeah, it was great. It was really special. Owen is starting to get into sports a little bit. His Little League team is the Cubs, so he thought it was very cool. Clark the Cub, big fan of yours, Layla, big fan of the station. Clark played catch with Owen on the field, which was really sweet. Eli had no idea what was going on, but turned Wrigley Field into his personal sandbox. Exactly.

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