Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Dan Wiederer talks Bears' 'instantly iconic' wild-card win over the Packers (Hour 4)
12 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What key moments defined the Bears' wild-card win against the Packers?
This hour is brought to you by Cars for Kids.
Dan Wiederer, Bears reporter and senior writer for The Athletic. You're going to be relying on a lot of young players, guys that have to materialize into who they thought they were. The Bears are who we thought they were.
On-air contributor for 670 The Score.
We'll mention this mainly because Dan Wiederer said we would mention this nugget.
Host of the Take the North podcast. We're going to take the North and never give it back.
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Chapter 2: How did Dan Wiederer analyze the Bears' reliance on young players?
Dan Wiederer. Thanks, Coach. We'll go first to Dan Wiederer. On Chicago Sports Radio, 670 The Score. Weezy!
Dan Wiederer is the senior reporter for The Athletic covering the Bears. He is also the co-host of the Take the North podcast. And I joked that he abandoned Mark Grody Saturday night. But then I saw this adorable picture of you two just chatting it up in the tunnel after the Bears win. He joins us via the Circus Sports Illinois hotline. Download the Circus Sports app today.
Dan, you two really looked precious, you and Mark, in that picture. You guys looked so happy.
Adorable is what Dan and I go for. No, adorbs. Adorbs.
It is adorbs.
We are adorable, are we not, Dan? I mean, at the very least, we are adorable.
Credit to John Greenberg for getting the snapshot to capture that moment of delight as we were trying to unpack everything we had just experienced and give the people what they want, which is some take the North spin on whatever that was that we experienced Saturday night because that's going to be unforgettable and something that we're talking about
You know, 40, 50 years from now, John Greenberg is low key, incredibly good at doing that. Oh, yeah. Like incredibly good at like snapping the perfect pick or the like snapshots in the moment of time and encapsulate everything. He's a good journalist. He's funny. He's a sleuth. That is 100 percent one of the things he is like the best at doing.
Well, Dan, we were just take you backstage a little bit. Dan and I had planned to do this after we worked the locker room.
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Chapter 3: What was the significance of the Bears' comeback in the second half?
We both were in the interview room and we said, why don't we do this? Because Dan's got like a bunch of stuff to do. Let's do a little walk and talk. We were trying to get a little separation from the rest of the media and from the hundreds of people that are down there just so we'd have people around us. You know what I'm saying? And then, of course, there's Greenberg.
There's Greenberg. Because that's how he is, man.
With that little smile, right, Dan? Lurking and leering and smiling and doing all the things that he does to us. But thankfully, we were able to squeeze in a couple minutes. And again, I don't know how you guys feel today, but man, that was one that was difficult to wrap your brains around.
In real time, the following day, here we are two days later, and you're still trying to process the entirety of that game, which again, instantly iconic win for the Bears for sure.
Dan Weider is also joining us on Twitch, twitch.tv slash Chicago 670. The score on this Plumbers 9-1-1 football Monday presented by BC Bank. I don't know how to put it into words. There's a part of me that's still in disbelief that it actually happened, that they won the game, even though they are the most threatening team when it comes to fourth quarter comebacks.
And yet, for whatever reason, this one seemed the most improbable out of everything we've seen.
Yeah, well, it was because that halftime deficit was big time. You know, it's 21-3. They do get the advantage of a missed kick there, the first of many, from Brandon McManus on Saturday night. And I feel like that gave them a small sliver of hope. You know, and this team doesn't need much. You know, it just needs a little bit of a reason to believe that they're still in a football game.
We just got done today here at House Hall talking to Tremaine Edmonds about the sort of psychological lift for a defense of knowing that Caleb Williams is on your side because even down 18 points, you can go and say, hey, we've got a chance here. If we can just do our part and get a few stops and get the ball back in the hands of our offense, they can go make magic happen.
They've done it all season. And so that lift psychologically of having that guy on your side, is enormous, and I think that what was so sort of, you know, perfectly fitting about Saturday night is the Packers were the team that did that to the Bears forever.
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Chapter 4: How did the Bears' defense contribute to the victory over the Packers?
You know, they had Rodgers just ripping their heart out over and over and over again, and now it's like, oh, wait, that guy's in the Bears' huddle, and the Packers don't have an answer for it, and sort of the symbolic sort of shifting of... momentum in this rivalry. You can feel it now.
And clearly the edge is back with the head coach of the Bears dropping the F-bomb to talk about the Packers in the locker room and then softening the sentiment a little bit today. Or softening the verbiage today, but not the sentiment. And saying, I don't like that team. Yeah, Dan, you say that, but I don't feel like anything got softened today.
I think he was just in front of a microphone, that's all, as opposed to with his players. I think that's probably the most, not shocking thing, but that's the thing I'll probably remember the most. Obviously, the comeback itself, but I did a thing where I talked about the top three.
moments after the whistle and i was like obviously caleb williams grating cheese on the prime post game set the post game handshake which was point however many seconds less than a second and then what he said in front of kevin warren of all people in the locker room like i think this has taken another level to it that's what ben johnson has done with this rivalry it's what he's done with everything it's add edge right like it's add edge to to what you're doing and add passion and add
purpose and and look like the only way this becomes a rivalry is if it's competitive and the bears have now beaten green bay three times as of saturday night in 370 days before that they had beaten them three times since 2013 and so that's what shifts the rivalry it's why they have green bay's attention right now you can feel in the rhetoric from up there in wisconsin how uh
On notice they are and how on alert they are that the Bears have come for them, you know, and now have taken the North as they promised they would and now are threatening to never give it back. And so look like it's a real deal now. And that playoff game adds to it. The head coaches animosity with one another adds to it. It's a lot of fun. It's what sports rivalry should be.
And the Bears are, you know, for once on the right side of it. And Dan and I will be doing a fresh podcast tonight as well. That will drop tonight as well. So there's the initial reaction. You can check that out right now. But this is a no messing around week, so we will find a way to record.
Dan, how much of this game was, and specifically the second half, and I'm talking more about the defense when I ask this question, Bears stepping up versus the Packers choking this game away. What do you say about that? Yeah, I may have to take some time to rewatch it in full to do the pie chart on that. But certainly, here's what I think goes into this, Grody.
It's a team that has a documented history of coming back. is capable of applying pressure on opponents that then makes them feel really, really anxious. And you could feel it Saturday night, some point in the third quarter. Even though the Bears weren't scoring, the defense was stepping up, and Green Bay had kind of lost that full surge of momentum that they had offensively in the first half.
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Chapter 5: What psychological factors influenced the Bears' performance?
There were just certain points where you looked up the clock and you're like, you do the math and you're like, okay, there's still plenty of time here. They're going to get enough possessions to have their say in this game. And sure enough, the defense kept getting them the ball. The offense finally in the fourth quarter exploded. They scored 25 points in the fourth quarter alone.
And I just think that there is an element of the pressure that the Bears apply with who they are as comeback experts now. that other teams feel. And that's very real. And I think that's something that's going to work in their favor, not only this weekend against the Rams, but next year as well.
I think, Dan, as storytellers, to me, it makes the most sense. It's the most drawable story. We haven't talked about it as much because today is a day for just pure trolling and celebration. And love. And love, yeah. As somebody just said on Twitter, by the way, find someone that looks at you the way Grody looks at Dan Wiederer. That's from Woods on Twitter.
Because you do look at him lovingly and you're holding the microphone up to him as if he's speaking.
Well, it's shocking that usually when you're at the mercy of somebody else taking a picture of you, it never turns out the way you want it to. I will say Greenberg did catch a nice smiley picture of us.
That's Greenberg, man. I'm telling you.
Yeah.
Guys, that's what team chemistry looks like. That picture is what team chemistry looks like.
We just became a team today. But I do think that him, Ben Johnson, giving that nugget about watching the 28-3 game, how do you not understand that that probably colors every single comeback that we've talked about? I'd want to get on the phone with Grady Jarrett immediately to ask, what the hell did you say to these guys at training camp? Because my God, has it worked?
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Chapter 6: How did the rivalry between the Bears and Packers impact the game?
I know we were talking on Monday and it's supposed to be more reflective than looking ahead, but I don't know if I'm going to talk to you again this week, Dan. So I got to ask you, how are you seeing the initial matchup with the Rams? I was very much, I would like to see the Eagles and,
at soldier field because they're so wildly inconsistent it matches the bears inconsistency and now that inconsistency has cost them a playoff spot and i like the idea of the rams coming here after beating the seahawks for the nfc championship game they're going to get the rams earlier than that i like this matchup too though for a bears team that is largely jekyll and hyde well on the topic of the eagles not only inconsistent but bad vibes really bad vibes for that team and i think that uh
Certainly cost them in the end. And you felt that a little bit yesterday. As far as the Rams go, you have to be a little bit nervous if you're the Bears defensive and understanding what you're dealing with. You're dealing with a very accomplished quarterback who's very smart, very skilled. If Matthew Stafford is indeed fully healthy, he's going to present some problems.
And he's also going to present problems with the two guys he throws the football to the most. Devontae Adams, who Bears fans know really well, and Puka Nakua, who they'll get to know really well on Sunday afternoon. when he visits Soldier Field. And it's going to be a challenge for a secondary that hasn't done a great job of limiting the explosive plays.
These guys can hit you in bunches with those if you're not careful. And so that part of the matchup is going to be fascinating. We're going to get a chance later in the week to talk to Dennis Allen, who's been on the wrong end of Pukunukuwa before. He'll probably give us a little bit of insight into why he's such a difficult cover.
And they're going to have to find answers within the game plan to do better than they did in the first half. Because guys, trust me, at 21-3 in the first half Saturday night, no one in the building felt like that defense was going to stand up enough to win that football game. And yet they found some answers in the second half and won. Here we are talking about a matchup with the Rams.
Yeah, no doubt. And look, their defense is nothing special, so I expect that Caleb will be able to do some damage against them. What did you think about Caleb Williams and being demonstrative on the sideline and kind of the way Ben Johnson is talking about it as well? I feel like he's kind of earned that. I didn't have a problem with it, Dan.
What did you think about Caleb being all loud on the sideline? Yeah, we don't get that view in real time up in the press box, as you know, Grody. So you're going off hearsay until you go back and rewatch it, and then you hear the coach today talk about just the message of what Caleb was trying to get across.
It didn't seem, by anyone's reports within the Bears organization, that it was a finger-pointing session as much as, hey, we've got to get this short up quickly or our season's over. And so when we're on different pages on certain routes, on certain plays, and it results in a fourth-down interception, we ā We've got to get that ironed out quickly.
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Chapter 7: What were the listeners' reactions during the Meatball Machine segment?
I'm like, that's it. This game is over.
it was it was overzealous jervon dexter yes like watching that from the bird's eye view that we have it was like oh god just relax as you go to die that's it went squirting away and that was it and yeah that was one of four packers fumbles that the bears did not recover on saturday night you know i had a story already missed opportunities there was a a bullet pointed list of
12 things on that list about the Bears season died because they missed all these opportunities. That was one of them. And obviously they were able to hit a few opportunities. late in the game to change that storyline. And, you know, that's what we call a rewrite here in our business. We were busy rewriting until about 2 in the morning.
That made me want to watch Trevon Dexter, like, belly flop into a pool. Because that's what he looked like he was doing when he tried to dive on the ball.
He was all arms and legs. And he's 6'6". Yeah.
He's biggin'. And he was so excited. You could feel the excitement. And they had the fumble on Christian Watson in the first half where Tyreek Stevenson makes the hit and it's laying there in the end zone. And Kevin Byard is just like a split second slow to notice and isn't able to get on it. And then I think on the very next play after that ball gets moved back to the one,
Kyler Gordon's got a chance at an interception. He doesn't make it, and you're just like, man, they can't get anything to bounce their way tonight. I don't think this is going to be their night, and this is going to be a real painful end to a magical season. As we all know, it was not a painful end to a magical season. The magical season lives on.
It does indeed. Dan Weterer, thanks as always for coming on with us today on this Victory Monday. Thanks, Dan. Can't believe it.
All right. See you, buddy. I'll talk to you later. I'll see if Greenberg can come by and take some shots. Let's be adorable, buddy. Adorbs.
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Chapter 8: What insights did Dan Wiederer provide about the upcoming matchup with the Rams?
Brisker, Jaquan Brisker, asked him, what did you do differently in the second half with that defense?
We just really had to lock in. We changed a lot of things up, but everybody just really had to really do their job and just stay focused, wrap up, tackle, and get off the field. What did you guys change up? Just our coverage and things like that, and really rushing cover, a lot of sacks, tip balls, and then a lot of great coverage.
You just had them flustered, obviously, in the second half. There's the grounding penalty that you were trying to buy from the referees, and they threw that challenge just about on you. What were you saying? What was going on? Describe what was happening there.
Ain't nobody over there. I was like, throw it. I said a lot, but I can't say it in front of the cameras. But, yeah, that was big, and, you know, the rest of the drive, every yard was important, every blade of grass. So it was huge.
I don't know if TV did it justice or not.
I, like Dan, have not watched the full television copy yet, but it was quite a scene watching what looked to be a grounding, watching Jaquan Brisker, and he was keeping his distance from the referees, but he was out there lobbying hard, and then the referees, they all come together, they huddle up, and Brisker's going crazy, and basically the ref throws the flag on Brisker, which was just beautiful.
You know what? For all of the flack that Adrian Hill's crew got... Bears only had two penalties.
Which is like a huge accomplishment relative to what has gone on in a bunch of games this year for the Bears. Penalties have been a problem for the Bears this year. Over the last two to three games, they don't do it anymore. Better. And part of that is Caleb Williams looks like he's in complete command of that offense now. Didn't they have a bunch of penalties against San Fran?
I don't want to nitpick here right now. I said two or three. Okay, okay.
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