Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Kevin Fishbain breaks down where the Bears may have an advantage over Rams
16 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What advantages do the Bears have over the Rams in the upcoming game?
Kevin Fishbane. I got fishy business. Okay, Fishbane. Bears beat Ryder for the Athletic.
Are you talking about how the Bears had 10 days off between games after their two best passing performances in the first play from scrimmage against an all-blitzing defense was to let a blitzer come free?
Kevin Fishbane talking Bears. Hey, Kevin. Kevin Fishbane from the Athletic. I love your name.
Chapter 2: How has the Bears' recent performance influenced their strategy?
It's a great name. Yeah, great name. On Chicago Sports Radio, 670 The Score.
Kevin Fishbane does have a great name. He joins us on Fridays here on Rahimi Harris and Grody. He is at KFishbane on X. He is the senior writer at The Athletic covering the Bears, and he hosts a podcast, Breaking In with Kevin Fishbane. And he joins us on the Circa Resort and Casino Hotline, CircaLasVegas.com. Hey, Kevin.
Hey, guys. Happy Friday. Happy divisional round Friday.
Oh, that's it. Happy divisional round Friday. Kevin, just because we always have so much fun with your last name, and I'm sure at some points it's a curse, but I feel like it's a blessing. Here's my straight-up question to you. So much has happened to get us to this point, and now we've got so much drama between these two teams before they even step on the field.
But yet you have to take a step back and actually look at the game itself when you're 48 hours out. What is the fishiest thing to you about this contest? What makes you raise your eyebrow when you look at this matchup?
Amazing.
Oh, man.
I like that. You know what? I feel like just about every X's and O's matchup, Marshall goes against the Bears. But what's a little fishy to me is take a look at special teams. Talk about the third phase. Bears special teams looked great last week. It's won them a few games this season. The Rams had to fire their special teams coordinator in the middle of the season.
That's a little eyebrow raise because I think for the Bears, if you want to go in the mindset of they need some big play... on defense or special teams to pull off an upset. Well, whether it's a long return, you got two big returns from Devin Duvernay last week. Could it be a kickoff return? Could it be a block punt or kick? Or are you just going to win the field goal bat?
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Chapter 3: What role do special teams play in the Bears' game plan against the Rams?
Oh, nice. Sean McVay, third worst. Ooh. On the other side, least efficient, Sean McVay is third in terms of most timeouts used at what Tom Bliss, never met him before, never heard of him before, pop up. Sean McVay has used the third most unnecessary timeout. So we go back to those hidden things, those details. Maybe that's another edge. for the Bears.
Based on this Tom Bliss data set and the Kevin Fishbane philosophy for timeout usage, I will throw that in there as well. I don't have my own chart. The Bears are better at using their timeouts.
Oh my god, now I have to put together my Bliss power ranking. So we got a Tom Bliss, shout out to a George Bliss. I did my...
Dave Bliss, the former Baylor Bears head coach for basketball. No, he's at the bottom.
That's pretty good right there.
No, trust me. Look him up and you'll see why.
If we're trademarking this, this is the Kevin Fishbane timeout. What would you call it? Because I think it's a very potent and powerful and really a thing that explains things.
Yeah, the Kevin Fishbane crediting Tom Bliss usage of timeout. I remember, guys. Okay, okay. We'll work on the title. We'll work on that. Matt Nagy said to us one time at a press conference, somebody asked him about a timeout he used in the first half, and he kind of said, like, I don't really care about first half timeouts. Like, I'll use them when I feel like I need to use them.
It's the second half that, like, you need to hold on to those. And that always stuck with me. And I've just been a believer because if you just think ā This is more of a thing in the NFL when you don't have the stop clock at first downs. But you have to kind of operate. Like, I like to think of it when you're playing Madden, right?
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Chapter 4: How will injuries impact the Bears' lineup against the Rams?
Yeah, I mean, it's your classic just run the ball, keep Matthew Stafford off the field, control game. That's what the Bears would love to do. They'd love to have those 15-play, 75-yard, 8-minute touchdown drives to help salt this game away and help out a defense that's going to be just highly disadvantaged just going against such a potent offense.
So, Layla, I'm glad you actually set this up for me because speaking of things that mean nothing, when it comes to this game. I was thinking about the 2018 Bears-Rams game, Sunday Night Football, the last time the Bears won a game on Sunday Night Football, the last game that believed the Bears won on NBC.
That's an 11-game NBC losing streak because it includes the double-doink game and the opener to 2019. These are facts that only I keep track of. That game, one of the things the Bears did a great job of was running the football and finding a way to kind of
not like deke Aaron Donald because you can't really do that, but they found a way to not let Aaron Donald wreck the game, and part of that was the way they ran the ball that night.
It was a 15-6 win, and I just was thinking about that because I was thinking about that game in general because it was the last time the Bears won us on that game, and I just remember that was such an important part of that win
win and you look at this Rams defensive line how do you find a way to not let those guys be game wreckers and it's find a way to run the football or the screen game or different things like that or gain the ball out quick all those things um so yeah 2018 game means absolutely nothing for this game but you you set me up to mention that and I appreciate that
We're a team. Yeah. That's what we do. Fish Bain, I got one last question for you, but like I said, I will work on the Bliss Power Rankings for Adam Hogue. I'm working on the Pat Norton, the Norton Power Rankings, which right now exist of Ken Norton, Greg Norton, Pat Norton himself, Norton Antivirus, Jim Norton, the comedian, and Ed Norton, of course.
So I will work on that, but I will ask you the same question I did ask Adam Hogue. If you are willing to give us... Your pick for the Bears and the Rams at Soldier Field on Sunday night at 530. Are you willing to reveal that to the Rahimi Harris and Grody show?
Sure. I actually haven't written it yet, so I guess it'll be exclusive to you guys. Yes! Also, shout out Norton's Restaurant and Bar in Highland Park. I'm ready to get down. Not a sponsor, but you know what? Got it. Got it. Norton's Bar. Good burgers there. Sick. And they have lots of pictures of every famous Norton, like, on the wall. Do they really? They have a signed Greg Norton photo.
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Chapter 5: What are the key challenges for the Bears' defense against the Rams' offense?
They have the experience. They have everything. With that said, I'm going Bears. I'm going, let's say, exclusive to this show, let's go Bears 29-21. Rams 26.
Kevin Fishbane exclusive.
Yes, your pick has been recorded. I've written it down. I completely forgot what Adam Hogue said, but I will not forget what you said.
I forget what Hogue says all the time, Layla. Don't worry about it.
Kevin Fishbane, thanks so much for joining us. You can check out his work at The Athletic. You can check out his podcast as well. It is called Breaking In with Kevin Fishbane, a sports media podcast. Kevin Fishbane, thanks for the time.
Thanks, Kevin. Thank you, guys. Take care. See you, buddy.
Coming up next on Rahimi Harris and Grody, it's a segment that nobody's ever done before.
Ooh, I'm intrigued.
What is it? Not even we have done this segment before, except we have done this segment before, and so has everybody else. But it's important and valid and necessary. How do I know how to watch the game if I don't know what my key to the game is? I'm not a good teammate if I don't know what yours is.
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