Start each day with the Chicago Tribune's top sports stories, delivered to your inbox
Sports Thursday, January 15, 2026 | | |
| | | | | Good morning, Chicago. Kyler Gordon kept telling people it was going to be something crazy. “I
guess in my head I always thought this game, the setup of it, was going to be something historical,” Gordon said. The Bears cornerback was talking about Saturday’s 31-27 wild-card victory against the Packers, and he was absolutely right. He broke up the final pass of
the game — a play that dragged on seemingly forever as Packers quarterback Jordan Love looked for a target. The fact Gordon was on the field at all proved to be a minor miracle. Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon comes out in his Spiderman mask as players are announced before the start of an NFC wild-card game against the Green Packers at
Soldier Field on Jan. 10, 2026. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune) Now the Bears have him back when it matters most. It was a timely return, too, because C.J. Gardner-Johnson — whom the Bears signed midseason when Gordon first went on IR — missed the wild-card game with a concussion. Gardner-Johnson, who played 10 games at the nickel spot this season for the Bears,
was listed as a full participant on the estimated injury report Wednesday. The Bears will need all the defensive help they can get when they host the Rams in the divisional round. The Rams have the NFL’s No. 1 offense in terms of points (30.5) and total yards (394.6) per game. Stay connected with us all day: Sign up for our newsletters to get the latest news in your inbox. And you can follow us on social media: X, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Threads. Not a Tribune subscriber? Here's our latest offer. | | | | Alex Bregman and the return of the 2016 champions highlight the annual Chicago Cubs Convention, the unofficial start of the 2026 season. | | | | | Illinois freshman Keaton Wagler scored 16 of Illinois’ first 24 points of the second half despite battling back spasms, leading the Illini to a 79-68 win over Northwestern on Wednesday. | | | | | Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams called his now-iconic fourth-down pass in a playoff win against the Green Bay Packers a “good moment.” | | | | | The Chicago Bears don’t want to rely on rally mode against the Los Angeles Rams: “We don’t want to put ourselves in a hole against a team like this.” | | | | | Can the Chicago Bears afford to blitz against quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams? Here’s what the numbers say. | | | | | Nikola Vučević’s basket with four seconds to play lifted the Chicago Bulls to a 128-126 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. Vučević scored 16 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter. | | | |
