The Los Angeles Rams pulled off a huge 20-17 overtime win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. L.A. is set for an epic Round III matchup against the Seahawks in Seattle next week, but they had better play A LOT better if they hope to advance to the Super Bowl.
Ahead of the Rams’ first NFC Championship appearance since 2021, here is the good, the bad and the ugly from the Divisional Round win in the Windy City.
The Good
Defense was tough throughout
The defense was the only reason L.A. didn’t lose by 30.
They were mostly outstanding except against the run, and set the tone early on Chicago’s opening drive when Cobie Durant picked off Caleb Williams.
They were even better in the second half, holding Chicago to 121 total yards and pitching a shutout until Williams’ wild touchdown near the end of the fourth quarter.
L.A. held the Bears to 3-of-6 on fourth down opportunities, none bigger than on their 12-play, 61-yard drive late in the final frame which ended with no points.
Los Angeles won due to winning the turnover battle. Kam Curl picked off Williams in overtime, essentially saving the Rams’ season when Chicago only needed a field goal to win.
The team is going to need every bit of this defense against the Seahawks this week. If they can do that, a second Lombardi Trophy under McVay will be firmly in their grasps.
Who said these Rams couldn’t play in cold weather?
All week, we heard talking heads and fans say that the West Coast team could not play in the cold and would lose. It’s not like players such as Matthew Stafford and Davante Adams had never played in the cold or anything.
These guys are professionals and should be well-equipped to play in any conditions. Coaching is the main reason teams lose these types of games — it’s not entirely the weather.
Some players had even put cayenne pepper in their socks to stay warm.
Whatever works, I suppose. Perhaps I should try this today since it’s quite frigid where I live in Central Illinois.
Also, shoutout to Kyren Williams for calling out those who said the Rams couldn’t handle the freezing temps.
The Bad
Matthew Stafford
This is the guy who’s supposedly about to win MVP in a few weeks? Really?
Matthew Stafford played a truly atrocious game against the Bears. Following the first drive when he completed six of his first 10 passes, the veteran quarterback went 14-of-32 for the remainder of the game. His passer rating was only eight points higher than Caleb Williams, and the Bears’ QB threw three interceptions(!)
Yikes!
I don’t know about you, but Stafford was driving me crazy with the constant deep throws downfield when L.A. only needed a few yards. It was a simple case of trying to force the passing game to work when it would’ve been better to take what the defense was giving him. Amazing he didn’t have a three-interception game as well given how he was throwing.
Stafford was also sacked four times. Yes, the offensive line let him down, but his pocket awareness was clearly lacking on a second quarter sack by Chicago defensive back Jaquan Brisker.
It’s shocking to talk about Stafford in this way. The Rams won mostly in spite of him, not because of him. Maybe that injured digit is hurting him more than he’s letting on, but something was very amiss in his performance — and it wasn’t just his countless off-target deep shots. Los Angeles will be run off the field in Seattle next weekend if he gives us another clunker.
At least he came through when it mattered for the second straight week.
First half gameplan
Facing a Bears defense that hadn’t done much right this season, establishing the run should’ve been priority numero uno for McVay. Especially considering his QB was banged up entering the game, it would’ve taken the pressure off the passing game in the cold.
Instead, we saw one of the most uneven run-pass ratios from McVay in quite some time.
The gameplan made absolutely no sense, and it’s a miracle the Rams weren’t buried by Chicago early on because of it.
That also gets me into my next section …
Sean McVay’s late-game management
Sean McVay had failed in establishing the run early, so naturally, he tried to do so late in the game when the team only needed a couple first downs.
When a team plays not to lose and gets more conservative than a Fox News pundit, you know they’re destined to. Los Angeles gave up a ridiculous last-gasp touchdown from Williams, partly due to McVay’s late-game playcalling.
After L.A. stopped Chicago at the goal line on a 12-play drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock, the Rams proceeded to run on five straight plays, taking just 1:13.
Then, following Williams’ fluky touchdown pass, McVay decided he had seen enough and sent the offense out to kneel out the remaining 18 seconds and head to overtime.
I understand the logic behind it, as Chicago had all the momentum at that time, and based on Stafford’s play, it was iffy to trust him to get the team into field goal range.
Despite that, you never know what might have happened in that amount of time, with two timeouts to spare as well. Patrick Mahomes once got his team into field goal range in 13 seconds. (Bet you never heard that before.) Plus, had McVay not seen these Bears play against Cincinnati earlier in the year? One pass interference call or defensive lapse could’ve made the difference.
You cannot trust overtime to go your way, and McVay’s decision-making and poor overall gameplan should’ve lost the Rams this game.
The Ugly
Allowing Caleb Williams to do magic
The Rams knew exactly what kind of team the Bears are. They knew what Caleb Williams was capable of.
And yet they still allowed him to pull one last rabbit out of his hat:
WHAT. THE. HELL?! Are you bleeping kidding me Rams?
The worst part about allowing that score was the defenders sitting around letting it happen, almost like they were sitting in the crowd taking in the action. Actually no, the worst part about the play was Cobie Durant looking around for a flag for offensive pass interference.
Sorry Cobie, that wasn’t an OPI. Don’t like it? Play tighter defense then, bud.
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