For an encore, the Bears need to find a way to beat the NFL’s best offense and one of the game’s most respected coaches.
When the 49ers beat the Eagles 23-19 on Sunday night, the Rams punched their ticket to a Round 2 playoff game Sunday at Soldier Field. The NFL will announce the times of its playoff games, and its television homes, after “Monday Night Football.” The Bears will play at either 2 p.m. or 5:30 p.m.
During the regular season, head coach and play-caller Sean McVay’s Rams led the NFL with 394.6 yards per game and 30.5 points per game.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford led the NFL with 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdowns this season. His 109.2 passer rating ranked second only to the Patriots’ Drake Maye, the other contender for the MVP this season.
Receiver Puka Nacua led the league with 129 catches and finished second with 1,715 receiving yards. Running back Kyren Williams finished sixth 1,252 rushing yards.
The Seahawks, as the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, were guaranteed to play the surviving team with the worst seed. That’s the sixth-seeded 49ers.
The fifth-seeded Rams beat the Panthers 34-31 Saturday afternoon when Stafford threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Colby Parkinson at the front right pylon with 43 seconds to play.
Bears quarterback Williams beat the Rams at Soldier Field in his fourth game as a pro, winning 24-18 after going 17-for-23 for 157 yards and a touchdown pass.
The last time the Bears played the Rams in the playoffs, they won 24-0 in the NFC championship game 40 years ago. The Bears went on to win the only Super Bowl in franchise history.
Williams broke down in a postgame speech to the team about Johnson’s impact, and the results are obvious on the field.
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
read
Bears fan Pope Leo has not yet publicly weighed in on the biggest postseason comeback in franchise history, but Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson joined in on cheese grater-mania. Pritzker traded barbs with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
read
Tight end Colston Loveland’s 137 receiving yards Saturday were the second-most in Bears history since at least 1933.
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
read