The Los Angeles Rams survived another late scare to defeat the Chicago Bears in overtime and punch their ticket to the NFC Championship Game.
The Rams got off to a good start as they stopped the Bears on fourth down and then put together a 14-play drive that ended with a Kyren Williams touchdown.
It was mostly a struggle from that point on though as the Rams only scored 13 more points and finished with 340 yards of total offense.
Head coach Sean McVay was critical of himself after the game and said he needs to do a better job with his offensive play-calling, via Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com:
“Offensively, man, I did not do a very good job for our group tonight,” McVay said after Harrison Mevis kicked a 42-yard field goal in overtime to win it. “But I thought our guys were able to overcome it.”
The Rams offense was one-dimensional against the Bears as they threw the ball nearly three-quarters of the time despite Williams finding early success.
McVay credited the Rams defense for keeping them in the game despite his questionable play-calling:
“I did not like the feel for the flow of the game that I had outside of the first series, where our guys did a great job,” McVay said. “Defensively, it kept us in it in spite of how poor of a job I did for our group. But like I said, I’m really grateful for this group being able to find a way, stick with it and be able to overcome some bad coaching by me tonight.”
The Rams defense played one of their best games of the season as they intercepted Caleb Williams three times and also stopped the Bears on three fourth down plays.
If not for their contributions, the Rams very well could be heading home right now, but they will instead get ready to face the Seattle Seahawks with a trip to Super Bowl LX on the line.
NFC Championship Game schedule & TV info
The Rams and Seahawks will meet at Lumen Field on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. PT, with FOX televising the contest.
It marks the third game between the Rams and Seahawks this season. L.A. edged out Seattle, 21-19, at SoFi Stadium in Week 11 before dropping a heartbreaker to their NFC West rival on the road in Week 16.
The Rams and Seahawks have faced off two previous times in the playoffs, with their most recent meeting coming during the NFC Wild Card round in 2021. L.A. won that game, 30-20, before going on to fall to the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round.
The Rams won their only other postseason game against the Seahawks in 2005, when they still played in St. Louis. That matchup was also on the road, so L.A. will look to make it three in a row in Seattle.
