The Los Angeles Rams secured a nail-biting win in Chicago to beat the Bears in the NFL play-offs and follow the New England Patriots into the Conference Championships.
After leading the Bears to a record number of comeback victories this season, quarterback Caleb Williams had the chance to clinch another after throwing a stunning touchdown pass in the final seconds to send Sunday’s Divisional Round game into overtime.
However, the 2024 number one draft pick threw an interception and on the Rams’ subsequent drive, Harrison Mevis’ field goal secured a 20-17 win in freezing conditions in Illinois.
In Massachusetts, the Patriots also moved to within one win of the Super Bowl, overcoming snow and the vaunted Houston Texans defence to win 28-16.
Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford and Patriots counterpart Drake Maye are the leading contenders for this season’s Most Valuable Player award and could still meet in the NFL’s title decider.
The Rams must travel to divisional rivals Seattle for the NFC Championship game next Sunday, while New England will visit the Denver Broncos in the AFC equivalent.
The winners will play in Super Bowl 60 on Sunday, 8 February at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Williams comes up short in latest miracle fightback
Although Chicago were the NFC’s second seed, fifth ranked Los Angeles were favourites to win at Soldier Field as they finished the regular season with a better record and are led by MVP frontrunner Stafford.
The 37-year-old helped the Rams win the Super Bowl in 2022 but has never won the prestigious MVP award, and his offence struggled to get going in Chicago, where the temperature dipped to -8C with a wind chill of -13C.
Although perhaps fortunate to be level at 10-10 at half-time, the Rams inched ahead in the fourth quarter when Kyren Williams got the first score of a tight second half, running in a touchdown from five yards.
However, the Bears have won a record seven games this season when trailing inside the final two minutes. True to form, with 18 seconds remaining, Williams was flushed out of the pocket before launching a hopeful pass about 40 yards that was grabbed by tight end Cole Kmet in the end zone.
Chicago’s defence then got a stop on the first possession of overtime but Williams, who has been nicknamed ‘the Iceman’ for his ability to deliver under pressure, was intercepted for the third time in Sunday’s game.
At the other end of the field, Mevis made no mistake from 42 yards to end a thrilling season for the long-suffering Bears fans, the highlight being the team’s first play-off win in 15 years last week.
In Ben Johnson’s first year as head coach and Williams’ second since being the first overall draft pick in 2024, they helped Chicago go from worst to first in the NFC North, improving their record from 5-12 in 2024 to 11-6 this time.
“Some things you just can’t coach – he’s got that,” Johnson said of his quarterback. “I know he’s feeling it because we had some turnovers in there, but we’ll remember this and he’s going to be stronger for it.”
