Chicago, IL- The final spot for the NFL’s championship weekend up for grabs in legendary Soldier Field. Two of the league’s most exciting teams braving the elements right out of a winter wonderland scene. This sets the scene for the last game in the Divisional Round between the Rams and the Bears.
Both teams came off of exciting come behind wins with the Rams coming back to beat the Panthers 34-31, and the Bears providing some absolute cinema to dethrone the Packers 31-27. Many fans and experts predicted this one would be no different.
This matchup of offensive juggernauts turned out to be all about the defenses. These two teams who throughout the grueling season had relied on superior offenses leaned on their defenses.
The Bears after a nice return from Devin Duvernay were able to march right down the field before the drive stalled with Caleb Willaims throwing into double coverage and getting picked off giving the Rams the ball. The presumptive MVP Matthew Stafford led his troops methodically, before Kyren Willaims found the endzone on a 4-yard rush. Just like that the Bears were down 7-0 in a position they have been in all season, forced to come back from a deficit.
Chicago answered with an 80-yard touchdown drive which culminated with a Williams to DJ Moore connection on one of Ben Johnson’s famous 4th down tries. The defenses locked in and besides a couple of field goals, both team’s defenses stepped up mightily limiting both teams' extensive weapons to bring us to a 10-10 tie at the half.
More punts ensued in the third quarter with both teams coming up with key stops and committing to the ground game more often than they usually do. It turned into a chess match between two excellent coaching staffs with some gusty 4th down efforts and interesting calls.
Then, in the 4th the Rams had another long drive that ended in another Kyren Williams touchdown run. Chicago had an opportunity and got all the way down to the red zone before turning the ball over on downs. It seemed like once again the Bears season would come to an end.
The defense came up with another huge stop and Duvernay had a great return to set up the Bears close to midfield. With less than two minutes remaining. Williams kept at it and did his thing by leading the Bears right down the field but faced a critical fourth and four with the game and season on the line.
In a play right out of Little Giants Williams ran out of room and started retreating backwards before heaving up a prayer which was caught by Cole Kmet. Cairo Santos made the PAT and somehow the Bears found themselves with a chance forcing overtime.
The Bears won the toss and elected to defer. Los Angeles struggled to move the football and the Bears got ready to punch their ticket to their first NFC Championship since 2010. Caleb Williams had a confident smile in the huddle and the Bears marched on with some crafty passes from Williams and a heroic scramble to pick up a key first down.
Then, Caleb took a risk and was intercepted for the third time in the ball game. LA got the ball back and faced a critical third and six with who else but the NFL’s leading receiver Puka Nacua making a tough catch to get the Rams into field goal range. Instead of just taking the field goal the Rams decided to keep playing.
Harrison Mevis ended things being crowned a hero for making a 42-yard field goal to send the Rams to the Pacific Northwest for the third edition of the trilogy of games between the divisional rival Rams and Seahawks.
As a Bears fan this season brought back hope and pride to a city that has not seen this level of success in a long time. I can’t wait to see the heights this team will climb to in the coming years.
