CHICAGO – Rams kicker Harrison Mevis's game-winning, 42-yard field goal in overtime lifted the Rams to a 20-17 road win over the Bears Sunday night at Soldier Field, sending them to the NFC Championship.
Los Angeles will take on the Seahawks next Sunday at 3:30 pm pacific time at Lumen Field, with the winner advancing to Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara.
Taking a 17-10 lead with 8:50 left in the fourth quarter, the Rams watched as Bears quarterback Caleb Williams escaped for a 26-yard scramble to bring them to the Rams' 33. Nine plays later, the Bears faced 4th and goal from the Rams' 2, but they turned it over on downs after inside linebacker Omar Speights broke up Williams' pass intended for wide receiver Luther Burden with 3:03 remaining in regulation.
While the Rams' offense chewed off 63 seconds of game clock, they were forced to punt from their own 17 at the two-minute warning, needing another stop for their defense one last time.
The ensuing punt was downed by Los Angeles at midfield, giving Chicago advantageous field position with 1:50 remaining in the fourth quarter. After an incompletion on first down, Williams fired an 18-yard completion to tight end Colston Loveland over the middle.
Again, it came down to a fourth down for Chicago: 4th and 4 from the Rams' 14 with 27 seconds left. Williams' fourth-down heave off his back foot was brought in by tight end Cole Kmet for the game-tying touchdown, 17-17 with 18 seconds left. According to Next Gen Stats, Williams' pass traveled 51.2 air yards.
In overtime, the Rams went 3-and-out on the opening drive and were forced to punt. On the ensuing drive, the Bears reached midfield before Williams' overthrown pass over the middle was picked on a diving interception by Rams safety Kam Curl with 6:47 left.
Los Angeles got the ball back at its own 22, then marched downfield to the Chicago 24. Despite three straight incompletions, it was enough to put Mevis in range for the game-winning field goal that has the Rams bound for the NFC Championship.
Los Angeles defense that held Chicago's offense to just 1-for-4 on third down in the win.
Here is the complete game recap, presented by Toyota:
Williams hit Moore for a 34-yard completion on the first play of the game to bring the Bears to the Rams' 34. Chicago resorted to going for it on 4th and 2 from the Los Angeles 21, and L.A. defense's came up with the stop via an interception by cornerback Cobie Durant after Williams overthrew tight end Colston Loveland over the middle.
The Rams capitalized on the takeaway with a 4-yard touchdown run by running back Kyren Williams to take a 7-0 lead with 6:20 remaining in the first quarter, a scoring drive that erased a little over six and a half minutes of game clock.
The Bears again went for it on 4th down on their second series, this time on 4th and goal from the Rams' 3, and it was successful after a 3-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Moore to tie the game 7-7 early in the second quarter.
After the teams traded 3-and-outs, the Bears went for on fourth down a third time, but were unsuccessful after Chicago running back D'Andre Swift was stopped for no gain on 4th and 1 from the Los Angeles 32. Despite the 4th down stop, L.A. was forced to punt on the ensuing series.
Chicago used a 27-yard completion from Williams to wide receiver Rome Odunze to quickly move into Los Angeles territory, but safety Jaylen McCollough's third-down pass breakup forced them to settle for a 48-yard field goal by kicker Cairo Santos, giving the Bears a 10-7 lead with 1:10 left in the first half.
L.A. used a 27-yard completion of its own from Stafford to tight end Tyler Higbee to get into Chicago territory on the ensuing series, then arrived at the Chicago 14 two plays later after an unnecessary roughness penalty against the Bears was added at the end of a 14-yard completion from Stafford to Williams. After three-straight incomplete passes toward the corners of the endzone, the Rams settled for a 32-yard field goal to tie the game 10-10 at halftime.
Although forced to punt on the opening possession of the second half, the ensuing kick by the Rams' Ethan Evans landed at the Bears' 4-yard line. The Rams then forced the Bears to punt.
On the next drive, Stafford was strip-sacked on first down but recovered his own fumble. Although the Rams punted again, the ensuing Bears drive ended after Durant snagged his second pick of the game, this time on a Williams deep pass toward the right sideline intended for wide receiver Luther Burden. Despite the ball back at midfield off the turnover, L.A.'s offense went 3-and-out and was forced to punt.
A huge tackle for loss by outside linebacker Jared Verse gave the Rams defense another third down stop at the end of the third quarter, forcing the Bears to punt at the start of the fourth. On the ensuing series, the Rams went for it on 4th and 1 from the Bears 7 and converted on a handoff to Nacua for a 2-yard gain. The next play, Williams punched it in from 2 yards out, to give the Rams a 17-10 lead with 8:50 left in the fourth quarter.
Chicago marched down to the Rams' 2-yard line and erased almost six minutes of game clock on that drive, but it was up-ended by Speights' pass breakup with 3:03 to go in the fourth quarter. The Rams gave the ball back after being forced to punt, and the Bears responded with Williams' hail mary throw to tie the game and send it to overtime (the Rams took a knee to drain the remaining clock and take the game to overtime).
Despite punting on the first drive of overtime, the Rams got the ball back after Curl's takeaway at their own 22 with 6:47 left in the extra period. Keyed by a 12-yard completion to Adams and a 16-yard third-down completion to Nacua, Stafford led the Rams to the Bears 24. Despite three straight incompletions, it was well within range for Mevis to deliver.
