What We Learned from Los Angeles’ 20-17 overtime win

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1. Mevis’ OT kick vaulted Rams into NFC Championship Game. The Rams are back in the NFC Championship Game, but it wasn’t easy, surviving a miracle Bears TD late in regulation and getting a key turnover in overtime to set up Harrison Mevis‘ game-winning 42-yard field goal. What was billed as a potential shootout between two explosive offenses devolved into a snowy rock fight. The Rams didn’t look pretty doing it, but they tied the game before halftime and kept the Bears under wraps until Cobie Durant — who otherwise had a career game — got caught looking into the backfield on the fourth-down game-tying TD with 18 seconds left, sending it to overtime. There the Rams’ defense bent but didn’t break, with Kam Curl’s INT giving the ball back to the offense. They moved it well enough to get in Mevis’ range, and he atoned for his one miss this season (at Seattle in Week 16) to send the Rams back to Seattle on Jan. 25 for a shot at the Super Bowl.
2. Bears’ late-game magic ran out in overtime. Trailing 17-10, and down to a fourth-and-4 in the waning seconds of regulation, Caleb Williams whirled back in the pocket under heavy pressure and threw what had to be the longest 14-yard TD pass in history — more than 50 yards in the air, per Next Gen Stats — to Cole Farmeradding another chapter into the Bears’ 2025 incredible play folder. The way this season has gone, Kmet’s catch somehow felt like … kismet. But the Bears’ good fortune ran out in overtime as Williams, after converting a fourth-down run in OT, threw his third pick of the game and the defense gave up the game-winning field-goal drive. Williams delivered some big moments but also had plenty of misfires, often seen shaking his right hand after an early hit on it in cold conditions at icy Soldier Field. The Rams converted those three Williams picks into 10 points, and in a low-scoring game, it was more than enough.
3. Rams leaned on run game to put Bears away. The Rams ran the football only seven times in the first half, and only four more times in the third quarter, but when the game was hanging in the balance late, Sean McVay got back to the ground game. With Matthew Stafford having an up-and-down night, especially struggling in the second and third quarters, McVay tabbed his backs 19 times in the fourth quarter and overtime. It wasn’t highly productive statistically — their long run was 10 yards, and there were multiple tackles for loss — but the attrition appeared to wear down a Bears defense that had their number for most of the game. Eight of those runs came on the go-ahead TD drive to open the fourth quarter, including a key Puka Nacua conversion on fourth down, putting the Bears back on their heels. And in overtime, even after a three-handoff three-and-out, the Rams ran it three more times, mixed in with some big Stafford throws to Nacua and Davante Adams. The run game helped get the Rams settled down a bit offensively in an otherwise rough night on that side of the ball.
4. Short-yardage, fourth-down failures will haunt Bears. The Bears were steadily moving the ball early in the game, outgained the Rams and held the ball for seven more minutes. But in addition to Caleb Williams’ three interceptions, the Bears also missed several more offensive opportunities. They scored two fourth-down touchdowns but also failed on three — and all three were in scoring range. Williams’ first pick came on fourth down in the first quarter, and the Bears wasted another promising early drive when Kyle Monangai was stopped on fourth-and-1 from the Rams’ 32-yard line in the second quarter. Short-yardage stops were a problem all night, with Monangai and D’Andre Swift both getting stopped in those spots behind a retooled Bears offensive line, with the Rams racking up a shocking 13 “stuffs” on defense, per Next Gen Stats. Throw in a dropped TD by Rome Odunze on the opening drive, and it was a frustrating night for the Bears, with points to be had, but they came up short too many times in key spots. Chicago’s defense gave a valiant effort, but the offense just didn’t consistently deliver.
5. Rams’ defense rebounded from pre-OT gut punch. The Rams defense had a pretty rough first half, with eight missed tackles, and frankly was fortunate to be in a tie game at halftime. The Bears were moving the ball steadily, and the Rams’ vaunted pass rush was quiet in the first half. But the unit rallied in a major way after halftime, forcing two punts, snagging an interception and forcing a turnover on downs on fourth-and-goal at the Los Angeles 2-yard line with just over three minutes left. Quentin Lake‘s big hit on D’Andre Swift before the fourth-down stop was a statement moment for this unit. After the Rams couldn’t move the ball, the Bears drove into the red zone. The Rams defense appeared to have Caleb Williams on his heels on fourth-and goal from the 14-yard line until he delivered a gut-punch TD throw (from nearly midfield!) in the closing seconds of regulation. Sean McVay gave his team a pep talk on the sideline, and whatever he said, it seemed to work. After the offense went three-and-out, the Rams snagged the turnover they needed with Curl’s pick. It was a gutsy bounce back after the Bears nearly stole their hearts the way they have to so many other opponents this season.

Next Gen Stats Insight for Rams-Bears (via NFL Pro): Rams EDGE Jared Verse generated a team-high six pressures across his 37 pass rushes (16.2% pressure rate) against the Bears. No other Rams defender had more than three pressures in the game. Much of Verse’s production came against Bears replacement left tackle Joe Thuney, who was starting at left tackle for the first time since last year’s Super Bowl with the Chiefs. Across their 26 matchups, Verse generated five pressures (19.2% pressure rate), with four of those pressures coming in the fourth quarter.

NFL Research: Sean McVay has 10 career playoff wins as a head coach, the most in Rams history and tied with Hall Of Famer Don Shula for the most by a head coach under the age of 45.