| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | T | |
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7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
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0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
Los Angeles Rams vs Chicago Bears: 2026 NFC Divisional Round Preview
The Los Angeles Rams travel to face the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday evening at 6:30 PM ET. You can watch the game on NBC and Peacock. The fifth-seeded Rams survived a thriller against the Carolina Panthers with a 34-31 victory on Saturday.
The second-seeded Bears pulled off an incredible comeback to defeat the Green Bay Packers 31-27 in their first playoff win since 2010.
How They Got Here
Los Angeles finished the regular season with a 12-5 record and led the NFL in scoring at 30.5 points per game. The Rams offense features quarterback Matthew Stafford who threw for 4,707 yards and 46 touchdowns during the regular season. Both numbers led the entire league.
Stafford threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson with just 38 seconds remaining to beat Carolina. The game featured four lead changes in the fourth quarter alone. Receiver Puka Nacua caught 10 passes for 111 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Wild Card round.
Chicago secured the NFC North title with an 11-6 record in their first season under head coach Ben Johnson. The Bears trailed the Packers 21-3 at halftime before rallying in dramatic fashion. Quarterback Caleb Williams threw for 361 yards and two touchdowns in the comeback victory.
Williams connected with DJ Moore for the game-winning 25-yard touchdown with 1:43 left on the clock. Rookie tight end Colston Loveland caught eight passes for 137 yards to lead the Bears receivers. The comeback marked the largest in Bears playoff history.
Key Matchups
Matthew Stafford injured his finger during the Panthers game but X-rays came back negative. The veteran quarterback will need to protect the ball better against a Bears defense that forced two interceptions from Williams last week. Stafford has elite weapons in Nacua and Davante Adams. Nacua led the NFL with 129 catches and 1,715 receiving yards during the regular season. Adams caught 60 passes for 789 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Caleb Williams has led seven fourth-quarter comeback wins this season. The second-year quarterback took a league-high 68 sacks during the regular season. Williams must avoid the Rams pass rush that creates pressure at one of the highest rates in the NFL. The Bears offense struggled in the first half against Green Bay before exploding for 25 fourth-quarter points.
The temperature at Soldier Field should be around 18 degrees. Cold weather could favor the Bears against a Rams team that plays in warm-weather Los Angeles. Chicago is 7-2 at home this season while the Rams went just 5-4 on the road.
What to Watch
These teams last met in the playoffs during the 1986 NFC Championship Game. The Bears won that game 24-0 at Soldier Field before going on to win Super Bowl XX. This marks the first playoff matchup between the franchises in 40 years.
The Rams need running back Kyren Williams to control the tempo. Williams rushed for 1,252 yards and scored 13 total touchdowns during the regular season. The Bears will counter with D'Andre Swift who ran for 1,087 yards and nine touchdowns.
The winner advances to the NFC Championship Game and moves within one game of Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium on February 8.
| Passing | C/Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Sacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Stafford [QB] | 20/42 | 258 | 6.1 | 0 | 0 | 4-29 |
| Rushing | Yds | Att | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Stafford [QB] | -1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| Kyren Williams [RB] | 87 | 21 | 2 | 10 |
| Blake Corum [RB] | 19 | 6 | 0 | 7 |
| Puka Nacua [WR] | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Jordan Whittington [WR] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Receiving | Tgts | Rec | Yds | Lng | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davante Adams [WR] | 6 | 2 | 24 | 12 | 0 |
| Colby Parkinson [TE] | 7 | 3 | 56 | 35 | 0 |
| Kyren Williams [RB] | 5 | 4 | 30 | 14 | 0 |
| Tyler Higbee [TE] | 2 | 1 | 27 | 27 | 0 |
| Konata Mumpfield [WR] | 3 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 0 |
| Terrance Ferguson [TE] | 5 | 1 | 19 | 19 | 0 |
| Puka Nacua [WR] | 10 | 5 | 56 | 16 | 0 |
| Jordan Whittington [WR] | 2 | 2 | 35 | 20 | 0 |
| Fumbles | Fum |
|---|---|
| Matthew Stafford [QB] | 2 |
| Kyren Williams [RB] | 0 |
| Interceptions | Int | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kamren Curl [S] | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Cobie Durant [CB] | 2 | 14 | 0 |
| Tackles | Tckl | Solo | Sck |
|---|---|---|---|
| Darious Williams [CB] | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Nathan Landman [LB] | 10 | 5 | 0 |
| Kamren Curl [S] | 13 | 7 | 0 |
| Poona Ford [DT] | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Troy Reeder [LB] | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Cobie Durant [CB] | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Quentin Lake [S] | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Jared Verse [LB] | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Kobie Turner [DE] | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Byron Young [LB] | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Jaylen McCollough [S] | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Desjuan Johnson [DE] | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Braden Fiske [DE] | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Ty Hamilton [DT] | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kamren Kinchens [S] | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| Nick Hampton [LB] | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Eli Neal [LB] | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Josaiah Stewart [LB] | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Josh Wallace [CB] | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Emmanuel Forbes [CB] | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Omar Speights [LB] | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| Tyler Davis [DE] | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Roger McCreary [CB] | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jake McQuaide | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kick Returns | No | Yds | Lng | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronnie Rivers [RB] | 2 | 49 | 26 | 0 |
| Jordan Whittington [WR] | 2 | 39 | 20 | 0 |
| Punt Returns | No | Yds | Lng | TD |
|---|
| Kicking | FG | Lng | XPM | XPA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harrison Mevis [PK] | 2/2 | 42 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Punting | No | Yds | TB | in20 | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethan Evans [P] | 8 | 380 | 1 | 3 | 61 |
| Passing | C/Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Sacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caleb Williams [QB] | 23/42 | 257 | 6.1 | 2 | 3 | 0-0 |
| Rushing | Yds | Att | TD | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D'Andre Swift [RB] | 76 | 19 | 0 | 13 |
| DJ Moore [WR] | 8 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| Caleb Williams [QB] | 40 | 5 | 0 | 26 |
| Luther Burden III [WR] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Monangai [RB] | 36 | 13 | 0 | 15 |
| Receiving | Tgts | Rec | Yds | Lng | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole Kmet [TE] | 3 | 3 | 31 | 14 | 1 |
| DJ Moore [WR] | 8 | 5 | 52 | 34 | 1 |
| Rome Odunze [WR] | 6 | 2 | 44 | 27 | 0 |
| Durham Smythe [TE] | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Olamide Zaccheaus [WR] | 2 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Luther Burden III [WR] | 7 | 3 | 24 | 11 | 0 |
| Colston Loveland [TE] | 10 | 4 | 56 | 23 | 0 |
| Kyle Monangai [RB] | 4 | 4 | 36 | 16 | 0 |
| Theo Benedet | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fumbles | Fum |
|---|---|
| Devin Duvernay [WR] | 1 |
| Interceptions | Int | Yds | TD |
|---|
| Tackles | Tckl | Solo | Sck |
|---|---|---|---|
| D'Marco Jackson [LB] | 7 | 5 | 0 |
| Andrew Billings [DT] | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Kevin Byard [S] | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Dominique Robinson [DE] | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Josh Blackwell [CB] | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kyler Gordon [CB] | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| Jaylon Johnson [CB] | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Jaylon Jones [CB] | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaquan Brisker [S] | 14 | 8 | 1 |
| Elijah Hicks [S] | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Montez Sweat [DE] | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| DJ Moore [WR] | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Tremaine Edmunds [LB] | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| Amen Ogbongbemiga [LB] | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Daniel Hardy [DE] | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Austin Booker [DE] | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Gervon Dexter Sr. [DT] | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Tyrique Stevenson [CB] | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| C.J. Gardner-Johnson [S] | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Grady Jarrett [DE] | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nahshon Wright [CB] | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Luther Burden III [WR] | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Kick Returns | No | Yds | Lng | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devin Duvernay [WR] | 2 | 58 | 31 | 0 |
| Punt Returns | No | Yds | Lng | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devin Duvernay [WR] | 3 | 33 | 15 | 0 |
| Kicking | FG | Lng | XPM | XPA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cairo Santos [PK] | 1/1 | 48 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Punting | No | Yds | TB | in20 | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tory Taylor [P] | 3 | 141 | 0 | 1 | 51 |
