The Los Angeles Rams walked into a freezing, hostile Soldier Field and left with the only thing that matters in January: survival. A 20-17 overtime win over the Chicago Bears in the NFC Divisional Round pushed Sean McVay’s team back to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since their Super Bowl LVI run. It was ugly. It was tense. It was perfect playoff football.

Overtime turned on one snap. The Bears had the ball first, the crowd at full roar, and momentum after Caleb Williams forced extra time with a late touchdown. Then Rams safety Kam Curl jumped a throw and picked off Williams. A few plays later, rookie kicker Harrison Mevis calmly stepped into the cold and drilled a 42-yard winner. Ballgame. Season alive.

Overtime belonged to the Rams defense

Chicago’s first OT possession felt like a chance to erase the mistakes of regulation. Instead, Curl’s interception swung the night. It was the Rams’ third pick of Williams and capped a defensive line that defined the game. Los Angeles finished with three interceptions, their most in a playoff game since 2001, and they forced Chicago into high-leverage decisions all night, limiting the Bears to 3-of-6 on fourth down.

McVay didn’t bother dressing it up. “There’s no style points. It’s about being able to survive and advance, and we were able to do that in a tough, hostile environment, and it was cold as s— today,” he said. The Rams survived because their defense kept creating chances when their offense sputtered.

“That pick by Curl felt like the whole season turning in one breath.”

Caleb Williams’ roller coaster: late magic, costly mistakes

Williams nearly stole it. With 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter, he lasered a 14-yard touchdown to tight end Cole Kmet to tie the game at 17-17. The ball traveled 51.2 yards in the air, a reminder of the arm talent that made him a franchise face in Chicago. Soldier Field shook.

But in the bigger picture, the turnovers were heavy. Williams threw three interceptions and two touchdowns. Against a playoff defense that tackles, disguises, and tackles again, those mistakes carry a cost. In overtime, they ended the season.

Credit first-year head coach Ben Johnson’s Bears for the fight. Chicago won 11 regular-season games and claimed the city’s first playoff victory in 15 years a week earlier against Green Bay. Their rise this season was real. On Sunday, their margin for error was not.

Stafford struggled, defense delivered

On the other side, Matthew Stafford fought through the conditions and a fierce Bears front. The veteran had 11 off-target passes, went 0-for-9 on play-action, and took three sacks. It wasn’t pretty, and he knew it. “I looked right at Sean, he looked at me … and was like here we go,” Stafford said. “That’s what it’s all about. What an unbelievable job by our defense today getting us the ball over and over again.”

When it mattered most, the Rams leaned on Mevis. “Shoot, I was confident,” Stafford added. “Every time we’ve asked him, he’s stepped up and made kicks… He’s a gamer.” In January, reliable kicking paired with takeaways is a winning formula, even on a day when the usual McVay play-action staples never found rhythm.

“If Stafford plays C+ and the defense plays A-, the Rams can beat anyone left.”

Fourth-down theater and coaching calculus

Chicago’s aggression was a theme. Six fourth-down tries is a statement that you trust your offense and your quarterback. Going 3-for-6 is a coin flip. Against this Rams defense, that coin landed on the wrong side often enough.

McVay praised his team’s mental edge. “I think you really just coach the consistent ability to execute through four quarters and the competitive stamina… Every single play is its own entity,” he said. That showed up in situational ball: red-zone stands, sudden-change defense after turnovers, and a clean operation in overtime that set up Mevis in his comfort zone.

What it means: Seahawks next, with recent history

Up next is a familiar foe: the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game. The two split their regular-season meetings, with the Rams winning 21-19 in Week 11 and dropping a 38-37 overtime thriller in Week 16. Expect another tight one. The matchups are recent, the scars still fresh, and both staffs know each other well.

For the Rams, this marks their first NFC title game since they won Super Bowl LVI. The roster is younger in places, the offense is different in feel, but the core mindset remains: play fast, play sound, and hunt takeaways. If they bring this level of defensive urgency to Seattle, they will give themselves a real shot.

“Seattle knows the script: keep it close and wait for a mistake. The Rams just showed they can win that kind of game too.”

Numbers that told the story

• 3 interceptions by the Rams defense — their most in a playoff game since 2001.
• 3-of-6 for Chicago on fourth down — aggressive, but not efficient enough.
• 0-for-9 for Stafford on play-action — a stunning outlier for a McVay offense.
• 11 off-target throws for Stafford — the wind, rush, and cold took a toll.
• 51.2 air yards on Williams’ late TD to Kmet — massive arm, massive moment.
• 42 yards for Mevis’ overtime winner — calm, smooth, season-clinching.

Bottom line

This was not a showcase for fireworks. It was a test of nerve and detail, won by a road team that didn’t blink after a gut-punch finish to regulation. The Bears’ season, full of forward steps under Ben Johnson, ended on the thinnest of margins. The Rams, led by a defense that set the tone and a kicker who sealed it, move on.

January football rewards teams that find a way when their Plan A fails. On a cold night in Chicago, the Rams did just that. Next stop: Seattle, with a Super Bowl berth on the line.