CHICAGO — Rams coach Sean McVay let his beard grow beyond his typical five-o’clock shadow, ostensibly to keep his face warm.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford donned his neoprene undergarment. Some Rams players, reportedly, put cayenne pepper in their socks to keep the heat in their feet.
It worked.
On a snowy, windy Sunday night, the Rams got hot just enough at crucial moments before Harrison Mevis kicked a winning 42-yard field goal in a 20-17 overtime triumph over the Chicago Bears in the NFC divisional playoffs before a crowd of 60,253 at Soldier Field.
Kyren Williams rushed for two touchdowns and the defense intercepted three passes as the Rams advanced to play the top-seeded Seahawks next Sunday in the NFC championship game at Lumen Field in Seattle.
The Rams split their two NFC West games with the Seahawks, who advanced to the conference title game with a 41-6 rout over the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday.
In Week 11 at SoFi Stadium, the Rams won, 21-19. Five weeks later at Seattle, the Rams lost, 38-37, in overtime.
Now they will play again, the Rams aiming to secure their third Super Bowl berth in nine seasons under McVay.
Sunday’s victory means Soldier Field is no longer McVay’s Midwest house of horrors.
In 2018, then-Bears defense coordinator Vic Fangio and his players flummoxed the Rams and sent them to a 15-6 defeat. Last season, the Bears won only five games, including a 24-18 victory over the Rams.
The Rams were coming off a 34-31 wild-card victory over the Carolina Panthers, a win that followed a familiar script: The Rams led early, allowed the opponent to get back into the game with lulls and costly errors, and then pulled out a victory.
McVay said he was aiming for his team to play a “full 60” minutes of complementary football by the offense, defense and special teams.
“Maybe this week is the week,” McVay said.
It wasn’t but with a game-time temperature of 18 degrees with a wind chill of 6, the Rams just needed to survive a Bears team that pulled off numerous fourth quarter miracles.
Cobie Durant’s second interception of the game late in the third quarter gave the offense the ball at midfield but the Rams went three-and-out.
They got another chance at the start of the fourth quarter, and this time they converted.
Williams carried the ball six times during a 14-play drive that he capped with his second touchdown run for a 17-10 lead with just under nine minutes left.
The Bears drove to the Rams’ two-yard line with just over three minutes left, but the defense stopped D’Andre Swift on third down and linebacker Omar Speights broke up Caleb Williams’ fourth-down pass.
The Rams failed to run out the clock, and the Bears got the ball at midfield with 1:50 left.
But on fourth-and-four at the Rams’ 14, Williams escaped pressure by running backward out of the pocket, then turned and fired a touchdown pass to tight end Cole Kmet that traveled nearly 50 yards.
The Bears kicked the extra point to tie the score and send the game into overtime.
The Bears won the toss and opted to kick, and the Rams went three-and-out.
The Bears were driving for a potential field goal when Rams safety Kam Curl picked off a Williams pass, giving Stafford the ball at the Rams 22.
Stafford connected with Puka Nacua, Davante Adams during a drive that culminated with the winning field goal by Mevis, who grew up two hours from Soldier Field.
After a sunny but cold afternoon, the gray set in and snow began falling about 90 minutes before kickoff.
Stafford, who suffered a sprained right index finger against the Panthers was not at his best. The 17th-year pro completed 20 of 42 passes for 258 yards.
Williams completed 23 of 42 passes for 257 yards, with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Kyren Williams had 87 yards and two touchdowns in 21 carries and tight end Colby Parkinson led Rams receivers with 56 yards in three catches.
The post Harrison Mevis field goal lifts Rams to overtime playoff win over Bears appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
