Sometimes, a win isn’t about style points-it’s about survival. That’s exactly what the Los Angeles Rams pulled off Sunday evening in the NFC Divisional Round against the Chicago Bears.
It wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was downright messy at times.
But when the clock hit zero, Sean McVay’s squad was still standing, and that’s all that mattered.
The Rams gave up a stunning, last-minute touchdown to tight end Cole Kmet that sent the game to overtime and had Rams fans bracing for another gut punch. After all, this team had already let late leads slip away in tough road losses to the Eagles in Week 3 and the Seahawks in Week 16.
That Week 16 collapse, in particular, still stings-they win that game, they’re the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Instead, they had to take the long road through the playoffs.
But on Sunday, they didn’t let history repeat itself.
And speaking of history, Matthew Stafford made some of his own-just not the kind you usually celebrate.
According to OptaSTATS, Stafford became the first quarterback since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger to win a road game-regular season or postseason-while doing all of the following:
- Throwing 40 or more passes
- Completing fewer than 50% of them
- Throwing zero touchdowns
That’s not exactly a quarterback stat line you’d expect to see in a winning effort. Before Stafford’s performance, quarterbacks with that combination of stats were 0-99-1.
That’s right-zero wins in 100 tries. Until now.
It was a grind for Stafford and the Rams offense. The passing game never found a rhythm, the accuracy wasn’t there, and the end zone remained elusive through the air. But the Rams found other ways to stay in the fight-leaning on their defense, special teams, and just enough timely execution to escape with the win.
It’s the kind of game that doesn’t show up in highlight reels, but it shows up in the win column-and in January, that’s everything.
Now, with the Bears in the rearview mirror, the Rams are headed back to Seattle for a rematch with massive stakes. A trip to Super Bowl LX is on the line.
The last time these two teams met, the Seahawks spoiled the Rams’ shot at the NFC’s top seed. This time, McVay and Stafford have a chance to flip the script-and punch their ticket to another Lombardi chase.
Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 25, on FOX. If the Rams can clean up the offense and bring the same toughness they showed in Chicago, they might just be headed back to the big stage.