{"id":671484,"date":"2026-01-12T13:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T13:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/671484\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T13:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T13:31:15","slug":"chicago-bears-to-face-los-angeles-rams-in-divisional-round-of-nfl-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/671484\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Bears to face Los Angeles Rams in divisional round of NFL playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Bears will host the Los Angeles Rams next weekend, after the San Francisco 49ers eliminated the Philadelphia Eagles in their wild-card game Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>The stage is set for the Bears&#8217; next playoff matchup. Fans across the city are already putting plans in motion for next weekend&#8217;s divisional round matchup against the Rams.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The Bears-Rams will be Sunday, Jan. 18, but a time was still to be announced.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN&#8217;s David Kaplan recaps the Bears playoff win over the Packers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/abc7chicago.com\/watch\/live\/11064984\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24\/7. Click here to watch;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24\/7. Click here to watch<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The NFC North champion Bears (12-6) extended their resurgent first season under coach Ben Johnson with <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/bears-packers-wild-card-game-225755236.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:their seventh fourth-quarter comeback victory;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">their seventh fourth-quarter comeback victory<\/a>. They split two down-to-the-wire games with Green Bay in the regular season, and this one turned out to be a thriller when it looked like it would be a breeze for the Packers (9-8-1).<\/p>\n<p>Chicago trailed 21-3 at halftime and 21-6 through three quarters, only to outscore Green Bay 25-6 in the fourth on the way to its first playoff win in 15 years.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Fans are now ready for the next game.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Make it a big party. Chicago is gonna go crazy wild when we win,&#8221; fan Beatriz Anguiano said. &#8220;It&#8217;s gonna be very exciting.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Some Bears fans enjoyed a victory Sunday, taking in the other playoff games at Wings and Rings in Bridgeport. Many of them still couldn&#8217;t believe what they witnessed Saturday night, with the Bears overcoming an 18-point deficit to end the Packers&#8217; season.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s crazy. It feels good,&#8221; fan Luis Gomez said. &#8220;The Bears have been not on the good side of things for years, and for it to happen like this, it&#8217;s insane.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE | <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7chicago.com\/post\/won-bears-game-chicagos-ben-johnson-rallies-team-playoff-win-rival-green-bay-packers\/18386314\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Caleb Williams rallies Bears from 18 points down for 31-27 playoff win over rival Packers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Caleb Williams rallies Bears from 18 points down for 31-27 playoff win over rival Packers<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s beautiful. That was truly my favorite sports game I&#8217;ve ever watched,&#8221; fan Julian Flores said.<\/p>\n<p>Now just two wins away from an appearance in the Super Bowl, Bears fans are feeling confident about the team&#8217;s chances.<\/p>\n<p>Some say they&#8217;re worried about the Rams&#8217; potent offense, but there&#8217;s plenty of faith in the cardiac Bears continuing their magical season.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Doesn&#8217;t matter at this point,&#8221; Gomez said. &#8220;I think we can beat whoever comes across us.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of what happens next weekend, fans are embracing the special atmosphere of playoff football in Chicago.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s electric. I&#8217;ve never seen so many people wearing Bears jerseys around town,&#8221; Flores said. &#8220;Everybody is so happy. City has been electric.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>SEE ALSO | <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/chicago-bears-fans-gearing-green-172259528.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Cheese-grater hats fly off store shelves as Bears fans gear up for Packers playoff matchup;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cheese-grater hats fly off store shelves as Bears fans gear up for Packers playoff matchup<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a little bit of hope after everything we&#8217;ve been through lately, so it takes away from all the stress and everything we&#8217;ve been through,&#8221; Anguiano said.<\/p>\n<p>The Chicago Bears rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat the rival Green Bay Packers 31-27 in a wild-card playoff game.<\/p>\n<p>Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills joined the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams in advancing to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Allen led the Bills to a 27-24 comeback victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first of three wild-card playoff games on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The San Francisco 49ers (12-5) took on the Philadelphia Eagles (11-6) in the middle game and the New England Patriots (14-3) will host the Los Angeles Chargers (11-6) in the nightcap.<\/p>\n<p>Allen scored on a 1-yard run late in the fourth quarter and Cole Bishop intercepted Trevor Lawrence&#8217;s pass to secure Buffalo&#8217;s first playoff win on the road since the 1992 AFC championship game at Miami.<\/p>\n<p>The No. 6 seed Bills will wait to find out their next opponent. It&#8217;s the sixth straight season under coach Sean McDermott that Buffalo has reached the second round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, the NFL playoffs kicked off with two wacky games.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The Bears (12-6) trailed the Green Bay Packers 21-3 at halftime and 27-16 with just under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter before Caleb Williams threw a pair of touchdown passes. His 25-yard TD toss to D.J. Moore put Chicago ahead 31-27 with 1:43 remaining. Then Jordan Love&#8217;s desperation heave into the end zone from the Bears 28 was knocked down as time expired to secure Chicago&#8217;s first playoff win since the 2010 season.<\/p>\n<p>Williams finished with 361 yards passing, two TDs and two interceptions for the No. 2 seed Bears.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Chicago Bears' Caleb Williams celebrates after an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Green Bay Packers Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Erin Hooley)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/c5000d22d7e8cddd6aec6e4b57b5233b.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Chicago Bears&#8217; Caleb Williams celebrates after an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Green Bay Packers Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Erin Hooley)<\/p>\n<p>In the opener on wild-card weekend, Matthew Stafford threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson in the final minute and the Rams rallied to beat the Carolina Panthers 34-31 in a game that was much closer than expected.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The Rams were double-digit favorites on BetMGM Sportsbook against the Panthers (8-10). The Rams jumped to a 14-0 lead, but couldn&#8217;t take advantage of first-half turnovers and allowed Carolina to get within 17-14 at halftime.<\/p>\n<p>Stafford, who earned All-Pro honors for the first time in his 17-year career on Saturday, threw for 304 yards, three TDs and had one pick. Puka Nacua, who was a unanimous All-Pro selection, had 10 catches for 111 yards and one TD and also had a 5-yard TD run.<\/p>\n<p>The Rams are back in the divisional round for the second straight season. Last year, they were 13 yards away from eliminating Philadelphia before a sack and an incomplete pass ended their season with a 28-22 loss.<\/p>\n<p>Bryce Young&#8217;s 7-yard TD pass to Jalen Coker put the Panthers ahead 31-27 with 2:43 remaining but Stafford drove the Rams 71 yards in two minutes. Parkinson made an outstanding, tightrope catch for the winning score and the defense held.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Behind coach Dave Canales and improved QB Bryce Young, the Panthers have reason to be optimistic about the future after winning a weak NFC South and nearly pulling off a major upset.<\/p>\n<p>The Packers (9-8-1) finished the season with five straight losses. They were 9-3-1 before All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons tore his ACL in a loss to Denver on Dec. 14.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday night, Mike Tomlin, Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7) host DeMeco Ryans, C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans (12-5).<\/p>\n<p>The Denver Broncos (14-3) are the AFC&#8217;s No. 1 seed and the Seahawks (14-3) got the top seed in the NFC. Each team earned a bye and will host the lowest remaining seed next weekend.<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bears will host the Los Angeles Rams next weekend, after the San Francisco 49ers eliminated the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[1586,94495,374,20758,1476,53,1028,1036,260,692,391,7391,1737,2498,3607,231,258,7,41,253,125,3545,1724,872,1014,262,58,2444,2611,32,216,491,249,6,428,109,57,1088,424,252,238,3394,314],"class_list":["post-671484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-rams","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-abc7-chicago","tag-bears","tag-bears-fans","tag-bryce-young","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-c-j-stroud","tag-caleb-williams","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bears","tag-colby-parkinson","tag-cole-bishop","tag-d-j-moore","tag-demeco-ryans","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-football","tag-green-bay","tag-houston-texans","tag-jacksonville-jaguars","tag-jalen-coker","tag-jordan-love","tag-josh-allen","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-chargers","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesrams","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-miami","tag-micah-parsons","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-packers","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-puka-nacua","tag-rams","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-seahawks","tag-the-bears","tag-trevor-lawrence"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}