{"id":684330,"date":"2026-01-17T14:44:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T14:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/684330\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T14:44:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T14:44:30","slug":"rams-aim-to-evade-the-mid-game-fade-by-beating-bears-with-a-full-60","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/684330\/","title":{"rendered":"Rams aim to evade the mid-game fade by beating Bears with a ‘full 60’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sean McVay<\/a>, taking a cue from quarterback Matthew Stafford, will don an upper-body neoprene undergarment. Perhaps a heated vest. And his gelled hair spike will be covered with a beanie.<\/p>\n

The Rams’ coach does not need any weather-related distractions on the field or on the sideline when his team plays the Chicago Bears<\/a> on Sunday in an NFL divisional-round game at Soldier Field, where the wind-chill factor could fall below zero.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat do you think, I\u2019m going to dress up like the Michelin Man or something?\u201d McVay said when queried about his planned sideline attire. \u201cAnd now that I\u2019m not being too stubborn about throwing a beanie on after my mom and my wife ripped my ass, I\u2019ll be in good shape there too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rams<\/a> are aiming for a better ending and warmer feeling than they experienced the last time they played a divisional-round game in cold weather.<\/p>\n

Almost exactly one year ago, the Rams traveled to Philadelphia and lost<\/a> to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Eagles in the snow.<\/p>\n

The Rams could have avoided being on the road for the playoffs this year had they held onto the top seed in the NFC, but they lost three of their last six games and fell to No. 5.<\/p>\n

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So here they are again.<\/p>\n

The Rams are coming off a 34-31 wild-card victory<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre we looking for consistent execution for a full 60 [minutes]?\u201d McVay said this week, \u201cNo doubt about it. We’re going to continue to strive for that. Maybe this week is the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stafford played 12 seasons for the Detroit Lions in the NFC North, so he is accustomed to playing in cold weather.<\/p>\n

Stafford suffered a sprained right index finger against the Panthers but has said the finger felt \u201cgreat\u201d and he was a full participant in practices this week.<\/p>\n

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Stafford faces a Bears defense that led the NFL with 23 interceptions and recovered 10 fumbles.<\/p>\n

Read more: Jared Verse and Rams know there’s a surefire way to stop Caleb Williams<\/a><\/p>\n

Under first-year coach Ben Johnson, and with second-year quarterback Caleb Williams<\/a> having made huge strides, the Bears won multiple games with comebacks, including their 31-27 divisional-round victory over the Green Bay Packers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to give them a lot of credit,\u201d Stafford said. \u201cThey have a quarterback, a team, a coach that all believe in each other and as they should. They’ve proven it a bunch of times this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Rams are buoyed by the return of right guard Kevin Dotson<\/a>, who was sidelined for three games because of an ankle injury. Dotson adds a layer of protection for Stafford to connect with receivers Puka Nacua<\/a> and Davante Adams<\/a>, and he could be pivotal if McVay opts to go with three tight ends and a run-heavy approach that highlights running backs Kyren Williams<\/a> and Blake Corum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more: Matthew Stafford isn’t worried about facing Bears in the cold: ‘It’ll be a lot of fun’<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we throwing the ball, we running the ball, we screening the ball \u2014 it don\u2019t matter,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI\u2019m going to be ready for it. … Whether it\u2019s a 100 mph-wind and we got to run that ball, or if it\u2019s no wind and we\u2019re just going to throw the ball, it don\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bears rely on running back D\u2019Andre Swift to set up a passing game that features called and off-schedule plays by Williams.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe key to not being too cold out there on the field is to not let them sustain super-long drives,\u201d defensive lineman Kobie Turner said. \u201cSo how about let\u2019s get some three-and-outs and get back to the heat of the benches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rams center Coleman Shelton played last season for the Bears. He experienced multiple cold-weather games. Keeping hands warm between snaps is key.<\/p>\n

\u201cHand warmers, whatever you\u2019ve got to do to keep the feel so your hands don\u2019t go numb,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Rams got experience in cold-weather games last season against the New York Jets and the Eagles. Players said they were not affected by the elements when action was happening on the field.<\/p>\n

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Read more: Commentary: Why Stan Kroenke was the only NFL owner who could bring football back to L.A.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s when you get TV timeouts and all that,\u201d offensive lineman Steve Avila said. \u201cThat\u2019s when you\u2019re like, \u201cAwww, this sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rams, however, are not complaining.<\/p>\n

They got a good week of practice in sunny and warm weather.<\/p>\n

If they defeat the Bears, they will advance to the NFC championship game against the winner of Saturday\u2019s game between the top-seeded Seattle Seahawks and the No. 6 San Francisco 49ers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re playing for our lives here,\u201d Turner said, \u201cso it doesn\u2019t matter if we\u2019re playing in the middle of a parking lot, it doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s snowing or how hot it is out here at practice.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWherever the ball drops, we\u2019re locked in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more: NFL divisional playoff picks: Broncos defeat Bills; Seahawks advance<\/a><\/p>\n

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.<\/a><\/p>\n

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sean McVay, taking a cue from quarterback Matthew Stafford, will don an upper-body neoprene undergarment. Perhaps a heated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":684331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[390,4084,1036,260,391,7391,99985,11368,5430,113,7,345,25023,3418,4076,1014,58,539,2444,2611,32,255,6,242,1088,424,32237,252,3307,261,20581,3416],"class_list":["post-684330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-rams","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-blake-corum","tag-caleb-williams","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-chicago-bears","tag-colby-parkinson","tag-cold-weather","tag-coleman-shelton","tag-davante-adams","tag-detroit-lions","tag-football","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-kevin-dotson","tag-kobie-turner","tag-kyren-williams","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesrams","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia","tag-puka-nacua","tag-rams","tag-robert-gauthier","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-sean-mcvay","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-steve-avila","tag-the-rams"],"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\/684330","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=684330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/684331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}