The Rams need to blow out the Bears to avoid the dumbest playoff elimination possible

The Los Angeles Rams are finally back to where they were last season. LA was defeated by Philadelphia during the Divisional Round last season, dashing their hopes of making the NFC Championship game. Now the The Rams are just one game away from the NFC title game and all that stands in their way are the Bears.

Chicago might be one of the few teams in the NFL that LA doesn’t want to face in the playoffs.

Rams head coach Sean McVay admitted as much Defense against Bears QB Caleb Williams will be a “nightmare” this weekend.

“Just the ability to play,” McVay said when asked about Williams’ defense on Monday. “His ability to be able to play in the pocket, drive the ball to all parts of the court, but then be able to extend plays (and) look down the court and be able to make incredible layups or create with his feet.”

If the Rams have one vulnerability, it might be teams that can fight from behind like the Bears. of LA’s five losses this season, in two of them the Rams blew a lead in the second half.

Does that suggest LA is vulnerable to teams coming from behind and beating them?

Below, we’ll explain why the Rams need to crush the Bears to keep themselves from being eliminated from the playoffs.

The Bears were the comeback kings of the 2025 season

It’s no secret that Chicago thrived thanks to its come-from-behind wins in 2025.

Look no further than last week’s playoff win against Green Bay for an excellent example. In that contest, the Bears went into halftime up 21-3 against the Packers. The table was set to send the Bears home immediately.

Instead, they outscored the Packers 28-6 over the final two quarters, with 25 of those points coming in the fourth quarter.

This kind of scoring explosion has to worry the Rams. And it wasn’t just one isolated incident.

Chicago also had several comeback wins during the regular season. The Bears pulled off some impressive heroics against the Bengals, Giants, Vikings and Packers. That’s a large enough sample size for me to conclude that this is part of the DNA of Ben Johnson’s Chicago regime.

LA should also be concerned as they have blown several games where they have lost control at the end.

The Rams allowed 26 second-half points against the Eagles back in Week 3. They also fell short in the second half during an epic Week 16 matchup with the Seahawks.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, the Rams learned from those losses.

As the Rams can blow away the Bears, advance to the NFC Championship

So how do the Rams prevent themselves from becoming the next victim of the Bears’ fourth-quarter comeback?

The best way to guarantee that doesn’t happen is to beat Chicago so thoroughly through the first three quarters that a comeback is impossible.

Simply put, blow them out.

I know, that’s a lot easier said than done. But I can see a few ways the Aries could set themselves up for success.

First, I think the Rams should dare the Bears to run the football as much as they want. LA could sit back in a two-high coverage shell and try to prevent Chicago from going over the top. That would force Williams and the Bears to drink and dunk their way down the court.

What I like about this approach is that it forces Williams and the Bears to succeed many times in a row before scoring. If both teams end up playing the same style, LA is much better equipped to win.

An additional priority will be keeping Williams in the pocket. The Rams have the players to do it. He might not work on every play, but he’ll still be effective if he keeps Williams from playing too much ball hero.

So what about LA’s offense? After all, shots usually require a lot of points.

Not to be too simplistic, but just let Stafford win the game. The Rams are at a huge advantage if they let Stafford, Puku Naku and Davante Adams take a ton of mid-range and deep shots down the field. If the Bears pull away to remove those punts, punish them with Kyren Williams and Blake Corum.

It may be tempting to try a heavy attack that controls the clock and sucks the air out of the ball. It’s not a bad strategy, and the Rams have to rely on it if it starts to work.

But if the Rams really want to prevent a fourth-quarter comeback, they should put up points and never look back.