The Chicago Bears will host the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round of the NFC playoffs next weekend and will know their prospective championship game opponent before ever taking the field.
NBC’s broadcast team announced a previously unknown detail of the matchup on Sunday night following an AFC playoff contest between the New England Patriots (No. 2 seed) and Los Angeles Chargers (No. 7 seed), which the Patriots won.
Following the final whistle, the NFL let viewers know the Bears (No. 2 seed) will take on the Rams (No. 5 seed) at Soldier Field on Sunday, January 18 at either 3 p.m. ET or 6:30 p.m. ET.
The other game that day will take place in New England against either the Houston Texans
(No. 5 seed) or Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 4 seed), who square off Monday night in the final first-round game.
The league will announce the specific times of all four Round 2 games, as well as the networks that will broadcast them, following the conclusion of Texans-Steelers in Pittsburgh Monday night.
The Seattle Seahawks (No. 1 seed) will host the San Francisco 49ers (No. 6 seed) on Saturday, January 17 at either 4:30 p.m. ET or 8 p.m. ET. The Denver Broncos (No. 1 seed) will host the Buffalo Bills (No. 6 seed) on the same date at one of the two corresponding times.
Bears, Rams Have Not Played This Season, Both Struggled to Win Close Round 1 Games
GettyQuarterback Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams.
The Bears (11-6) and Rams (12-5) did not play this regular season, though some moderate comparisons can be accomplished via the transitive property.
Chicago traveled to San Francisco in Week 17 and lost a shootout to the 49ers by a score of 42-38. The Rams split their season series with San Francisco, losing by three points at home and winning by 16 points on the road.
Los Angeles bested the Detroit Lions of the NFC North Division by a touchdown in Week 15, while the Lions got the better of the Bears twice during the regular season, once by three points at Soldier Field in Week 18 and by 31 points back in Week 2 — Chicago’s largest defeat of the campaign by a wide margin.
Both teams narrowly won their Wild Card games, as L.A. snuck by the Carolina Panthers on the road (34-31) by way of a touchdown with just 38 seconds to spare. Chicago also authored a fourth-quarter comeback, rallying from down 18 points at halftime and 11 points late in the final period to beat the Green Bay Packers by a score of 31-27.
Bears Less Productive Than Rams in 2025, Have Less Playoff Experience
GettyChicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams.
The matchup next Sunday features the Bears’ No. 6-ranked offense against the Rams No. 1-ranked attack. Chicago fields the 29th-rated defense in the league, while L.A. is 17th in that category.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford is one of the leading candidates for league MVP in 2025, while he and head coach Sean McVay are both highly experienced in the playoffs and captured a Super Bowl together following the 2021 campaign.
Meanwhile, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is in just his second year as a professional and head coach Ben Johnson is in his first year in that job after spending the last three seasons running the offense in Detroit.
Production and experience appear to favor the Rams, who are 4.5-point road favorites in Chicago as of early Monday. That said, Los Angeles lost two of its three final regular season games and nearly stumbled over Wild Card Weekend as double-digit road favorites.
Meanwhile, the Bears are comfortable being uncomfortable — coming back from a deficit inside the final two minutes seven times across their 12 total wins this season and postseason combined.
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