Whatever transpires between the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams during Sunday’s divisional-round playoff game at Soldier Field, it’ll be tough to top the scene after the win over the Green Bay Packers.

“It was just a movie,” Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon said. “I guess in my head, I always thought this game, like the setup of it, was just going to be something historical.

“That’s what I kept telling everybody, but at the same time, just enjoying it as another game.”

After fellow cornerback Jaylon Johnson got home from the game, he got in bed and watched a little TV but had trouble drifting off.

“Couldn’t really sleep,” he said. “I was kind of in and out of sleep, like, ‘Dang, this really happened.’”

Defensive end Montez Sweat said the mayhem at Soldier Field during the Bears’ rally from an 18-point deficit — the biggest postseason comeback in franchise history — created the “best atmosphere” of his seven-year career.

“I was thinking about it yesterday, this is probably the most fun I’ve had as a player,” he said. “Just playing football, playoff football. It’s fun.”

With its season-high 60,338 in attendance, Soldier Field was shaking — literally — after the Bears’ comeback win against the Packers.

The question is, can the Bears get Soldier Field rocking as much against the Los Angeles Rams?

“Next week we’re expecting the same thing,” Sweat said. “The fans showed up and showed out last week. The stakes are higher this week, so I’m expecting even bigger.”

Here are five things we learned Wednesday at Halas Hall as the Bears continued preparation for the Rams.

1. The dramatic comebacks are nice, but …

Bears wide receiver DJ Moore (2) celebrates with teammates after catching a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter against the Packers on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

When the Bears scored 25 points in the final quarter to beat the Packers 31-27, they completed their seventh fourth-quarter comeback between the regular season and postseason.

“We’d rather not be in those circumstances because it is definitely a fast heartbeat going on, and everybody is on the edge of their seats, but it’s exciting,” Sweat said.

And the Bears aren’t the only ones who can play the cardiac kids.

According to NFL Pro’s Next Gen Stats, for the regular and postseason combined, the Bears rank third in expected-points-added per play in the fourth quarter at plus-0.24; the Rams rank second at plus-0.25.

That was evident when they rallied twice Sunday in the fourth quarter, the second of which came on Matthew Stafford’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson with 38 seconds left to give the Rams a 31-28 wild-card-round win over the Carolina Panthers.

“We don’t want to put ourselves in a hole against a team like this, like we’ve done a number of times this year,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “We talked about playing a complete game on offense. This is the week that that needs to happen for us to be able to beat this team.”

“We’d rather not be in those positions, but if we are we’re comfortable in that position.”

2. It never snows in Southern California?

Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson jumps over hurdles while warming up for an NFC wild-card-round playoff game against the Packers on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Soldier Field likely won’t get snowfall either (like it teased during pregame Saturday), but it will be cold for the 5:30 p.m. kickoff Sunday. The National Weather Service has forecast the high near 19 degrees and a low that night around 9.

“It seems like it’s going to be pretty damn cold,” Sean McVay told Rams reporters Monday. “Get your gloves on.”

The stereotype is that teams from comfy climates such as Los Angeles don’t play well in winter weather, that L.A. types are more likely to say “chill” than deal with chills.

Safety Kevin Byard III, who spent nearly eight years of his 10-year career with the Tennessee Titans, said even Bears players aren’t used to many games like Saturday’s 32 degrees with 25-degree wind chill.

The game against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 14, also at Soldier Field, was recorded as 8 degrees with a minus-2 wind chill.

“We haven’t played in a city this cold,” Byard said. “But I think our bodies are very acclimated to it now. I think (coach) Ben (Johnson) has been doing a good job of making us practice in this cold weather. No heaters on the field, which has been a complaint for the most part for a lot of guys. But in these scenarios, in this time of year, kind of looking back on it, it’s like, hey, it actually might be good that we didn’t have any heaters because our bodies are going to be fully acclimatized to this weather.

“Now, is that going to make a huge difference for the Rams? Who knows?”

Brrrrr down: The coldest Chicago Bears games played at Soldier Field

Since 2017, McVay’s first season as Rams coach, L.A. has played in four road games at outdoor stadiums in which the temperature was under 32 degrees, according to Stathead.

The Rams lost to the Packers (15 degrees on Dec. 19, 2022) and Bears (29 degrees on Dec. 9, 2018), and they beat the New York Jets (23 degrees on Dec. 22, 2024) and Denver Broncos (25 degrees on Oct. 14, 2018).

“Everybody’s not from Illinois,” Byard said. “People (are) from Florida, Texas, wherever it be, they don’t like being in the cold, so maybe it’ll affect them as well.”

3. Caleb Williams’ preparation helps “late in games.”

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams throws a pass in the fourth quarter against the Packers on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

Running back D’Andre Swift said the second-year quarterback has taken the biggest step in his preparation.

“I’m not in the meetings with him day in and day out, but I always see his car is here longer, his car is here earlier, and he always has a notebook in his hand, always going over something,” Swift said. “He’s taking his process very, very seriously.”

Added Williams: “It definitely frees me, the confidence and belief going into games from my preparation and the growth from my preparation.”

He credited Johnson and the coaching staff with helping him improve in that aspect.

“Being able to have the belief and faith in myself from my preparation going into games definitely helps,” Williams said. “Especially late in games, especially leaning back on what you study, leaning back on your training and all those small things.”

4. The Bears want to get the ground game back on track.

Bears running back D’Andre Swift scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter of an NFC wild-card game against the Packers on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

The 281 rushing yards the Bears stuffed down the Eagles’ throats in Week 13 seem like a distant memory.

In the last three games, they had 110 against the San Francisco 49ers, 65 against the Detroit Lions and 93 against the Packers.

“Yeah, it feels like it’s dipped a little bit,” Ben Johnson said. “Not something that we certainly want.

“Certainly late in the season, we wanted that to pick up, playoffs, weather games like this, you certainly want to be able to lean on your run game. So those are some elements we’re looking at.”

Swift said the matchup against the Packers played into the most recent performance.

“Playing a team three times (in a month) is tough in itself, but they did a lot of things defensively that kind of put us in a bind.”

But both he and Ben Johnson contend the running game’s struggles are correctable.

“It’s both efficient runs to stay on track and ahead of the chains, and also explosive runs as well,” Ben Johnson said. “Where can we find a few of those? I’ll say this, we got a really tough opponent in that regard.”

During the regular season, the Rams ranked 12th in run defense, allowing 110.8 yards per game.

“The front is their strength,” Ben Johnson said. “These guys at the line of scrimmage are really good football players. They shed blocks at an elite level. They are relentless. They’re violent really across the board.”

5. The numbers understate Sweat’s full impact in the Packers game.

Sweat had three quarterback pressures, including forcing Jordan Love’s throwaway on third-and-10 with 12:52 left in the game.

He also batted Love’s pass attempt from behind with 13 seconds left.

“I mean over the game, I guess we was getting a beat for how they wanted to block our front,” Sweat said. “We switched it up a little bit (in the second half). … DA (defensive coordinator Dennis Allen) was calling a couple pressures.

“But at the end of the day, the game was on the line, (the) season was on the line, so we just had to step it up.”

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He received a game ball after the win.

“It meant a lot,” Sweat said. “I wasn’t necessarily expecting it.”

Ben Johnson said Sweat is someone the team counts on.

“I know the sack numbers is what everybody looks at when it comes to edge rushers,” he said. And he’s at double digits (10), he’s played really good football in that regard. But as I’ve told him, as the year’s gone along, for me, it’s not just the sacks, it’s also the pressures and the quarterback hits.”

Sweat had three hits on Love.

“When you’re watching from the sideline and you’re feeling him affecting the quarterback (in) a different type of way, I do think that’s really important,” Ben Johnson said. “So he stepped up.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/14/chicago-bears-los-angeles-rams-playoffs-rally/