There wasn't much time. And with the Los Angeles Rams defensive line collapsing the pocket, there was even less space. Now Caleb Williams was sprinting backward with the football, committing a cardinal sin for NFL quarterbacks. You never exit the pocket by drifting — or worse yet, running — backward. There's nothing but bad things waiting for you.
Yet, there the Chicago Bears quarterback went. With the ball shotgun-snapped at the Bears' 14-yard line, Williams sprinted backward. Past the 25 … 30 … 35. Finally, at the 40, he planted his feet and unloaded a desperate spiral in the face of two Rams pass rushers, while fading backward and falling to the Soldier Field grass.
When Rams head coach Sean McVay speaks about the football gods going against you, what happened next is what he's describing: Watching Williams throw an impossible, mythical — maybe extraterrestrial — pass that traveled 45 yards and tucked into the arms of tight end Cole Kmet in the back of the end zone.A touchdown pass on 4th-and-4 with 18 seconds leftthat would erase a 17-10 Rams lead and push Los Angeles to the brink in Sunday's divisional playoff game.
When the cameras cut to McVay, he looked like he needed a game official to administer a standing 8-count and ask him if he was OK to continue.
"Can you guys believe they made that play right there?" McVay would ask reporters later.
Anyone in their right mind and decades of watching NFL football would say no — except for the fact that Williams had completed one of the mostimprobable fourth-and-8 plays in playoff history against the Green Bay Packersjust one week earlier. And somehow, this one was more difficult. It was also a byproduct of some of McVay's own doing, after he conservatively ran the ball four times into the teeth of the Bears defense and then punted, giving Williams one more possession late in the fourth quarter.
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Most everyone who has made that mistake against these Bears has ultimately lost. And McVay's Rams likely would have, too, if it wasn't for a defense that stole the game back in overtime and helpedLos Angeles grind to a 20-17 win in freezing temperatures. The prize? A road trip to next week's NFC championship game, where theRams will play the Seattle Seahawks for the third time this season.
Afterward, McVay paced in his locker room and applauded his team's resiliency, telling them: "There were so many things that went on in that game that you could have said 'Oh man, maybe tonight's not our night.' But you didn't f***kin believe it."
Of course, it wasn't pretty. The snow and cold weather appeared to have an impact on Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who finished 20-for-42 passing, taking four sacks in the process and missing some uncharacteristically easy throws. Along the way, McVay struggled to get the Rams into a rhythm, going into a running shell in the fourth quarter that took the ball out of Stafford's hands. Then, in overtime, with the Rams getting the ball to begin the extra session, McVay called a halfback toss to Blake Corum on third-and-1, resulting in a 2-yard loss that blew up the Los Angeles drive and pushed all the momentum into Chicago's favor.
"No excuse for that [call]," McVay said later.
"Offensively, man, I did not do a very good job for our group tonight. But I thought our guys were able to overcome it. I thought we were able to be at our best in the most important moments, able to string together some drives."
In a sign that should be encouraging heading into the third tilt with the Seahawks, McVay's defense would bail him out multiple times. From forcing a turnover on downs when Chicago had a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line, to stopping the Bears on 3 of 5 fourth down plays in regulation, to intercepting Williams three times over the course of the night — the Rams defense made critical plays at the most important moments for much of the night. Even the Caleb Williams touchdown was executed well by the front end of the Rams pass rush, only to be undone by a misplayed ball in the end zone by cornerback Cobie Durant, who lost Kmet on the play.
"I thought that was a great play by our defense, [but] just a better play by Caleb [and Kmet] — just a better play by those two guys," Stafford said. "That happens in football."
And the defense made amends when it had to. Durant picked off Williams twice on the night, and with Chicago driving past midfield in overtime, safety Kamren Curl laid out for an interception of Williams that would change the game. On the ensuing drive, McVay put the ball into the hands of Stafford, who completed critical passes to Davante Adams and Puka Nacua that eventually set up the game-winning field goal.
"That's what it takes to win in the playoffs," Stafford said "Sometimes offense can go out and have a great day and find a way to win it. Sometimes defense is going to go out there and have a day like they did today and keep us in it for as long as they did, and then make a play at the end to get the ball back."
Now the Rams will head to Seattle to face a Seahawks team that split the season series with Los Angeles — including a 21-19 home Rams win on Nov. 16 and then a wild 38-37 overtime victory for Seattle in Week 16. The latter of which led McVay to fire special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn following a series of miscues over the course of the season.
