Snow day.
I grew up in California, so we didn’t have snow days. But my friends from locations in the east that did have snow each year, and on some days when it was heavy, would get a school day off because of a “snow day.”
The Los Angeles Rams are from California too, the Houston Texans from a location that doesn’t often have snow, and they are going into winter conditions in two cities that do have winter conditions that will sometimes close schools, Foxboro and Chicago. Play a game in Chicago that begins at 5:30 p.m. in January and you can pretty much count on what we have for today’s game between the Rams and Chicago Bears. Temperatures in the teens and snow. It will be a little “warmer” for the Patriots contest against the Houston Texans, some snow but game time temperatures expected to be 33 degrees.
Some think the cold weather will automatically be an advantage for home teams used to the cold. In fact, as long as heavy wind is not involved, a factor that is more influential to the play on the field, cold weather I’m told by players is not that big of a deal.
A bigger deal is the motivation and talent of these four squads and that will determine which pair will survive today and join the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks in next week’s Championship Games.
The Rams are one of the best fifth seeded teams in history. They opened the playoffs as one of the favorites to win Super Bowl LX next month at Levi’s Stadium despite their playoff seeding. The Rams playoff seed is a result of finishing behind the Seattle Seahawks in their NFC West Division race. Their regular season record, 12-5, would have been good enough to win any other division in the National Football Conference, but only got them a second-place tie with San Francisco and a two-game deficit to the division winning Seahawks in the NFC West.
Despite their seed, the Rams talent, coaching and postseason experience had them pegged as the team to beat in the NFC for most of the 2025 season. In their first year together, after the Rams acquired Matthew Stafford from the Detroit Lions, head coach Sean McVay and the franchise quarterback won Super Bowl LVI. Four seasons have passed since the Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals to capture the Vince Lombardi Trophy and after an injury plagued campaign in defense of their title the Rams have returned to the postseason the past three years and are favored today in Chicago.
The Bears have risen from their 2024 last place finish in the NFC North Division to the title this year while compiling a better record than their three talented division opponents; the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings. Their success can be credited to the addition of first-year head coach Ben Johnson, who came over from a successful run as offensive coordinator with the Lions to lead the Bears to 11 wins this season and a second seed in the NFC Playoffs.
On the field, the credit has to go to second-year quarterback Calib Williams, who doesn’t have imposing stats unless you count the ability to make the big plays late to pull out close wins. He has done that at a record clip this season.
The fifth seed is favored over the second seed on the road in this matchup at Soldier Field. That is for good reason, the Rams are the better team, have a better record, more postseason experience and a veteran quarterback poised to win on the road no matter what the weather.
Qoxhi Picks: Los Angeles Rams (- 3½) over Chicago Bears