Rams ice NFC divisional round in OT on Harrison Mevis’ winning field goal

CHICAGO — In November, Sean McVay worried aloud that special teams could cost the Rams their ultimate goals when the postseason came around. Missed field goals had already played a part in two early-season losses, and the head coach knew the Rams could not continue on that path.

So wouldn’t you know it, but the Rams’ season came down to a field goal attempt on Sunday in the divisional round in overtime. Either midseason addition Harrison Mevis would be true from 48 yards out and end the game in overtime, or the Rams would give the Chicago Bears a short field in front of a reenergized crowd.

So the man brought in in November to fix the Rams’ kicking game took the icy field and aimed at the north goal posts. He felt a gentle wind blowing to the east toward Lake Michigan, so he tried to push the ball to his right.

“Just keep my head down and get through the ball,” Mevis said of his inner monologue. “I think even after the kick I was telling myself that.”

Mevis’ kick was true, sailing through the uprights and sending the Rams to the NFC championship game after a 20-17 win.

Teammates swarmed Mevis after the game-winner as long snapper Jake McQuaide jogged the retrieve the ball, presumably as a souvenir for the rookie kicker who spent last spring in the UFL and the early part of this season waiting for a call.

“It’s why I do what I do and it’s very fulfilling,” Mevis said. “I just appreciate the guys and the all the work this team’s put in and welcoming me into this team. I want to give back and do the best I possibly can and help this team win.”

The Rams were held up for much of the day by their defense. The group, which had given up 20 or more points in five straight games, intercepted Bears quarterback Caleb Williams three times and stopped Chicago on fourth down three times. The last was a goal-line pass breakup by Omar Speights with 3:03 to play in the fourth quarter, with the Rams holding a seven-point lead after the second of two Kyren Williams touchdown runs.

Needing just two or three first downs to kill the clock, the Rams offense stalled as it had for much of the game. The team never found its footing, with McVay blaming himself for never getting a feel for the game’s rhythm as a play caller.

“Our guys did a great job defensively and kept us in despite how poor of a job I did for our group,” McVay said.

When the Bears got the ball back, they quickly got into the red zone. The Rams forced them into another fourth down at the Rams 14, then flushed Caleb Williams back to the 40 with pressure. The quarterback heaved the ball into the corner of the end zone and tight end Cole Kmet came down with the tying touchdown with 18 seconds left in regulation.

It was the type of play that could have sunk a team, especially when the Rams received the ball to open overtime and went three-and-out with Blake Corum stopped for a loss on 3rd-and-1.

“I thought that possession really was going to cost us,” said McVay, who again blamed himself for the play call.

But the defense had one last card up its sleeve as it faced the sudden-death reality of overtime. Safety Kam Curl made a sliding catch at the Rams 22, and sucking the oxygen out of the 60,253 at Soldier Field.

“They knew what it was,” Curl said. “Giving the ball back to Matthew Stafford, it’s over. Everybody knows that.”

Stafford hadn’t thrown the ball well for most of the night, finishing 20-for-42 for 258 yards. But he made the plays necessary to set up Mevis’ kick.

First, a short pass to tight end Colby Parkinson for 15 yards. Then a dart to Davante Adams on the sideline in the tightest of windows for 12, Adams dragging his second foot to stay in bounds. And then, after a timeout to change plays before 3rd-and-6, Stafford found Puka Nacua in the slot on a quick button hook. Nacua turned and ran to the Bears’ 27.

“Playoff football is about winning the football game,” Stafford said, thinking back to last year’s divisional loss to the Eagles. “Played great, threw for a bunch of yards last year in the snow and we lost, so that [expletive] sucks. So I’m happy to have played a little bit worse today and be going home with a win.”

In field goal range, the Rams took a couple of shots at the end zone. But when fourth down rolled around, out came Mevis.

“I felt really confident,” McVay said. “It was nice too because it was like, alright, the football gods are smiling on us. The weather had calmed down, there wasn’t a lot of wind right there.”

And indeed, the kid from 90 minutes away in Warsaw, Indiana, took a hold of the opportunity, fulfilling his promise when the Rams brought him in off the street and setting up a date next Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

“There’s been obviously opportunities where that ball has not gone our way,” Nacua said. “So props to Mevis for being able to go out there and get the job done. But just feeling so much confidence. We see him do it during the week. … Man, we needed it.”