Matthew Stafford's injured finger and cold-weather woes cast doubt on Rams' playoff hopes against a surging Bears squad.
The Chicago Bears take on Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round on Sunday.
The matchup is thanks to the San Francisco 49ers beating the Philadelphia Eagles 23-19 over the weekend. The 49ers are heading to Lumen Field to face the Seattle Seahawks.
The Rams took down the Carolina Panthers 34-31 after a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Stafford. Chicago just had another insane 4th quarter comeback of its own after being down 21-6.
After going into halftime with a 21-3 deficit, the Bears allowed the Green Bay Packers to score six points and put up 28 of their own in the second half for a 31-27 win.
Sunday's game will be the first time the Rams and Bears have played since last season. Chicago got a 24-18 win over Los Angeles in that game.
It should be an exciting matchup, but there is growing concern about Stafford and the injury he suffered during the Wild Card game against the Panthers. A helmet hit Stafford's finger, and Rams' head coach Sean McVay revealed that the quarterback has a sprain in his index finger at a recent press conference.
"Yeah, he's just got a little sprain on his index finger," McVay said. "Um, you guys saw, you know, kind of hit the helmet. Um, he's as tough as it gets, but he's feeling good. Had a little, you know, sprain on his finger. I don't want to say little, but he had a sprain on the index finger, but he was able to push through it. He's as tough as it gets, and we'll be good to go."
Playing with this injury could be a big-time risk for Stafford and the Rams. If the veteran quarterback does play, there's a chance it would inhibit his ability to throw the football and have him at less than 100%.
There is also the added factor of playing in the cold environment at Soldier Field. Since Chicago is the higher seed, it will host the game.
Throughout Stafford's career, he is 1-9 in games with cold temperatures. The quarterback has thrown 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in those conditions. For reference, it's going to be just under 10 degrees in Chicago at game time on Sunday.
We'll see how Stafford handles the icy weather at Soldier Field, even with his finger injury. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC.