Bears season ends with 20-17 OT loss to Rams after incredible tying TD

Sean Hammond, Chicago Tribune on Jan 18, 2026

Published in Football

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CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears had the football just past midfield in overtime. It was sudden death, season on the line, next score wins.

The Bears were painfully close to field-goal range, painfully close to their first NFC championship game appearance in 15 years.

And then Caleb Williams lofted a pass deep down the field that Los Angeles Rams safety Kam Curl intercepted. Williams was looking for wide receiver DJ Moore over the middle on second-and-8 from the Rams 48-yard line. With the pick, a magical season began to slip from the Bears’ grasp.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford drove the Rams 54 yards to set up a 42-yard field goal by kicker Harrison Mevis, giving the Rams a 20-17 victory to advance to next week’s NFC championship game against the Seattle Seahawks.

For the Bears, a season that nobody saw coming ended in heartbreaking fashion.

Once again, things looked bleak Sunday at Soldier Field — until they didn’t. The Bears were moments away from losing in regulation. Facing fourth-and-4, trailing by a touchdown with 27 seconds remaining, the pressure closed in on Williams.

The second-year quarterback, with the hopes of the city on his back, had nowhere to go. He did the only thing he could: He ran backward.

Rams defenders chased him. Everything — the play, the game, the season — seemed hopelessly lost. On a play that began at the 14-yard line, Williams tossed up a prayer from about the 40.

And the football landed in the waiting arms of tight end Cole Kmet for a touchdown.

In a season full of shocking moments, none was bigger than this one. With Cairo Santos’ successful extra point, the touchdown tied the score at 17 and forced overtime.

The comeback Bears looked like they were going to do it again. Their defense came up with a stop on the first possession of overtime. Williams and the offense took over at their 16 and methodically worked their way to midfield.

Then the Rams picked off Williams. A stunned silence enveloped the home crowd sitting in the snow at Soldier Field.

The Rams now head to Seattle to face the Seahawks next Sunday for the third time this season. The Bears are left wondering what could’ve been.

If one thing was true this season, it was that Ben Johnson’s team was rarely out of it. No matter how far behind these Bears fell — even 18 points in a playoff game — nobody could count them out.

There was the blocked field goal in the final seconds in Week 4 in Las Vegas. A game-winning kick from the backup kicker in Week 6 at Washington. A wild shootout in Week 9 in Cincinnati, won on a dramatic touchdown in the final minute. The upset against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13. A comeback for the ages against the rival Green Bay Packers — one-upped three weeks later by the comeback in the wild-card round against those same Packers.

On Sunday, when Kmet caught that touchdown pass with 18 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, it felt as if the Bears were in for another miraculous comeback.

Stafford and the Rams had other ideas.

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