2025 NFL Wild-Card Good, Bad and Ugly: Bears and Rams Advance After Epic Finishes

Caleb Williams and Matthew Stafford overcame late deficits with game-winning drives to move on to the divisional round.

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams completed 24-of-48 passes for 361 yards and two touchdowns in Chicago's win over Green Bay on Saturday night. / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The back-and-forth playoff battle between the No. 2-seeded Bears and No. 7-seeded Packers told us plenty, including that Caleb Williams will soon be a superstar quarterback.

Jordan Love is already one of the better signal-callers in the league, but he was unable to provide a heroic moment from the Bears’ 28-yard-line as time expired in Chicago, giving the Bears an epic 31–27 come-from-behind wild-card victory on Saturday night. 

As for another thing we might have learned, it might be time for the Packers and coach Matt LaFleur to go their separate ways after a gut-wrenching 18-point collapse by Green Bay. Williams and Love each passed for more than 300 yards with at least two touchdowns to conclude a wild Day 1 of the NFL playoffs. 

In the first playoff game on Saturday, Matthew Stafford didn’t allow the No. 5-seeded Rams to be beaten by the No. 4-seeded Panthers for a second time this season. Stafford tossed a clutch 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Colby Parkinson with under a minute left to give Los Angeles a 34–31 wild-card victory in Carolina on Saturday.

Bryce Young put on a show, but the Panthers came up short after Jimmy Horn Jr. dropped a pass on fourth down to ice the game for the Rams. Now Los Angeles will wait to find out its divisional round opponent.

There could be an offensive explosion when the Bills and Jaguars clash for the first of three games on Sunday. Josh Allen will start the postseason on the road for the first time since 2019, when Buffalo fell short in Houston.

The Eagles will host the 49ers in their first playoff meeting since the 2022 NFC championship game. And the Chargers and Patriots will battle in a highly intriguing Sunday Night Football showdown between Justin Herbert and Drake Maye.

On Monday night, the Texans and their elite defense will go up against 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers to close out wild-card weekend.  

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Good: Williams, Johnson overcome mistakes in thrilling playoff debut 

Williams made a handful of throws in the second half that showed why he’s going to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL sooner rather than later. 

He was erratic at times, which might have frustrated coach Ben Johnson, who has favored a less-is-more approach in their first year together. But this was not the time to pull back the reins on the 2024 No. 1 pick, especially not with a 15-point deficit entering the fourth quarter. 

Instead of taking off running for small yardage, Williams often kept his eyes downfield as the pocket collapsed, hitting Colston Loveland, Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III for lengthy completions. Williams hit DJ Moore for the eventual game-winning 25-yard touchdown pass to give the Bears their first lead since early in the first quarter with 1:43 left in regulation. 

From there, the Chicago defense did enough to keep Love & Co. out of the end zone. The Bears wouldn't have won without their defense forcing the Packers into four consecutive punts to open the second half. Williams finished 24-of-48 for 361 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, while Love went 24-of-46 for 323 yards and four touchdowns to four different receivers. 

Before the comeback, Williams expressed plenty of frustration with the questionable play-calling from Johnson, who had a few head-scratchers on fourth down. But the Bears’ offense finally broke through after the fourth consecutive punt from the Packers. Williams had two 20-plus-yard completions to Loveland before D’Andre Swift found the end zone on a five-yard run to make it 21–16 with 10:08 left in regulation.

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Matt LaFleur's Packers blew a 21-3 lead to the Bears, the biggest playoff collapse in Green Bay playoff history. / Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Bad: LaFleur’s job security in the spotlight after 18-point collapse 

Plain and simple, the Packers were one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL this season. They finished the same way they did last year, the only difference being that they kept Saturday’s wild-card loss close compared to being handled by the Eagles in 2024.    

Green Bay was supposed to make a deep playoff run after the team sent two first-round picks to Dallas for star edge rusher Micah Parsons. Perhaps LaFleur can lean into the excuse that Parsons wasn’t around the final month of the season after sustaining a season-ending ACL injury. But the Packers also struggled with Parsons on the field, including upset losses to the Panthers and Browns. 

To make matters worse, LaFleur’s offense was inconsistent for long stretches throughout the season, and it didn’t help that rookie first-round wide receiver Matthew Golden struggled to find his footing. Ironically, Golden’s best performance came Saturday night. He had four catches for 84 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown catch, his first of the season, to give Green Bay a 27–16 advantage with 6:36 left in regulation.

It seemed the Packers were going to overcome their second-half meltdown after Golden’s score, but now the team heads into the offseason with several questions, including whether to bring back LaFleur.

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Ugly: McManus’s missed kicks hurt the Packers in the end 

We wouldn’t be talking about LaFleur’s job security if kicker Brandon McManus had made all of his kicks on Saturday night. 

McManus missed two field goals and one extra point, which cost Green Bay four points in the fourth quarter. Instead of Love needing a desperate heave as time expired from the 28-yard-line, the Packers could have been in position to win the game with a McManus field goal. 

This game could have looked a lot different if Love had gotten the ball with a 31–31 tie and 1:43 left in regulation. But McManus chose the worst time to miss kicks.

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Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 24-of-42 passes for 304 yards and three touchdowns in L.A.'s 34-31 victory over Carolina in the wild-card round. / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Good: Stafford, Young put on a show to open playoffs

The story was nearly about Young, the 2023 No. 1 pick, carving up the Rams’ weak secondary, but the Panthers left too much time on the clock for the future Hall of Famer standing on the other sideline. 

After Young connected with Jalen Coker for a go-ahead seven-yard touchdown pass, Stafford and the Rams’ high-scoring offense stepped up on the field with nearly three minutes left in regulation. The front-runner for MVP produced a sensational seven-play, 71-yard scoring drive that ended with Parkinson crossing the end zone with 38 seconds left in regulation. 

Stafford finished 24-of-42 for 304 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Young went 21-of-40 for 264 yards, one rushing touchdown, one passing touchdown and an interception. 

The Rams jumped to an early 14–0 advantage, but the pesky Panthers found ways to even the playing field, with coach Dave Canales giving Young the green light to throw passes of 10-plus yards. Even against a rocky secondary, it was impressive how Young picked apart L.A.’s defense, considering that he lost his left tackle Ikem Ekwonu due to injury early in the game.  

But the Rams stopped the bleeding after Puka Nacua broke up a potential Stafford interception in the end zone, allowing the Rams to restore order in a game that was slipping away. Kyren Williams converted on fourth-and-1 with a two-yard run, and a few plays later, Williams crossed the end zone on a 13-yard go-ahead touchdown catch to give L.A. a 27–24 advantage and silence the crowd with 8:47 left in regulation. 

From there, Young and Stafford traded go-ahead touchdowns, and it appeared that the Panthers were going to benefit from having the ball last. But the Rams caught a break with Horn dropping the pass on fourth down.

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Rams tight end Colby Parkinson celebrates after scoring the game-winning touchdown against the Panthers on Saturday night. / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Bad: Rams coach Sean McVay makes questionable offensive calls 

The Rams produced the highest-scoring offense in football partly due to a unique personnel with three tight ends on the field. But coach Sean McVay didn’t lean on his tight ends for nearly three quarters, which allowed the Panthers to overcome a 14-point deficit. 

It wasn’t until Carolina took a 24–20 advantage early in the fourth quarter that McVay leaned heavily on his beefier personnel. He kept calling plays for Stafford to attack the Panthers’ stout cornerbacks with wide receivers Davante Adams and Nacua. It worked initially, but Carolina’s defense, led by DC Ejiro Evero, quickly adjusted. 

It wasn’t too late for the Rams, but they could have put away the Panthers a lot sooner if McVay decided to play away from cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson. Then again, the trio of Stafford, Nacua and Adams is capable of having success against any defense. But what makes the Rams’ offense the best unit in football is all the weapons at Stafford’s disposal. 

Perhaps McVay will use more of the tight ends and running backs after all of the contributions L.A. received down the stretch of a chaotic playoff game.

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Ugly: Critical mistakes on both sides lead to wild finish in Carolina 

While there were moments when it looked like the Panthers were going to pull the upset, Los Angeles often appeared a step ahead because of a handful of critical mistakes from Carolina, especially in the first half. 

From the jump, Canales searched for advantages, but his fourth-down decision on the opening drive backfired, leading to a short-field touchdown for L.A. (Carolina later had another failed fourth down). The Rams again got the ball in enemy territory after Young threw an interception due to a communication error with Coker, costing the Panthers another seven points and giving them an early 14–0 deficit. 

There was also a dropped pass from Chuba Hubbard on third down, a muffed punt from Trevor Etienne and a kickoff that didn’t hit the landing zone to give the Rams another beneficial starting position. But the Panthers only trailed 17–14 at halftime because Young managed to pick apart the Rams’ weak secondary, which struggled to keep tabs on Coker and rookie sensation Tetairoa McMillan. Also, the Rams hurt themselves with a rare dropped pass from Nacua and a failed fourth-down conversion. 

Carolina had opportunities to pull off another upset as a 10-point underdog, but the team committed too many mistakes against a dangerous offense.

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