Bears Help from Rams Seems Unlikely to Arrive
The Bears need to win the game against Green Bay now more than ever.
The back door to the playoffs seems to be closing in case they were to lose to the Packers.
The Bears had the option of making it into the postseason with a Cardinals loss to the Rams regardless of what happened in the game with Green Bay Sunday at Soldier Field.
However, the Rams announced Monday quarterback quarterback Jared Goff underwent thumb surgery after an injury suffered in Sunday's loss to Seattle and they'll have to start John Wolford.
Wolford is a 25-year-old undrafted free agent who played last offseason in the AAF for the Arizona Hotshots. He has never taken an NFL snap after leading the AAF in TD passes with 14 and ranked second in passer rating (95.9).
The other problem facing the Bears' playoff proxy in this game is they are also going to be without starting running back Darrell Henderson. He left the game Sunday with an ankle injury.
They can't even be sure they'll have backup Cam Akers because he missed last week's game with an ankle injury. Akers has just 33 yards less than Henderson (624) on the year.
This would leave their third back and power option Malcolm Brown playing. He had 399 yards this year and led their running backs in receptions with 22.
The Rams do have incentive to win the game. If they lose, and the Bears win, then the Bears and Cardinals both would go into the playoffs and the Rams would be watching from home. They also would rather win because it could mean a fifth seed.
The Rams would be the fifth seed with a win and a Tampa Bay loss to Atlanta. The fifth seed gets to face the champion from the NFC East, a team which will have a losing record.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is expected to play in the game after taking a big shot and suffering a lower-leg injury on the final Arizona offensive play during their loss Saturday to San Francisco.
The game is slated to go off at about the same time as the Bears game so there will be scoreboard watching going on in Chicago, especially if they fall behind the Packers like they did in the last game at Green Bay, a 41-25 loss.
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