Bear Digest

What Ben Johnson thinks about Rams' ability to handle icy Chicago

The weather advantage might be overblown, but then again it is something the Bears coach thinks can be a factor and he explained it.
Gene Chamberlain|
Matthew Stafford and the L.A. Rams won't find warmth at Soldier Field, from the crowd or the sun.
Matthew Stafford and the L.A. Rams won't find warmth at Soldier Field, from the crowd or the sun. | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Anyone who thinks the so-called "Bear weather" advantage Chicago gets over warm-weather teams at home in January is a figment of fans' imagination would have been stunned Monday to hear coach Ben Johnson.

It's real, says the Bears coach.

"I like the cold," Johnson said. "I do like the cold."

With forecasts of 17 to 20 degrees for Sunday's divisional playoff game against the Rams, Johnson did acknowledge L.A. quarterback Matthew Stafford is well acquainted with playing in frigid conditions.

The two were together in Detroit when Johnson first came there  as an assistant in 2019 and 2020.

"Yeah, I mean when I was in Detroit, you are outside (practicing) to start with and it's usually pretty cold this time of the year anyway, so you could practice outside to try to acclimate yourself as much as you can," Johnson said.

This isn't the Lions, though. They're the Rams and they're coming from L.A.

"I think that is a good question for them, how they feel about that," Johnson said. "I do know this will be the coldest game that they have played this year.

"That's something that I recognized when we found out who the opponent was. But I think that fact that Matthew Stafford has played well in cold games in his past, you know, I don't know how much of an advantage that gives you over their passing game necessarily."

The coldest weather the Rams played in this season was 45 degrees in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 30, a game the Panthers won 31-28. The Rams last played in game time  temperatures less than 20 degrees Dec. 19, 2022 at Green Bay. They lost 24-12 at Lambeau Field.  Last year they did win 19-9 over the struggling Jets in 23-degree weather with a 14-degree wind chill.

This isn't quite like when the Lions practiced outdoors while Stafford was there, and then played almost all their games in warmer conditions except against the Bears and Packers.

Unless the Rams decide to leave L.A. to practice in the cold, or acclimate by practicing in a meat locker somewhere, they're "coming in cold" from the warmth, so to speak.

Johnson didn't want to lean too heavily on this adavantage, adding, "But there are a lot of elements that go into a game like this."

What history has shown is it's usually an element that superior teams overcome, but when teams are fairly evenly matched or the home team is better, it becomes no day at the beach for visitors.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.