Next up for the Bears? A Rams team that's good at everything

The NFL season is long and grueling — keep in mind that training camp started nearly six months ago — so coaches and players constantly come up with ways to self-motivate, even if they have to trick themselves.

Over the course of the regular season, the Bears told themselves whatever was necessary to take some of the league’s lowliest opponents seriously. The Saints’ record of 1-5 at the time did not “show what type of team they are,” quarterback Caleb Williams said, and the Giants, the fifth-worst team in the NFL, presented “a huge challenge,” according to coach Ben Johnson.

And as the Bears prepare for their divisional-round playoff game Sunday against the Rams, they’ll inevitably call this the toughest team they’ve faced all season. But this time it's true.

Not only are the Rams the best opponent the Bears have seen, they’re the best team in the league and good enough to win the Super Bowl.

Yes, they are the No. 5 seed after finishing behind the Seahawks in the NFC West and will have to travel to Soldier Field because of that, despite having a better record than the Bears, but nobody brings as much to the table as they do.

“When we're playing our best ball, man, we're the best team in the league,” wide receiver Davante Adams said Tuesday on the Stephen A. Smith Show. “I can say that because you look across the roster and it makes sense.”

The Rams are all over the NFL leaderboards, especially quarterback Matt Stafford. They’re one of four teams in the top 10 in points scored and fewest points allowed, they had two Pro Bowl selections on each side of the ball and they have the top coach in Sean McVay. They’re loaded in every possible way.

A familiar foe from his 12 seasons with the Lions, Stafford is playing the best ball of his career at 37 and is the favorite to win the MVP. He led the league in yards per game (276.9) and touchdown passes (46) and was second to the Patriots’ Drake May in passer rating (109.2).

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who grew up admiring Stafford and Aaron Rodgers as his favorite quarterbacks, has six career games with a 109 passer rating or better. Stafford just averaged it for an entire season.

That’s a major concern for a Bears secondary that snatched a league-high 23 interceptions, but has been shaky in coverage from play to play. They had seven games against quarterbacks in the top 10 in passer rating, and that group combined to complete 67.8% of its passes, throw for 17 touchdowns with just five interceptions and post a 108.4 passer rating.

Stafford has plenty of options, too.

All-Pro wide receiver Puka Nacua led the league with 129 catches, was second with 1,715 yards — both are in the top 14 all-time for a season — and caught 10 touchdown passes. Adams, likely a future Hall of Famer, would be the top receiver on many teams, but settled into the No. 2 spot behind Nacua with only 60 catches, 789 yards and 14 touchdowns — more than any Bear in all three categories.

They also have the No. 6 rusher in the league in running back Kyren Williams, who ran for 1,252 yards at an average of 4.8 per carry and scored 13 total touchdowns. He runs behind an offensive line that Pro Football Focus ranked fourth in the regular season, one spot behind the Bears.

In short, the Rams’ offense is good in every aspect in which the Bears are vulnerable.

The Bears struggle to get a pass rush; the Rams don’t allow sacks. The Bears are one of the league’s worst run defenses; the Rams have one of the best backs. The Bears are injured and inconsistent in the secondary; the Rams have wide receivers nobody can cover and a savvy, prolific quarterback.

Better defenses than this have allowed 35-plus points to the Rams this season. The Panthers, a league-average unit, allowed 411 yards and 34 points in their wild-card game last week.

So the Bears might need to keep up in a shootout, but that’s not easy, either. The Rams have two Pro Bowl pass rushers in Jared Verse and Byron Young. They have a combined 19 1/2 sacks, and the defense as a whole pressures quarterbacks on 26.3% of their drop-backs, fourth in the NFL.

None of that will scare off the Bears, but they know what they’re up against. No need to talk themselves into believing it.