Playing their home games inside at SoFi Stadium where the weather isn’t a factor, the Los Angeles Rams will face an extra challenge when they travel to Chicago this weekend to face the Bears at Soldier Field. The temperature at kickoff is going to be around 10-15 degrees, with a chance of snow and 10-plus mph winds.
This won’t be the first cold-weather game for the Rams or Matthew Stafford, but it’s hardly familiar territory. Even last year’s snow-filled playoff game in Philadelphia wasn’t nearly as cold as it’s going to be in Chicago on Sunday; it was 34 degrees at kickoff last year.
For the Bears, freezing temperatures are nothing new. They’ve played three games already this season where the temperature at kickoff was 32 degrees or below, going 2-1 in those games – including Saturday’s playoff win over the Packers.
Rams’ record in cold-weather games
Since Sean McVay was hired in 2017, the Rams have played four cold-weather games where the temperature at kickoff was 32 or below. They’re 2-2 in those games, beating the Broncos in 2018 and the Jets last year, while losing to the Bears in 2018 and Packers in 2022. They averaged 15 points per game, with their highest total being 23 points against Denver, per Stathead.
All four of those games were in the regular season, and Stafford was the quarterback for just one of them: last year’s 19-9 win over the Jets. Jared Goff was the quarterback for the other two games in 2018, and Baker Mayfield was under center against Green Bay in 2022.
Matthew Stafford’s record in cold-weather games
As for Stafford, he spent most of his career in the NFC North with the Lions, playing outdoor games against the Bears and Packers every year. Still, he only played five games where the temperature at kickoff was 32 or below, three of them being in Green Bay, with one each in Chicago and Philadelphia.
Adding in his one game against the Jets last year when it was 23 degrees, and Stafford has six career games in freezing conditions. His record in those games is 3-3, but his passing numbers are impressive. He’s thrown 15 touchdown passes and only three interceptions with 1,519 yards through the air.
Even though last year’s Rams-Eagles playoff game wasn’t below freezing, Stafford lit up Philadelphia’s defense in heavy snow for 324 yards and two touchdown passes with no interceptions in a close 28-22 loss.
The Bears are the more experienced team in these conditions, but the Rams have a decent record in cold-weather games. They’ve just never played a game this cold under McVay.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Matthew Stafford and the Rams have had mixed results in cold-weather games
Reporting by Cameron DaSilva, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
