How can Rams avoid a collapse against the Bears?

The Los Angeles Rams are set to play the Chicago Bears on Sunday in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. While it should be a good matchup between two similarly skilled teams, it will also give the Rams an opportunity to right the wrongs of two of their losses this season.

While the Rams have lost five games this season, two of those losses have come while having significant leads at one point in the game. The Rams lost to the Philadelphia Eagles despite leading 26-7 in the third quarter. In Week 16, they lost to the Seattle Seahawks after leading 30-14 in the fourth quarter.

The Bears provide a unique challenge on Sunday in the sense that they have won a majority of their games this season coming from behind. Most recently, they beat the Green Bay Packers last week after trailing 21-3 at halftime. Caleb Williams tied Peyton Manning for the most fourth-quarter comebacks in a season by a player under the age of 25 with six.

• Trailed Raiders 24-19. Scored touchdown with 1:34 to play to lead 25-24. Raiders had 54-yard field goal blocked. Had 19.3% chance to win.
• Bears trailed Commanders 24-16 in fourth quarter***. Commanders fumbled*** and Bears kicked game-winning field goal to win 25-24. Had 16.9% chance to win.
• Giants led Bears 20-10 with 4:00 left in fourth quarter. Went 0-for-5 on fourth down. Bears scored touchdown with 1:47 to play to win 24-20. Had 3.1% chance to win.
• Vikings took 17-16 lead over Bears with 50 seconds left. Bears kicked game-winning field goal to win 19-17. Had 24.9% chance to win.
• Trailed Packers 16-6 with five minutes left in fourth quarter. Bears recovered onside kick and tied the game. Packers went 0-for-5 in the red zone. Bears won in overtime, 22-16. Had 3% chance to win.
• Packers led 21-6 in the fourth quarter. Missed a late field goal and had three second-half three-and-outs. Bears scored with 1:08 left to win 31-27. Had 4.3% chance to win.

This season, the Bears have 12 wins and six of them have come after trailing late in the fourth quarter. It’s not sustainable. At the same time, it’s something that they have regularly done this season. They are 8-3 in one-score games, but are just 1-3 in their last four after starting 6-0.

There’s a good chance the Rams storm out to a big lead and have to hang on late to win. In one sense, they should be battle-tested as they’ve been in those situations before and had to manage the lead. Conversely, they’ve also lost those types of games this season. Last week was the first game since Week 4 that the Rams had completed a fourth-quarter comeback. Compare the Rams’ collapses to the Bears’ comebacks, and there are certainly some common themes.

• Rams led Eagles 26-7. Offense had one three-and-out and one turnover on downs. Special teams had two blocked field goals late. Rams lost 33-26....