Rams fondly remember last playoff game against Bears DC

With as good as the Rams offense and as bad as Bears defense has been this season, Sunday’s divisional round game could come down to the matchup between Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay against Chicago defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. Although he wasn’t directly involved in the play, will Allen remember the last time he faced McVay in a playoff game?

The infamous “no-call” against the Saints in the 2018 playoffs when Allen was New Orleans defensive coordinator.

Even though the Rams and Bears haven’t faced each other in the playoffs since 1985, Allen and head coach Ben Johnson have a lot of recent experience against McVay.

As head coach or defensive coordinator of the Saints, Allen has faced the Rams eight times since 2016. As offensive coordinator of the Lions, Johnson faced the Rams twice in the last two years, including a 2023 wild card win.

What do those recent meetings mean for Sunday’s playoff game?

“Don’t blitz Stafford.”

Bears analyst Clay Harbor, who was teammates with Matthew Stafford on the Lions in 2016, sees this as a difficult matchup for Chicago and especially if they try to blitz him:

“Yes he had 46 touchdowns, but he also only had 8 interceptions. The Rams had the 4th-fewest turnovers in the league and we know that’s how the Bears like to win games. The second thing is don’t blitz Stafford. He likes it. Against the blitz, he has a 125 passer rating with 32 touchdowns and one interception.”

Allen’s Bears had a blitz rate of 28.7% in 2025, the 12th-highest rate in the NFL.

As head coach of the Saints, Allen faced the Rams two times from 2022-2023 and went 1-1 in those contests against McVay. He lost the last game 30-22 but the game was especially ugly as the Rams were up 30-7 going into the final seven minutes and it was the worst game of the Saints entire 2023 season in terms of EPA on defense.

Allen was fired prior to New Orleans facing the Rams in 2024.

But Allen was also Sean Payton’s defensive coordinator on the Saints from 2015-2021 and faced the Rams five times, including four times against McVay and that playoff loss.

The Rams averaged 27 points per game in those contests against Allen’s defense. The Saints held the Rams to only 23 points in regulation (maybe 20 if they had been called for PI) but McVay wasn’t working with a full deck due to Todd Gurley’s injury, limiting him to just five touches, and the absence of Cooper Kupp.

With a pretty sizeable difference at QB between Jared Goff and Stafford, McVay is much better suited to face Dennis Allen’s defense in 2026.

Allen was asked about McVay before the 2018 NFC Championship and many of the same comments would probably still apply seven years later:

**What’s the thing that stands out above (Sean) McVay as a play-caller? If you’re looking at it as a defensive coach, is there anything that...