He performed 12 seasons in the NFC North before he was traded to the Rams, so quarterback Matthew Stafford is no stranger to cold-weather video games.

On Sunday evening, when the Rams play the Chicago Bears in an NFC divisional-round at Soldier Field, game-time temperatures may embody a wind-chill below zero levels.

Stafford, citing historic NFL video games that had been performed in powerful weather, said on Wednesday that he would embrace the weather.

“There’s something to it, right, that feels right when football’s outdoors, you’re playing late in the year, it’s cold, it means a lot,” Stafford said, including, “I know it’s going to be a great crowd there, and it’ll be a lot of fun.”

Stafford, 37, suffered a sprained proper index finger Saturday against the Carolina Panthers but still handed for 304 yards and three touchdowns, with an interception, in the 34-31 wild-card victory.

On Wednesday, he said that he suffered no residual results in the speedy aftermath, that the finger was feeling “great” and that it will not have an effect on his skill to grip or throw the ball on Saturday.

“Whatever it was there is gone now,” he said.

Still, all eyes might be on Stafford, and how the finger may have an effect on his efficiency, when the Rams play the Bears in only the third playoff matchup between the groups.

“Fortunately,” coach Sean McVay said, “Matthew’s played in these conditions.”

Stafford said he would put on a cosy, warming layer under his uniform that he first used with the Lions. Cold weather doesn’t hassle him, he said, and each sport requires distinctive changes.

“You can’t just bunch ‘em all together,” he said, adding, “You just kind of figure it out as you go.”

Stafford has a 12-10 profession report against the Bears. His 22 video games against them is tied for the second most against any crew, one behind the Minnesota Vikings.

He has a 5-7 report against the Bears at Soldier Field.

It didn’t go effectively for the Rams and Stafford the last time they performed there. On Sept. 29, 2024, Stafford accomplished 20 of 29 passes for 224 yards, with an interception, in a 24-18 loss. The Rams had the ball with 1:03 left, but the Bears intercepted a go to seal the Rams’ defeat.

Stafford performed in two cold-weather video games last season.

In late December against the New York Jets, the wind-chill issue was 14 levels. Stafford accomplished 14 of 19 passes for 110 yards and a landing, with an interception, in a 19-9 victory.

In last season’s NFC divisional-round sport at Philadelphia, with a wind-chill issue of 27 levels, Stafford accomplished 26 of 44 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-22 defeat that ended with the Rams at the Eagles’ 22-yard line and an incomplete go supposed for Puka Nacua.

Now he faces a Bears protection that ranks poorly in most statistical classes, but leads the NFL with 23 interceptions. The unit also recovered 10 fumbles.

“That’s how they’ve thrived,” Stafford said.

During the common season, the Bears gave up 24.4 factors and 361.8 yards per sport, which ranked twenty third and twenty eighth, respectively, among 32 NFL groups. They had been twenty seventh in speeding protection (134.5 yards per sport) and twenty second in go protection (227.2)

Veteran security Kevin Byard III had a league-best seven interceptions, cornerback Nahshon Wright 5 and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds 4 for a crew that defeated the Green Bay Packers 27-24 in the wild-card spherical.

“They’ve got a… talented back end that catches the ball when it’s in their area,” Stafford said. “They do a nice job up front as well affecting the pocket.”

The Rams are making ready for Sunday in sunny and heat circumstances in Woodland Hills. McVay joked that the Rams had been going to get “the biggest cold plunge ever, and everybody’s going to see if we can sit in that thing for three hours.”

Hot or cold, the preparation would be the same, according to Stafford.

“We don’t care what the weather is here, what it is there,” he said. “Just go play.”