The Chicago Bears will face the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs next weekend. The game will be played Saturday or next Sunday at Soldier Field, with the time and date expected to be announced later Sunday. The Bears advanced to the divisional round by rallying from an 18 -point deficit to defeat the Green Bay Packers 31-27 on Saturday night. They awaited Sunday’s result of the Philadelphia Eagles-San Francisco 49ers game to learn their next opponent. The 49ers’ 23-19 win means the Bears will face the Rams. The top-seeded Seattle Seahawks, who earned a bye in the wild-card round, will face the lowest remaining seed in the NFC. So the Seahawks will host the sixth-seeded 49ers, while the Bears will host the No. 5 Rams. The winners of those games will meet Jan. 25 in the NFC championship game at the higher seed’s home stadium. The Bears are in the divisional round for the first time since the 2010 season. Saturday’s win was their first in the postseason in 15 years. The Rams beat the Carolina Panthers 34-31 on Saturday, with quarterback Matthew Stafford throwing a touchdown pass in the final minute. The Bears and Rams did not meet in the regular season. At one point, it looked as if the Rams might earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC after a 9-2 start, but they went 3-3 down the stretch and finished behind the Seahawks in the NFC West. That dropped the Rams to the No. 5 seed as the top NFC wild-card team. Stafford had one of the best seasons of his 17-year career. He threw for 4,707 yards and a career-high 46 touchdowns with only eight interceptions. He’s considered a front-runner for the MVP award. His status will be worth keeping an eye on this week because he injured a finger in the win over Carolina. The Bears and Rams have met twice previously in the postseason but not since January 1986 in the NFC championship game. The ’85 Bears cruised to a 24-0 victory at Soldier Field in that game on their way to the Super Bowl XX title. The franchises also met in a December 1950 playoff game that the Rams won at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. ...read more read less