The Rams enter the postseason as the hottest offense in the NFC, but they’ll need revenge on their minds when they travel to Charlotte. Meanwhile, the Bears-Packers rivalry adds a third chapter in a season that’s already produced two instant classics.
Saturday’s Wild Card doubleheader features two NFC matchups with vastly different stakes. One pits a juggernaut against an overmatched division winner. The other could be the most competitive game of the weekend.
Davante Adams’ Return Changes Everything for the Rams
The Panthers stunned Los Angeles 31-28 in Week 13, but that result required a near-perfect storm. Matthew Stafford turned the ball over three times—including a pick-six to Mike Jackson—and Carolina gashed the Rams for 164 yards on the ground. Neither projects as repeatable.
“They did a great job,” Sean McVay acknowledged this week. “They made the plays to win the game, and we came up short. We had our chances, but there’s a lot of learning opps.”
Davante Adams, who missed the final three games with a hamstring injury, practiced in full this week and is off the injury report. His absence coincided with a 1-2 finish that cost Los Angeles the NFC West title and a first-round bye. Getting him back now is massive.
Adams led the league with 14 receiving touchdowns despite missing those three games. His red-zone presence alone shifts the math in the Rams’ favor. Add Puka Nacua and a two-headed rushing attack featuring Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, and McVay has the offensive firepower to control this game from start to finish.
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Bryce Young has grown considerably in his second year, orchestrating six game-winning drives and hitting clutch fourth-down throws. But asking him to carry a team with an 8-9 record past an opponent that’s won 12 games? That’s a tall order, even with a home crowd behind him.
The Panthers’ path to victory runs through their defensive front creating chaos and Young limiting mistakes. The Rams’ path runs through simply executing their offense. Expect Los Angeles to do just that.
Prediction: Rams 30, Panthers 17
Bears-Packers III Has All the Makings of a Classic
Green Bay and Chicago played a pair of barnburners during the regular season, and Saturday night should deliver more of the same.
The Packers took the first meeting 28-21, sealing the win with Keisean Nixon’s end-zone interception on an underthrown Caleb Williams pass with 22 seconds remaining. The Bears answered in Week 16 with a thrilling 22-16 overtime victory, with Williams engineering 10 points in the final 1:59 of regulation before hitting DJ Moore for a walk-off 46-yard touchdown. A third one-score game feels inevitable.
We meet again. pic.twitter.com/fFp4ijtc8O
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 10, 2026
Williams is a different quarterback than the one who threw that costly pick in the December rematch. He set the Bears’ single-season passing record with 3,942 yards and led six comeback victories in the final minutes. His coach sees it clearly.
“He was built for these moments,” Ben Johnson said this week. “He plays his best when we need him to.”
The Bears also get Rome Odunze back after a foot injury sidelined him since Week 13. That gives Williams his full complement of weapons alongside DJ Moore and a pair of rookies—Luther Burden III and Colston Loveland—who have emerged as legitimate playmakers. Since Week 9, Loveland leads all NFL rookie tight ends with 506 receiving yards, while Burden has added 446. Both have improved at an exponential rate under Johnson’s scheme.
The Packers are far from pushovers, though. They rested starters down the stretch after clinching their playoff spot, keeping their core pieces healthy. Josh Jacobs and Jordan Love enter this game fresh after limited action in Week 18.
But Green Bay’s season changed dramatically when Micah Parsons tore his ACL in Week 15 against the Broncos. Parsons had 12.5 sacks and was the defensive anchor for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. Without him, the Packers’ pass rush falls largely on Rashan Gary’s shoulders—and Williams’ elusiveness has tormented single-rusher pressure all season.
If Parsons were available, this prediction would look different. He isn’t. And if Williams stays comfortable behind Chicago’s improved offensive line, the Packers will have trouble keeping pace with an offense that can explode at any moment.
Prediction: Bears 30, Packers 23