Winners & Losers: Anemic offensive outing sinks Rams in Chicago

Matthew Stafford commits two, nearly three, turnovers as Rams fall short in Chicago

It’s been a theme for the Los Angeles Rams over their last six games or so: field goals won’t get the job done and the team needs to be more effective in the red zone. That theme was ever important against the Chicago Bears as LA settled for five attempts by rookie kicker Josh Karty. Ultimately, the Bears were able to score three touchdowns and that made the difference in Chicago.

The Rams fall to 1-3 on the year following this loss. The early season injuries will likely be too much for them to overcome in time to make the playoff picture interesting. Still, aside from injuries there are larger questions that LA must contemplate as they look to compete over the remainder of the year and turn an eye to next season.

Many of those questions are surrounding aging players that aren’t living up to expectations on an otherwise young, talented roster. Tre White was flagged for two critical penalties, one that erased a sack by Jared Verse and another that gave the Bears the ball on the one-yard line and setup a touchdown. Matthew Stafford entered the game ranking in the mid-twenties amongst his peers at quarterback. This performance won’t improve his standing, and it might be time for the Rams to wonder what life after Stafford looks like.

These are the individuals who stood out, good and bad, against the Bears:

Winners

Josh Karty, K

LA put the rookie in a tough spot by asking him to attempt five field goals in the windy Soldier Field. Karty missed only a single attempt and coverted the longest field goal of his career so far at 52 yards.

Karty did make a field goal to cut Chicago’s lead from nine points down to six. The defense did their job to get the ball back to the offense (twice), but the offense did little to capitalize and mount a comeback.

Jared Verse, OLB

Verse had two sacks nullified on the day, though he lived in the backfield and made life hell for Caleb Williams. It does seem that Verse is making progress in terms of tracking mobile quarterbacks even if it doesn’t show up in the box score from this game. Williams didn’t do as much damage from outside the pocket as we saw from Kyler Murray and Brock Purdy the last two weeks.

The Rams are in good hands with Jared Verse, who looks to have a solid lead on the defensive rookie of the year race.

Tutu Atwell, WR

Jordan Whittington, WR

Atwell was the Rams’ best receiver for the second week in a row. The speedster also has a knack for drawing penalties that don’t show up on the stat sheet. He drew two flags in this game, one for an unnecessary roughness penalty after a long catch and then a defensive pass interference call late in the game. Atwell finished with four catches for 82 yards on six targets. His longest reception was for 25 yards.

Another receiver with a breakout performance was rookie Jordan Whittington, who seems to have much more to offer than veterans Demarcus Robinson and Tyler Johnson. Whittington caught six of eight targets for 62 yards and. He led the Rams in targets with the next closest being TE Colby Parkinson with seven.

The Rams must find roles for Atwell and Whittington in the offense even after Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua return to the lineup.

Quentin Lake, DB

Lake made his presence felt early in coverage by getting multiple stops on late downs. When the LA offense needed the ball back down six points, Lake sacked Williams on a blitz to end the Bears’ drive.

The entirety of the secondary struggled last week against the San Francisco 49ers, but Lake did a fine job of bouncing back in Chicago.

Losers

Matthew Stafford, QB

While Atwell has been playing well the last two weeks, Stafford made Bears DB Jaquan Brisker his favorite target on the day. Just before halftime, Stafford inexplicably threw an end zone interception to Brisker that was reversed upon review because Brisker had stepped out of bounds. Under pressure on the final offensive possession of the game, Stafford tossed an interception to Brisker with no Rams in the area to effectively end any comeback hopes. The veteran QB also last a fumble on a sack by Montez Sweat, so that makes two—nearly three—turnovers for Stafford on the day.

On a day where the Rams outgained the Bears in terms of yards 322 to 264, poor situational football, a lack of execution in the red zone, and turnovers cost them this victory.

It’s worth remembering that the Rams adjusted Stafford’s contract before the onset of training camp. LA isn’t tied to the quarterback next season as the team and the QB have the opportunity to review their commitment together. If Los Angeles, currently at 1-3, continues to slide in the standings, it may be worth exploring other options at quarterback ahead of a change in 2025.

Tre White, CB

I touched on this in the introduction, but White was again abysmal this week. He erased an official sack by Verse with a holding call. A defensive pass interference call gave Chicago the ball on the goal line that soon turned into a rushing touchdown.

Ahkello Witherspoon was called from the practice squad, but when he was on the field Cobie Durant shifted inside. It may be time to leave Durant on the outside but pull White from the starting lineup, or introduce a rookie such as Charles Woods. The return of Darious Williams should also give the Rams reinforcements, but his return to health does not seem imminent.

Troy Reeder & Christian Rozeboom, MLB

The Bears were not consistently productive through the air. The focal point of their offense was RB D’Andre Swift who finished with 16 rushes for 93 yards, seven receptions for 72 yards, and a touchdown. Swift averaged 5.8 yards per attempt.

While the interior of the defensive line, mainly Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske, have not been good enough against the run, both Reeder and Rozeboom continue to struggle mightily. Fans are wondering why LA’s best coverage linebacker in Jake Hummel has not yet broke into the starting lineup or why preseason standout Omar Speights hasn’t been given a chance yet.

The truth is that it’s difficult to get much less than what the Rams are getting from Reeder and Rozeboom now, so it might be worth a lineup change just to see if Hummel or Speights can give the defense a better fighting opportunity.