It was a bitter, disappointing 24-18 loss for the Los Angeles Rams to the Chicago Bears last Sunday in the Windy City. L.A. got off to a good start, but season-long inconsistencies sprung up the through the natural grass at Soldier Field and the Rams stubbed their toes on them.
On offense, the Rams came out of the gate well, they tallied points on three of four first half possessions, but their inability to score red zone touchdowns kept Chicago within striking distance. At 6:42 of the second quarter, there was a palpable change of momentum when Matthew Stafford was strip-sacked inside the L.A. 20, leading to a Bears touchdown and the Rams never seemed able to flip it back.
Explosive plays, silly penalties to extend drives and another athletic quarterback making off-platform plays again dogged the defense.
But it wasn’t all bad news, there were glimpses of improvement. The Rams only allowed 264 total yards to the Bears, by far their best mark of the season. Allowing 133 net yards passing was a season-best, they unleashed a furious pass rush and got home for three sacks. While there’s still much work to be done against the run, 131 yards was also a season-low. Explosive plays (20 yard pass/10 yard run) were limited to three, but all were cashed in on scoring drives.
Many of the penalties against both teams were of the ticky-tack variety. Calls that protect players from injury or upset the flow of the game I’m fine with, but too often, these types only lead to just as bad make-up calls.
Quarterback
There were no late-game heroics for Matthew Stafford (61, 100%). L.A. did score nine points, six came on the first play of the fourth quarter and the others on a long field goal. All said and done, the Rams totaled 45 yards in the final stanza.
Staff’s play is a microcosm of the Rams struggles. Pass rush pressure (25.9%) is a problem, but by nature, he’s a hang-in-the-pocket guy. He’s a slinger looking to push the ball downfield while Sean McVay is trending back to a timing/system based offense. His bad throw rate is the lowest of his career (11.4%) and hasn’t yet jumped up and bit him. They never do until they do, right? And yet his on-target percentage (61.9%) is way down this year from past.
It’s cliche, but true by a wide margin, NFL teams go as far their QB takes them.
Running back
Good to see the Rams get the run game going and it was a nice attack mix of inside and out. Kyren Williams (48, 79%) finally got going with 90+ yards at 5.0 per carry, but had no part in the passing game. Again, Blake Corum was limited to special teams.
Ronnie Rivers (13, 21%) had his biggest workload of the season and again, did his work with aplomb. Corum may well show he can replace/spell Williams, but if teams are going to blitz the Rams, Rivers needs to be in on passing situations.
Wide receiver
The Rams went back to primarily using three wide receiver sets and the entire passing attack looked to a bit compressed compared to what they did versus the 49ers. Again, Tutu Atwell (55, 90%) was able to stretch things vertically and help open things up underneath.
Jordan Whittington’s (59, 97%) reps went way up. He just looks and plays like a Rams receiver. Going forward, 90%+ of snaps may be a regular order of business for the rookie.
Demarcus Robinson (52, 85%) had a couple of nice grabs over the middle, but that was it and he had rough day blocking, making bad decisions and letting defenders breeze through untouched. Tyler Johnson (10, 16%) is the big rep loser, he’s dropped every week. Hold the presses, we have an Xavier Smith (2, 3%) offensive snap alert. He chipped in one nice punt return, but also learned a valuable lesson. NFL returners are routinely catching the ball at the five and not letting it go, hoping it bounces into the end zone. Today’s NFL punter’s are too proficient at putting backspin on the ball.
Tight end
After using two-tight end sets as a major facet of the attack in the win over the San Francisco 49ers, the Rams decided to de-emphasize it against the Bears. L.A. dropped its usage to three reps, by my unofficial count, down from 26 in beating the ‘Niners.
I have to admit, with his coming over from the Seattle Seahawks and how they employ their two-tight end formations, I thought Colby Parkinson (53, 87%) would be more of a physical presence. He does not seem to seek out contact when blocking, nor when running after a catch.
For backup Hunter Long (13, 21%), snap share was down by half from last week. His role has been strictly as a blocker and he’s done well and has yet to be targeted for a pass.Davis Allen returned to active status and did some special teams work.
Offensive line
Chicago threw a monkey wrench into the Rams blocking plan with all their blitzing. According to Pro Football Reference, the Bears used only 17 blitzes in the first three games combined. On Sunday, by my unofficial count, Chicago sent five or more rushers 15 times. Many were of the late variety, so it was tougher to adjust and they came from all angles, from the wide 9Ts to right up the A gap.
All five Alaric Jackson, Logan Bruss, Beaux Limmer, Kevin Dotson, and Rob Havenstein played every snap (61, 100%). Probably their best overall job of the season, but the bar wasn’t very high. Another week of working together will only make things better.
Cornerback
It was the corner’s best game of the season. Yes, much of it was that the Bears were content to use an underneath passing game. Still, the Chicago corps of DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and Rome Odunze are a fine trio and they were held to a combined seven catches for 51 yards.
I thought the goal line pass interference penalty on Tre White (60, 100%) was textbook defense, but that’s how things go. He could not have been in any better position.
You didn’t hear Cobie Durant’s (60, 100%) name a lot, a good thing and Ahkello Witherspoon (9, 15%) got his first 2024 action. On ‘Spoon’s reps, Durant moved inside into the slot. Durant didn’t fare particularly well last season as a “slot only” defensive back, so it’s something to watch. Sean Mcvay also announced that expected starter, Darious Williams was being designated for return to practice from the Injured Reserve List.
Safety
Another rough game. Rookie Kam Kinchens (38, 63%) got his biggest piece of 2024 action. Although he was not charged with any missed tackles, on two of Chicago’s biggest plays, as the single-high safety, he took terrible angles to the ball carrier, and took himself right out of the play.
Veteran Kam Curl (60, 100%) was very quiet. Although he had four tackles and didn’t miss any tackles, his biggest noise maker was a silly holding call that extended a Bears scoring drive
Off-ball linebacker
The Rams two linebackers are going to be whipping posts all season and that’s likely to continue even if L.A. decides to replace one, or both with some combination of Jake Hummel, Omar Speights, and Elias Neal. All three were again limited to special teams work.
A perfect example of what the Rams linebackers face was on the Bears game-winning 36-yard touchdown run. L.A, is in a “Boss” (big on one side ) four-man front with two linebackers. The Bears run right into the opening, all three defensive linemen are turned and sealed with 1on1 blocks with the remaining two offensive linemen plow straight ahead to the second level. the tight end in motion puts a wham block on the edge and boom, a wide open lane that has a minimum of 10 yards before possible contact.
When the Rams defense was performing well in the first half, Troy Reeder (56, 93%) chipped five tackles, but was relatively quiet in the final portion of the game.
Christian Rozeboom (37, 62%) recorded 11 tackles while playing his fewest amount of snaps this season. He did get beat on a touchdown pass, but was in good coverage position, it was a perfect pass. A interested fan might ask, “Why is a linebacker covering the opposing WR#1 twenty yards downfield?”
Edge
One of the most different and interesting packages the Rams used was employing all three edges, Young, Verse, and Hoecht at one time. It does make sense with how a few players on the defensive line are being abused. Only a few reps, but something to keep an eye out for going forward.
Although Byron Young (49, 82%),had his biggest workload of the season,Michael Hoecht (34, 57%) charted a clean-up sack, but wasn’t a factor otherwise. He did have an almost. On the the late-game 36 yard Bears TD run, Hoecht did a good job of fighting off a motion wham block, but couldn’t quite gather up his balance and just missed the tackle at the line of scrimmage.
Jared Verse (41, 68%) was a monster rushing the passer and although his 50% pass win is crazy good, he again struggled to finish tackles. One of the most egregious misses was with 2:45 left in the game. It was 3rd and 1 from the Chicago 47 yard line and the Rams had just used their second time out. The Bears ran it with Roschon Johnson between the right guard and tackle. Verse hustles laterally down the line and gets there, only to slip off a high tackle two yards behind the line.
Defensive line
Sunday brought a different plan of attack for the interior, lots of straight ahead bullrush work to hold pocket contain on Bears QB Caleb Williams. The scheme fit like a glove for Bobby Brown (32, 53%) and Neville Gallimore (30, 50%), neither have gotten much push up front at all this season. The bad news is the only time they are consistently holding their ground is on pass plays, against the run they are too easily moved. Tyler Davis (11, 18%) had reduced reps, likely because he’s more of a gap shooter/penetrator and pass rush structure was the plan.
Braden Fiske (33, 55%) and Kobie Turner (50, 83%) were both assignment-disciplined and figured well into collapsing the pocket while keeping contain. It allowed the edges to really get after it on pass plays.
The aftermath
1-3 is not a good look. Winning on the road in the NFL is not easy, but this is not a game the Rams should have stolen, this is one they should have won.
The old school part of me thinks the offense just needs a timing light and carburetor adjustments, but everything today is electronic and computerized. Okay, either way, get it running on all cylinders, the offense has to carry the load.
Good to see the defense show some improvement, but moral victories are only appropriate on the Hallmark Channel. If the Rams want to contend in the NFL, they need to stack some more good performances which lead to victories. 10-7 is not yet out of reach.
Harrummph! Week 5 and the Rams are already facing their second “must win” game.
