Rams lose to Bears 15-6: Instant analysis of ugly Week 14 loss
Cameron DaSilva
[
theramswire.usatoday.com]
It’s not often a team completely shuts down a Sean McVay-led offense, but that’s exactly what the Chicago Bears did on Sunday night. The Los Angeles Rams were kept out of the end zone for the first time under Sean McVay, losing to the Bears by a score of 15-6.
It’s just the Rams’ second loss of the season, but it was ugly from start to finish. Jared Goff threw four interceptions, Todd Gurley was held to 28 yards on 11 carries and the defense was gashed for 194 yards rushing.
As a result of the loss, the Rams have dropped to 11-2 and no longer own the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Game ball
Nickell Robey-Coleman: 3 tackles, 1 INT, 2 PBU, 1 TFL
Stat of the game: 3.5
The Rams averaged only 3.5 yards per play. Entering Sunday night, they averaged 6.7 yards per play.
Game notes
Jared Goff is not a cold-weather quarterback. The pressure generated by the Bears played a big role, but he didn’t look comfortable at all Sunday night. He was holding the ball too long, missing open receivers by overthrowing them and his passes simply weren’t sharp. Fortunately, the Rams shouldn’t have to play a cold-weather game unless they face the Bears in the playoffs.
This was by far the offensive line’s worst performance of the season. Granted, it came against a front that features Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks, among others, but there was a litany of issues. Andrew Whitworth had a costly false start in the second quarter, John Sullivan was dominated on the safety and Rodger Saffold didn’t open up any running lanes for Gurley. There were also defenders left unblocked multiple times for some odd reason.
It was a good performance by the defense, all things considered, but the run defense was especially bad. Cory Littleton was wiped out by blocks, Mark Barron was late to read runs and the defensive line was allowing huge holes. Nickell Robey-Coleman, Marcus Peters and the entire secondary played well, picking off three passes and allowing just over 100 yards passing.
The Bears did an outstanding job limiting Aaron Donald on Sunday night. He had just two tackles and no sacks, hitting Trubisky once. It’s a big reason they were able to win this game.
Los Angeles ran only 61 plays and had the ball for 23:11 compared to the Bears’ 36:49 time of possession, which limited the production of the Rams offense.
The Rams’ third-down efficiency was horrendous, converting only three of their 12 attempts, ending drives quickly and leading to three punts, three field goal attempts and three fourth-down tries, one of which was converted on a fake punt.
