The Los Angeles Rams will travel east this week and play in the early game slate to take on the Chicago Bears in Week 4. After a comeback win against the San Francisco 49ers last week, the Rams will be looking to build off of that and get back to .500. The Rams haven’t won in Chicago since 2003 and McVay’s worst game as a head coach came at Soldier Field in 2018. Here are five keys to victory for the Rams Week 4 game against the Bears.
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1. Pressure Caleb Williams and finish plays
This game has the potential to be a breakout for Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, and Kobie Turner. However, they have to be able to finish plays. The Rams defense struggled to wrap up opposing quarterbacks over the last two weeks and Williams will provide much of the same challenge.
This season, the Bears offensive line has been one of the worst units in the NFL. Williams took seven sacks last week and has been pressured on 35.8 percent of his dropbacks. When under pressure this season, Williams has an EPA per dropback of -0.96 which is the fifth-worst in the NFL ahead of only Bo Nix, Will Levis, TuA Tagovailoa, and Bryce Young. With his hero ball mentality, Williams can be forced into inconsistent decisions and mistakes. The interior of the Bears offensive line has been a huge weak point. Players like Fiske and Turner need to be able to take advantage.
2. Find the layups on offense
Head coach Sean McVay was able to adjust the offensive game plan last week against the San Francisco 49ers and it paid off. The offense found lay-ups with 12 personnel and play-action to marry the run and pass together. However, those same lay-ups may not work against the Bears. If the Rams try to go 12 personnel, the Bears will match in base. This season, the Bears have allowed 2.4 yards per play and -0.48 EPA per play out of their base personnel which leads the NFL. The Rams were also play-action heavy last week. Through three weeks, the Bears defense has allowed -0/46 EPA per pass out of play action which also leads the NFL.
The Bears have also defended well out of nickel which means 11 personnel also isn’t the definite answer. McVay needs to find the lay-ups so that the offense can remain on schedule. Those lay-ups may be WR screens, jet sweeps, and back to McVay’s bread and butter which is the wide zone. On 37 runs outside the tackles this season, the Bears have allowed 5.9 rushing yards per play which is the fourth most in the NFL. They’ve also allowed the third most yards after contact on such plays.
3. Don’t kickstart to the Bears running game
The Bears running game has been one of the worst to start the year. They signed D’Andre Swift in the offseason and he’s averaged just 1.8 yards per attempt. The Bears are getting stuffed at a rate of 22.2 percent and they have a rushing success rate of 33.3 percent which is the sixth-worst. After asking Caleb Williams to run a dropback offense in the first two weeks, the Bears focused ion the run game against the Colts and running play action off of that. Last week, 25 percent of Williams’ dropbacks came out of play-action which was a season-high.
At times this season, the Rams defense has struggled to stop the run. They can’t be what kick starts the Bears running game and make life easier for Williams. If the Bears are able to get the run game going, they can start running quick-game and getting Williams on the move to get him into a rhythm. The Rams defense needs to put a stop to the run game early and force Williams to feel like he has to do everything.
4. Protect Matthew Stafford
This one seems obvious, but the difference in this game could be how each team’s offensive line interior performs. The Bears have pressured opposing quarterbacks at a rate of 36 percent this season. Gervon Dexter leads Bears defensive linemen with seven pressures. Andrew Billings has a pressure rate of 14.3 percent as well. DeMarcus Walker and Montez Sweat also have an ability to get to the quarterback. Walker will occasionally move inside on passing downs to get a better matchup.
The Bears defensive front has the potential to blow up an offensive game plan. Players like Logan Bruss and Beaux Limmer are going to have to step and keep the pocket clean for Stafford. They played respectably last week, but the Bears front will provide a different kind of challenge.
5. Be ready to win ugly
There’s a really good chance that this ends up being an ugly game on the road. The Bears defense has been one of the best in the NFL through three weeks. While the offense hasn’t been anything to write home about, the Bears have held two of their three opponents to under 20 points. The Colts only had 14 points through three quarters last week before a late Jonathan Taylor touchdown.
This could end up being a game where the Rams are relying on the defense to get stops or make a play and create a turnover. There is going to be a lot of pressure on this defense that’s been gashed much of the last two weeks. From an offensive side of things, nothing is going to come easy. However, when the opportunities for an explosive play come, the Rams need to take advantage. The Bears have allowed the third-most rushes of 10+ yards and sixth-most explosive plays.
