Though you'd never know it from the final score, this was the best game of the season from the St. Louis Rams defense. They were on pace to keep the Chicago Bears under 20 points, and the final score would have reflected that except for a fourth-quarter pick six from Sam Bradford.
The defense allowed just 272 total yards, and an average of just 3 yards per carry on Chicago's 34 rushing attempts. That will significantly bring down what had been the highest yards per carry average, 5.5, allowed through the first two games.
Chris Long picked up his first two sacks of the year, and had two tackles for a loss and three quarterback hits. Cortland Finnegan had his third interception in as many games.
If only the offense could have done anything to help matters. The offensive line struggled, allowing six sacks on Sam Bradford. Receivers were consistently unable to get open, and when they did, they didn't make plays or flat out dropped the ball, like Brandon Gibson. The running game was tossed aside, despite the troubles in pass protection and the need to get the defense off the field for a breather.
Nevertheless, the Rams are a team slowly but surely pulling themselves up by the bootstraps. As lopsided as the numbers were, it was a one possession game into the fourth quarter.
Have a look back at some of the highlights from game and some fine photography.