Los Angeles Rams versus Chicago Bears: Game notes

Playing in an absolutely pivotal matchup, the Los Angeles Rams were able to defeat the Chicago Bears by a score of 17-7 in Week 11. The win ultimately kept the Rams’ season alive and effectively ended any hope the Bears might’ve had.

Let’s get into my observations:

• Head Coach Sean McVay completely adjusted his offensive gameplan and scheme. The Rams have known to be a zone-blocking based run game, with the remainder of the offense working off of the outside zone rush. In Week 11, the Rams completely tossed it out of the window as they ran zone only three times in the entire game, with two coming right near the end of the contest. The Rams ran a man-blocking based run game, incorporating a ton of duo/combo blocks, power, counters, draws, and pin-and-pull’s. Here’s an example of a duo and of a counter:

Duo:

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Counter:

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• Not only did the Rams completely switch their style of run, they also changed up the formations in which they ran. For the first time this season they had a handful of runs from shotgun, I-Form, and condensed formations where WR Cooper Kupp lined up tight
• Evaluating the new offensive line was tough, simply because McVay did a great job of scheming them as much help as possible. You can see a lot of changing the release point for QB Jared Goff, lots of TE chips, double teams from offensive lineman, and just not a lot of traditional dropping back and regularly scheduled passing plays
• Building on the point above, you can see just how much attention the Rams gave to EDGE Khalil Mack, and with good reason:

• Something interesting to note: rookie CB David Long Jr. received plenty of playing time in this contest. In the first half, he regularly subbed on for S Taylor Rapp on third downs, but in the second half he simply played at random points throughout the game

• The pass rush was pretty much non-existent in the first half. It didn’t get much better in the second half, though DT Aaron Donald did have a handful of productive rushes and ultimately scooped up two sacks
• CB Jalen Ramsey was outstanding. He was shutdown in coverage all night. You can see the communication between he and CB Troy Hill on this rep:

• The run defense is becoming an elite unit. DT’s Michael Brockers, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Donald, EDGE Clay Matthews, and the aforementioned Rapp were all fantastic and instrumental in containing the rushing attack of the Bears
• ILB Troy Reeder hardly plays anymore, and that’s a good thing
• The one issue with leaving so many guys in to protect Goff was that the Rams ran a lot of 2-man route combos with a running back releasing into the flat as a checkdown, but it’s easy to cover only two guys and the Bears did a solid job throughout most of the game in those scenarios

That’s all for this week. If you’ve got any interesting observations, comments, or concerns, feel free to share them in the comments. See you guys next week when the Baltimore Ravens come to town to face the Rams.