Rams-Bears recap: LA defense holds Chicago offense out of end zone for another dominant win

The Los Angeles Rams beat the Chicago Bears 24-10 on Monday Night Football, improving their record to 5-2 and keeping within striking distance of first place in the ultra-competitive NFC West. The Bears played the part of an offense that came into the game ranking 27th in points scored and the Rams responded with a defense that ranks third in points allowed.

Both teams have the same record, but Los Angeles made a strong statement that they are every bit as good as their five wins indicate. The Rams are within a half-game of first place of the 5-1 Seattle Seahawks and tied for second place with the Arizona Cardinals. And there’s no one player to thank for this victory, it was an absolute team effort.

Jared Goff threw two touchdowns — double the number of passing touchdowns that Rams quarterbacks had against Chicago over their previous seven meetings — and no interceptions, though he did have struggles with accuracy for the second game in a row. He wasn’t carried by the usual suspects either as LA was led in receiving yards Josh Reynolds, who had four catches for 52 yards, and he was followed by Johnny Mundt, who saw increased playing time because Tyler Higbee was inactive with a hand injury.

Robert Woods wasn’t targeted often in the passing game but did have a season-long run of 25 yards. However, he did also have a fumble that directly led to the Bears only touchdown of the night.

Nearly everything else went in the Rams favor.

Chicago’s offense was held to 279 yards, the third time in the last four weeks that Los Angeles has held an opponent under 300 total yards. Former Rams quarterback Nick Foles went 28 of 40 for 261 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions; one by Taylor Rapp on an end zone pass defensed by Troy Hill and the other on a sideline grab from Jalen Ramsey in the fourth quarter that put the Bears’ comeback hopes to bed. Foles was also sacked four times, including two by former Chicago linebacker Leonard Floyd.

The Bears threw for more yards than LA but Malcolm Brown and Darrell Henderson combined to run the ball 25 times for 121 yards and a touchdown and I really do mean “combined.” Both were utilized often and made key plays while rookie Cam Akers was rarely seen for the second game in a row.

That was not the case for all of LA’s rookie class.

Second rounder Van Jefferson made his best grab since Week 2, though he wasn’t targeted a second time; Terrell Burgess had two third down stops in the first half; Terrell Lewis made a tackle for a loss on fourth and 1 to give the Rams the ball deep in Chicago territory.

Unfortunately, Burgess was also carted off the field with a knee injury that appeared to be serious.

Micah Kiser led the team with eight tackles, while Taylor Rapp, Michael Brockers and Hill each had seven. It was Ramsey’s first interception since the 2019 finale against the 49ers. Aaron Donald improved his sack total from 7.5 to 8, which trails Myles Garrett for the league lead by one.

The Rams next travel to face the 3-3 Miami Dolphins, a team coming off of their bye week, which followed winning three of their last four games. Among those wins: a 43-17 victory over the San Francisco team that did not struggle against LA a week ago. It would be a tough win for the Rams, but the NFC West won’t be won by a team that isn’t considered “tough.”

That was certainly how the Bears felt about the Rams on Monday.