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1-3 Rams short-handed enough without shooting themselves in the foot

Jourdan Rodrigue

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5803664/2024/09/29/rams-mistakes-loss-bears-matthew-stafford/?source=emp_shared_article

CHICAGO — The Los Angeles Rams already entered Week 4 without their two star receivers, and their starting guard or center, and one of their starting cornerbacks. They already had the second-worst overall defensive DVOA, the third-worst run defense and were allowing the fourth-most explosive passing plays through their first three games — though that has all combined with some positive flashes against the run and definite reason for optimism in their pass rush.

They were already banged up, more depleted than most heading into their third road game in four weeks Sunday afternoon at Chicago.

Did they need to shoot themselves in the foot, too?

Stalled drives in or just outside the red zone were the first sign of trouble. The Rams opened the game 0-for-3 in the red zone. Quarterback Matthew Stafford and the offense got to the Chicago 30-yard line on the 10th play of a well-balanced drive that had to that point taken almost seven minutes off the clock. But Stafford was sacked for an 8-yard loss on that first down and could make up only 11 of the yards needed for a conversion (two run plays for 6 and 5 yards) before settling for a 46-yard field goal. Early in the second quarter, Stafford and the offense were all the way down at Chicago’s 18-yard line with a third-and-3. Stafford threw a pass almost directly to Bears safety Jaquan Brisker despite intended receiver Colby Parkinson having stepped out of bounds. Brisker, officials ruled, had also stepped out and had failed to re-establish himself inbounds before catching the pick. Again, the Rams settled for a field goal.

“For us to only have six points after the way that guys were able to move the football, we have to do a better job once we get into striking distance of finishing drives with touchdowns,” Rams coach Sean McVay said. “There was certainly some sequencing and some things like that where you want to put guys in better spots, so I’ll always look at myself first and foremost on that. For us to be able to move the football as well as we did (then) to get into those situations, they tightened up. Some of it was where I definitely, I’ve got to do a better job of it. And there are times where we can execute collectively better just in terms of our overall techniques, fundamentals and ability to fight through the down based on what the defense presents.”

I asked Stafford postgame — with the understanding that each game is unique — whether continued issues finishing drives with touchdowns would cause a team to revisit its strategy there. The Rams were No. 21 in the NFL in red zone tries ending with touchdowns before Sunday. They finished the game 1-for-4 in red zone efficiency.

“No, it’s just execution,” he said. “I think (the) field gets smaller, windows get tighter, blocking assignments (and) all that kind of stuff — just everything condenses down. You’ve got to be that much better.”

The Bears, who not only entered the game with job security questions swirling around offensive coordinator Shane Waldron after having previously failed to establish a run game or score points but whose offense also got booed after failed drives through the first quarter, had to make up only six points. They did that and then some, taking a 10-9 lead before halftime.

More self-inflicted errors and bad luck compounded for the Rams through the rest of the second quarter and evaporated their lead:

• Two downfield holding calls (Tre White, Kam Curl) gave the Bears two of their only four first downs to that point and also nullified two sacks, 1 1/2 of which belonged to rookie outside linebacker Jared Verse.

“The players know what the truth is,” McVay said. “They had penalties that allowed them to be able to sustain drives. They had a penalty that allowed them to be on the 1-yard line (when) it looked like we were going to do a good job in a sudden-change situation. We have to play with the right techniques and fundamentals to avoid those calls.”

Still, the Rams defense eventually got a stop on the drive. Defensive tackle Braden Fiske sacked Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams on third down and forced a fumble. Chicago recovered but had to punt.

• Stafford was sacked by Montez Sweat on the very next play and fumbled, and defensive back Kyler Gordon recovered it at the Rams’ 16-yard line. McVay believed it was an avoidable error that Stafford even got hit.

“We didn’t execute a protection that led to the sack that Sweat got,” said McVay angrily. “I mean, that should not occur on that protection. That’s something that just can’t happen, and it did, and it led to a turnover that ended up really being a key factor in the difference in the outcome.”

• The defense held Williams and the Bears to just 1 combined yard on the next two plays, but White was flagged for pass interference on the third-and-9 pass (which was incomplete).

With a fresh set of downs at the goal line, the Bears brought in extra blocking and larger back Roschon Johnson to punch in the 1-yard touchdown and take the 7-6 lead. The Rams never regained it.

Afterward, White stayed on the field and appeared to try to get an explanation from one of the officials about what he saw. White’s penalties led to the Bears later clearly targeting him, lining up in a four-receiver set on one side and isolating another single receiver against White on the other side of the formation, then throwing at him (the pass was incomplete).

• The Rams got to the Chicago 15-yard line on their next possession, but receiver Tutu Atwell was flagged for pass interference on second-and-5. McVay called two pass plays on the resulting second- and then third-and-15 (then from the Chicago 25-yard line), but both were incomplete, and kicker Josh Karty missed a 43-yard field goal wide left, his first miss of the season.

“It looked like we ended up having to kick the laces on the missed field goal,” McVay said.

I asked long snapper Alex Ward about this postgame.

“Bad spiral, didn’t come off my hands right,” he said. “And then the laces didn’t get around. Ethan (Evans, the Rams’ punter) saved them as much as he could, but when the laces aren’t dead-straight, the ball pulls whichever way the laces are. The laces were with the wind direction. The wind was going left, and the laces were left. He hit it inside the left upright but it curved out because of both of those things.”

• After a Bears field goal (10-6), the Rams again drove downfield as the third quarter began only to stall in the red zone. The drive opened with five runs and two passes (including a screen). Running back Kyren Williams converted a third-and-1 at the Chicago 11-yard line. Stafford’s next three passes, all from the 9-yard line, were incomplete and the offense settled for another field goal (10-9).

The Rams had held Chicago’s offense to 97 net yards in the first half, but in the third quarter, Williams and an emerging run and screen/short passing game moved the ball. The Bears capped the 12-play, 74-yard scoring drive with a touchdown pass to DJ Moore, with inside linebacker Christian Rozeboom in coverage — not an ideal matchup, and one due to either the play call or on-field error.

The Bears also had 43 rushing yards at halftime but finished with 131 — the longest of which was a 36-yard D’Andre Swift touchdown in the fourth quarter. That touchdown happened just six plays after the Rams finally scored their first touchdown of the day, a 3-yard run by Williams as the fourth quarter began. McVay called for the two-point conversion try, but the play was a low-probability fade that Stafford threw incomplete.

Swift finished the game with 93 yards on 16 carries (5.8 yards per carry).

“I thought we did a really good job throughout the course of the game, and then the key drive that we had to have (they) ended up popping a long one, Swift ended up scoring from 36 yards out,” McVay said. “Those count, too, those big ones, those explosives (end) up being the difference in football games, and we’ve got to continue to try to limit those and create them on the offensive side of the ball.”

A 52-yard Karty field goal brought the Rams within a touchdown with 8:47 left in the fourth quarter, and the Rams got the stop they needed when safety Quentin Lake was sent as an extra pass rusher on third-and-7 and sacked Williams. But Stafford and the Rams went three-and-out, pinned at their 8-yard line when the drive began courtesy of a 66-yard punt by Chicago’s Tory Taylor that took a favorable bounce out of bounds.

It wasn’t just the field position. That series also stalled due to errors and/or strategy. Williams was bottled up for a 1-yard loss on a stretch run, and the Rams faced a second-and-11 from their own 7. Williams had a hole up the right side but tripped and fell to the grass and gained only 4 yards. Stafford had to quick-pass on a long third down, instead of keep a full pass and run menu available to him (a conversion or bigger gain would have opened up more passing room and kept the full run menu available versus having to make up more yardage with a pass, yet still avoid pressure).

“That’s why I’m so upset right now,” said Williams. “That inside zone, that was me. I just got to pick my freakin’ feet up and run. I probably got too ahead of myself, honestly, and that’s something that is eating at me right now. That’s something where (if) I get a first down, the drive would have stayed alive. … It’s tough. I just gotta be able to be better next time.”

Even then the Rams had a shot. Stafford had the ball in his hands with about a minute left to play. He threw an interception while taking a hit (that could have feasibly been called for roughing the passer, but wasn’t). Even if he had gotten that call, the offense showed few signs it could drive the length of the field and score a touchdown, which is what it needed to win.

The Rams started the year in a hole that was largely not of their own creation. Sunday, they dug themselves deeper.