reporters preview the BEARS game

from PFT’s Week 10 picks

Mike Florio

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/11/11/pfts-week-10-picks-3/

Bears at Rams

MDS’s take: The Bears are showing that they’re a better team than they appeared early in the season, and Jay Cutler may be able to exploit the Rams’ secondary. But they’re coming off a tough game, a long road trip and a short week, and that’s a bad combination for a defense having to tackle Todd Gurley 20-30 times. Look for the Rams to grind this one out in the fourth quarter.

MDS’s pick: Rams 21, Bears 20.

Florio’s take: The Rams have the better team on both sides of the ball. And if all else fails, they should just funnel the Bears toward the concrete.

Florio’s pick: Rams 20, Bears 16.

At age 32, Cutler enjoying his best season as a Bear

Joe Lyons

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/at-age-cutler-enjoying-his-best-season-as-a-bear/article_38eec698-ce7f-5cc9-8d41-96419134d356.html%5B

No one has ever questioned Jay Cutler’s physical ability to play quarterback in the NFL.

In his 10th season overall and his seventh as the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears, who will take on the Rams Sunday in a noon game at the Edward Jones Dome, Cutler remains an enigma — a gifted player who’s never been consistent enough to be considered among the league’s elite.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Cutler was blessed with a big-league arm that’s helped him set Chicago records for passer rating, completions, attempts, completion percentage, passing yards, passing yards per game, passing touchdowns and 300-yard passing games.

“Jay can make every throw, he’s a gunslinger,” Rams middle linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “You’re going to live and die with his decision-making, but he’s been making a lot better decisions this season. And he’s taken some big hits… I have a lot of respect for him.

“One thing I remember from the last time we faced him in Chicago (in 2012), he’s a lot more athletic than people give him credit for. He can scramble and take off on you and really make some plays with his feet. He’s one of those guys if you let them get comfortable early, it can be a long day, but if you make him uncomfortable, hopefully you can try to affect him.”

For all the physical tools, Cutler has struggled at times with some of the other skills valued at the quarterback position, things like consistency, decision-making under fire and forcing throws into coverage. Monday, in a 22-19 come-from-behind win in San Diego — the 24th game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime during his career — Cutler flashed both sides of his up-and-down play. He completed 68 percent of his passes for 345 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 25-yard TD on a one-handed grab by tight end Zach Miller with 3:19 to play for the win.

But he also lost a fumble and had an interception returned for a touchdown, helping the Chargers build a 13-0 lead.

In the victory, Cutler became the winningest quarterback in Bears’ history, surpassing Jim McMahon and, with the two TD passes, passed Hall of Famer Sid Luckman to become the franchise career leader in scoring passes.

This season, working with offensive coordinator Adam Gase and quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains, Cutler is enjoying his best season as a Bear. In seven games, he’s completing 62.8 percent of his passes for 1,787 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. As importantly, the team has been competitive in all but one of Cutler’s starts.

To Cutler’s credit, he’s played much of the season with less than a full supporting cast. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, who has three straight 100-yard receiving games, missed the previous four contests with a hamstring injury and running back Matt Forte, arguably the best all-purpose back in the NFL, sat out the San Diego game with a knee injury. In addition, Chicago has been forced to shuffle its offensive line all season.

“You kind of have to see who’s going to be ready to go on Saturday and then maybe adjust the game plan a little,’’ Cutler said. “But the guys that’ve stepped in have done a great job for us.’’

John Fox, the Bears’ first-year head coach, likes what he’s seen of Cutler.

“Jay has been great since I’ve gotten here,’’ Fox said in teleconference call with St. Louis media. “He’s been all in. He’s a smart guy (and) it’s important to him. From learning the playbook, to mastering the offense, to now communicating that … He’s been a pleasure and I have great respect for how he goes about it.’’

Throughout his career, Cutler has been a target of criticism, drawing more than his share of the blame for the struggles of a Bears’ club that has gone 8-14 in his starts since he signed a seven-year, $126 million contract prior to the 2014 campaign.

“I don’t get too involved with that,” Cutler, 32, said of the criticism. “I worry about the guys in the locker room and the coaches in the building.”

Taking over a team that lost five in a row to finish 5-11 in 2014, Fox previously enjoyed successful head-coaching stints with the Carolina Panthers (2002-2010) and Denver Broncos (2011-2014), helping each club to the Super Bowl. He took over in Denver the year after Cutler, the Broncos’ first-round draft pick (No. 11 overall) out of Vanderbilt in 2006, was traded to Chicago.

“You never know what to expect. You hear stuff; you file it away,” he said. “I’ve always been of the belief that I don’t like to make pre-judgements. … Jay has been outstanding for us.”

Cutler said he enjoys working with Gase, one of the league’s up-and-coming coordinators. Gase, who worked in the past with former Rams’ coach Mike Martz, spent the last two seasons as Fox’s offensive coordinator in Denver.

“He’s got an extensive background, worked with a lot of good coaches,” Cutler said. “He’s brought a dynamic offense (and) I think he’s done a great job of using all the weapons we have to keep defenses off balance.”

Rams coach Jeff Fisher was coaching the Tennessee Titans when Cutler was finishing up at nearby Vanderbilt.

“I loved Jay,” Fisher told the Chicago media this week. “I mean, we watched him play in our own backyard. We had a private workout … and coached him in the Senior Bowl. It just didn’t work.

“Looking back, I would say that I had the three quarterbacks ranked Cutler, Matt Leinart and Vince Young.”

In that year’s draft, the Titans selected Young, the University of Texas star, at No. 3, with the Cardinals taking USC’s Leinart at No. 10. The Broncos traded up for Cutler at 11. Only Cutler is still in the league.

“Jay’s playing really well,” Fisher said. “They’re doing a good job with Jay and his fundamentals and his technique and he’s playing well.”

The Five Keys To a Rams’ Victory Over Chicago

Bernie Miklasz

http://www.101sports.com/2015/11/13/the-five-keys-to-a-rams-victory-over-chicago/

Other than the turnovers and injuries that have considerable impact in any game, here’s my quick-hit look at five areas that figure to be prominent in determining the Rams’ fate in Sunday’s noon brawl with the visiting Chicago Bears:

1. The Todd Gurley Show: The rookie running back is always paramount in the success of the Rams’ offense; to even mention this seems redundant. But there was a purpose to me being predictable. This will be Gurley’s sixth start. And if you go by the rankings for weighted rushing defense at Football Outsiders, the Bears are the least imposing group to take on Gurley since he moved into the starting lineup. The Bears rank 31st among the 32 teams in adjusted run defense, which accounts for strength of schedule. Using the standard stats, the Bears are 24th in rushing yards per game (121.6) and 27th in average yield per carry (4.63). But here’s the interesting thing about Chicago’s run defense: the Bears actually do a good job of denying big-play runs of 20+ yards. But no NFL rushing defense has been worse than the Bears in preventing successful running plays — which by definition are rushes that gain at least 4 yards.

But opponents have gone for at least 4 yards on 52 percent of their runs vs. Chicago. And only seven NFL teams have been rolled more often than the Bears on runs that net at least 10 yards. The Bears are among the worst defenses in the NFL against first-down runs, allowing nearly 4.8 yards per carry. And the defense doesn’t come up with many negative plays that knock opponents back; the Bears have stuffed only 10 running plays this season — the fewest in the NFL. In other words, teams have just slammed away at Chicago’s defensive front with persistent, physical and powerful runs. Gurley is special because of his ability to break a defense with speed or power. He’s a breakaway threat at any moment — but also thrives at grinding away for the tough yards.

2. A Special Invitation for Nick Foles: For the most part the Rams’ quarterback has been a low-impact performer. And while there are many contributing factors to the league’s dullest passing attack, the good quarterbacks manage to find ways to step up and make plays. Foles has absorbed more total hits than any NFL quarterback this season, and the punishment could be wearing on him. But the Bears’ pass defense is an inviting, attractive target. Chicago has been rifled for a 101.1 passer rating this season, sixth-worst among the 32 teams. The Bears have been air-raided for 17 touchdown passes, and have countered with only four interceptions. And this final stat may prove soothing for Foles: the Bears have only 14 sacks this season. That’s 25th. Foles should have time to throw, and the Bears are awfully loose in their pass coverage. This seems like a good opportunity for a Foles’ warm-up.

3. Want To Do Better on Third Down? Here’s How: By now we’re tired of mentioning that the Rams’ third-down conversion rate, an abysmal 23.7 percent, is the poorest by an NFL team since the statistic became official in 1972. But here’s one way to get around that — come up with more positive results on first and second down. The Rams’ inconsistency and weakness in getting to third down is as much of a problem as executing on third down. Here’s a number that tells us a lot: when the Rams break the huddle and line up for second down, they face an average of 8.68 yards to go for a first down. No NFL team has been in a deeper second-down hole than the Rams this season.

Moreover, their second-down performance is lacking. According to STATS LLC the Rams are ranked last in the NFL in successful second-down plays — picking up 50 percent of the yards needed for a first down only 39 percent of the time. Their second-down rushing log is pretty dismal; the Rams have lost yards 11 times and gained no more than 2 yards on half of their 64 runs. The struggles on first and second down create too many highly unfavorable situations on third down. When the Rams need 6+ yards on third down this season, they’ve converted only 8 of 55 — or 14.5%. And when the Rams have to come up with 10+ yards on third down, they’ve failed 31 times out of 36. (A success rate of 14 percent). We spend a lot of time looking at what the Rams are doing wrong on third down. But speaking for myself, I haven’t paid enough attention to their skimpy production on the first two downs.

4. The Rams Defense Must Rest: Quarterback Jay Cutler and the Bears’ offense do a really effective job of extending possessions. Only three NFL offenses have had more possessions than last 10 plays or longer than the Bears’ 19. They’ve also scored seven touchdowns at the end of these sustained marches — a sign that the opposing defense is tiring along the way. (By the way: the Rams’ have had only only three possessions of 10 plays-plus.) The Bears have hogged the football for a minimum of five minutes on 12 possessions. They just keep moving the chains, steadily and efficiently, with a methodical approach that can make a defense impatient or weary. That’s one huge advantage that the Bears bring to this game; unlike the Rams’ offense the Chicago offense is strong at converting third-down and fourth-down plays, ranking sixth in the NFL at 44.6%.

One reason for the Bears’ extended stays is improved pass protection for Cutler. Previously one of the most hounded NFL quarterbacks, Cutler has been sacked on only 3.9 percent of the team’s passing plays this season. That’s No. 6 in the league at preventing sacks, and the extra security has enhanced Cutler’s play. Well, the Rams’ defense will try to chip away at the wall that shields Cutler, something this sack attack does very well. The Rams are among the NFL’s stingiest at limiting the number of extended drives by opponents. The Rams have forced three-and-outs by opponents on 21 percent of their possessions. The Rams’ defense has been taken for a ride on only eight of those five-minute drives. The Rams’ defense has stayed on the field for plays or more only 12 times. And the Rams are stopping opponents on third down at a rate of 66.2 percent that comes in at fifth best in the rankings. The Chicago offense doesn’t want to give up the ball; the Rams defense doesn’t want to stay on the field. Something has to give, right?

5. Superiority on Special Teams: I’ll keep this one short. I’m tired of typing (wink.) Football Outsiders has a formula for rating the overall, all-around performance of the league’s 32 special-teams units. The Rams come in at No. 10 in those rankings. And the Bears are last at No. 32. So the kicking game could swing in the Rams’ favor.

7 things to watch: Rams vs. Bears
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/things-to-watch-rams-vs-bears/article_d10267dc-b7e2-5b8c-829d-44d3a81c0dd0.html

LITTLE BROTHER, BUT NO BIG BROTHER

A knee injury prevents DE Chris Long from going head-to-head with his younger brother, Bears RT Kyle Long. Instead, it’s veteran William Hayes lining up over Kyle. The two have a history. Two years ago in St. Louis, Hayes got under Kyle’s skin to the point where he shoved Hayes down from behind, then jumped onto Hayes, drawing a penalty. “Kyle’s a little hot-headed, so it’s easy to get to him,” Hayes said, smiling. “Kyle’s a good friend of mine, but he knows come Sunday I’m gonna try my best to get up under skin.”

ALL ALSHON, ALL THE TIME

First-round draft pick Kevin White remains on the PUP list following surgery to repair a stress fracture of the left tibia. Veteran Eddie Royal misses his second straight game with a knee injury. When it comes to wideouts, that leaves the Chicago passing game in the hands of Alshon Jeffery. He’s a big target (6-3, 216) and a master at coming down with contested balls. He has been targeted a whopping 42 times over the past 3 games with 28 catches for 414 yards in those contests, but is questionable with a groin injury.

ROOKIE THREAT

Two-time Pro Bowler Matt Forte is expected to miss his second straight game with a knee injury, but Jeremy Langford proved to be a more than capable replacement Monday against San Diego. The rookie from Michigan State accounted for 142 yards rushing/receiving (and a TD) vs. the Chargers. Whereas Forte is more of a smooth, gliding runner, Langford hits the hole hard, showing good burst and acceleration. Beware of him in the passing game; the Bears already are using him in a variety of ways.

DON’T SLEEP ON JAY

Under new offensive coordinator Adam Gase and QBs coach Dowell Loggains, Jay Cutler is playing more efficient, savvy football and minimizing mistakes. Last season under the previous coaching regime, Cutler had 24 turnovers via either an INT or lost fumble. Midway through this season, he has only seven — although he had his first multiple turnover game of 2015 vs. San Diego with a lost fumble and a “pick 6.” Cutler is getting the ball out quickly against pressure, and still has one of the game’s strongest arms.

KEY MATCHUP

DE Robert Quinn had played in 70 consecutive games before sitting out last week’s Minnesota contest with a knee injury. But Quinn, who has more sacks than all but two NFL players (J.J. Watt and Justin Houston) since the start of the 2012 season, is expected to play this week. He’ll face inexperienced but athletic Bears LT Charles Leno Jr., who has played well enough to hold off veteran Jermon Bushrod. Leno gave up a sack fumble on Chicago’s second possession against San Diego that ended a promising drive.

NO-NAME DEFENSE

Think about all the great players who made Chicago’s defense the Monsters of the Midway over the years. Then look at the Bears’ current defensive lineup. That’s right, there’s a distinctive lack of star power for coordinator Vic Fangio’s unit. And the best performer of the bunch, OLB Pernell McPhee, didn’t practice all week with a knee injury. Chicago switched to a 3-4 this season, Fangio has done a good job of masking weaknesses, and the Bears come to town ranked 9th in total defense.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS?

Rams special teams have only one return TD this year, and that came all the way back in the season opener against Seattle. Similarly, they haven’t had a kickoff return go longer than 39 yards in 2015. And now come the Bears, who have allowed three return touchdowns this year — two on kickoff returns and one via punt return. Chicago ranks 31st in kickoff coverage, yielding nearly 30 yards per return, and is 27th in punt coverage, yielding 11.2 yards per return. Tavon Austin, Benny Cunningham — you’re up.