Dhruv Koul shares his in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the Bears-Rams game at SoFi Stadium. Follow him on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Coming into tonight’s prime time matchup against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football, the Chicago Bears were in a unique spot. Thanks to Arizona’s wild takedown of Seattle last night, the Bears had a chance to seize the lead of the entire NFC. The Bears!
What a ridiculous game. Crazy win for Arizona.
If the Bears win tomorrow night, they’re the first seed in the NFC.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 26, 2020
Why? Due to their pristine conference record. Their only loss to date was to the Indianapolis Colts, and AFC team, which is further down the list of tiebreakers to consider. So a win tonight would’ve kept them ahead of Green Bay and Seattle. Here was my pregame thread:
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Thread: A few thoughts on tonight's Bears-Rams game.
1. I watched every Rams game. Overall, they're flat-out unimpressive. Then again, some argue the Bears are, too. Two good defenses. Two "win-with if the setup is right" QBs. Two great head coaches. Similar teams.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 26, 2020
This stretch of games for the Bears will certainly define their season: @ Rams, vs. Saints, @ Titans, vs. Vikings, BYE, and then @ Packers. Whew. A win tonight would really start this stretch off in the right direction.
In the end, the Bears got absolutely demolished on both sides of the ball, calling into question a lot about this team’s reality…
I shared my in-game reactions, thoughts and observations from the game below. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Thoughts and Observations
1. Good news for the Bears before the snap: CB Buster Skrine is active. That was a worrisome storyline this week, but he’ll play. Sherrick McManis being out with an injury, though, is suboptimal for the Bears’ special teams unit that really misses his leadership and ability at times.
Artavis Pierce had been active the last couple games, so this is interesting.
The best news, though, is that Buster Skrine is active and will play. That's huge for the Bears in defending against Cooper Kupp. https://t.co/pwnf7vV1h6
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 26, 2020
2. This first half has belonged to Sean McVay and Brandon Staley. They’ve had the Bears’ offense and defense off balance all night.
3. The Bears’ OL continues to be a total liability. Germain Ifedi’s holding killed the first drive, and Rashaad Coward’s false start killed a 4th down pick up. It’s unconscionable how much this OL holds back the Bears’ offense.
Hahahahahaha, Rashaad Coward. Worthless.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 27, 2020
4. I’ve never seen Matt Nagy coach this… scared. Not calling a timeout on 4th and long at the end of the first half to at least see what happens is extremely surprising. Bad snap? Big return? Anything could happen with time running out. Strange.
5. At halftime, the Bears are down 10-3. The offense has been close to useless. The defense has really battled despite being overmatched so far by Sean McVay and the Rams’ offense. They’re making use of the running game and bootlegs/rollouts brilliantly.
The defense is exhausted. Rams can run away with this in the second half.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 27, 2020
It’s felt like a shellacking, but:
The Bears are down seven at halftime. Seven. It feels like 20.
I’m challenging the offense to do something. Anything. Any little thing will do.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 27, 2020
6. It’s the second half and the Bears are getting railroaded again. The Rams went up 17-3 by bullying the Bears on the ground, and then Foles took the Bears down the field in response, only to get picked in the end zone.
Picked. My god.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 27, 2020
That might be game.
7. The Bears are getting embarrassed on national television tonight, frankly, on offense and defense. The Rams look more energetic and the Bears are beating themselves.
What else is new?
8. Cody Whitehair to the locker room with an injury? Lovely!
9. 4th and 1 and a pitch to Patterson? Blown up for a loss of 3 on their own side of the field.
I’ve got nothing. It might be time for Matt Nagy to hand over the play-calling reins to Bill Lazor. (Yeah, I finally got there.)
Yeah, I’m good with Matt Nagy giving up the playbook.
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 27, 2020
Time to flush this game. All that matters is how they respond against New Orleans. It’ll be a telling game for Matt Nagy and his standing with the defensive players, too. https://t.co/bO3OsKx0Zi
— Dhruv Koul (@DhruvKoul) October 27, 2020
10. The Bears are now 5-2 with two beatdowns for their losses. Chicago is still very much in the playoff race, but they’ve lost the tiebreaker to the Rams now and their brutal stretch of games looks even rougher than it did before the night started.
The New Orleans Saints come to Chicago next weekend — a team that destroyed the Bears at Soldier Field last year without Alvin Kamara. After tonight’s beatdown by LA, how will the Bears respond? My guess, not well.
Early prediction: Saints 41, Bears 13.
