The Chicago Bears’ defense knew it had a monumental task ahead: stopping the No. 1 offense in football, the Los Angeles Rams. Despite facing Sean McVay’s unit that featured a quarterback having an MVP season in Matthew Stafford, the second-leading receiver in yards in Puka Nacua, and a diverse rushing attack led by Kyrien Williams, Chicago’s defense held its own.
In the 20-17 loss to the Rams in overtime, Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s unit limited Stafford to zero touchdown passes. Nacua led the team with just 56 receiving yards, and the Rams finished with 31 rushes for 111 yards, 3.6 yards per carry, and two touchdowns. Los Angeles finished with 340 yards of total offense.
McVay’s unit averaged 30.5 points per game and 402.2 total yards in the regular season, but the high-powered offense was a shell of itself in the frigid cold at Soldier Field. Bears head coach Ben Johnson will have plenty of details about this game that will frustrate him, but not capitalizing on the defense’s performance will be at the forefront of his mind.
“That's part of the shame,” Johnson told reporters after the game. “Our defense played their tails off. They did. I thought they did a great job. That's the number one offense in football, both yards and points, and I thought Dennis and the defensive coaching staff, they had a great plan. They got weapons all over the place on the perimeter, but also that running game is very efficient, and it can wear on you. They pose a lot of problems, and yet our guys did a nice job taking the plan, bringing it to life. I thought they played with great emotion. I thought they played hard throughout that game, and they certainly had us in it the whole time.”
Ben Johnson was happy about the defense's performance in the loss
Allen’s defense forced eight punts in the game, and four of them were three-and-outs, including the Rams’ first possession in overtime.
But the Bears couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity. Caleb Williams was intercepted for the third time while trying to target DJ Moore on a crossing route. The Bears’ quarterback said after the game that there was “miscommunication” between him and Moore. Los Angeles took that takeaway and drove 54 yards in 10 plays to kick the game-winning field goal.
The one statistic that didn’t show up for Allen’s defense was a takeaway. There were several chances, but the Rams’ defense forced three, and that made a major difference in the game.
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With the Bears’ season officially over, inevitable changes will occur on the team. How the defense performed, though, should give Bears fans optimism about what this defense can look like when healthy, and that should only elevate the expectations for Johnson’s team in Year 2.