Category: Latest Rams news

This stat shows how great Rams’ offensive line was vs. Bears

Jared Goff faced the lowest pressure rate of his career on Sunday.

Jared Goff has taken a beating this season, playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in football. Entering Week 11, he had been blitzed 121 times (5th-most in the NFL), hurried 35 times (8th) and hit 30 times (6th).

The poor play by the Rams’ offensive line has really held the offense back this year, but on Sunday night against the Bears, it had its best game of the season.

It just so happens that this performance by the O-line came with only one Week 1 starter at his usual position on the field: Andrew Whitworth.

Austin Blythe slid over to center in place of Brian Allen, Bobby Evans stepped in at right tackle for Rob Havenstein and Austin Corbett got the start at left guard. David Edwards lined up at right guard and Whitworth assumed his place at left tackle.

Goff was only pressured once on his 18 dropbacks, which is a pressure rate of 6%. That’s the lowest he’s faced in his career, which says a lot considering it came against Khalil Mack and the Bears’ defensive front.

That passing chart still isn’t pretty, but it’s good to see the offensive line playing better – especially under those circumstances. It helps that the Rams used more 12 personnel and put two tight ends on the field throughout the game, but the offensive line did a great job regardless.

They helped pave the way for Todd Gurley’s 97 yards rushing, and Goff also wasn’t sacked once. Evans did an especially good job at right tackle, while Edwards was equally good at right tackle. Corbett deserves some praise for taking over a starting role after about a month with the team, playing well in his first start.

This is a positive step for an offensive line that featured a lot of new faces, and it’s something for the team to build on.

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Sean McVay unsure when Robert Woods will be back with Rams

Sean McVay didn’t have much of an update on Robert Woods’ situation after the Rams’ win.

The Los Angeles Rams delivered some surprising news just 90 minutes before kickoff on Sunday night when they announced that Robert Woods would be inactive against the Bears. It wasn’t initially clear whether he suffered an injury at some point this weekend or exactly why he wouldn’t be suiting up, but it was revealed that he’s dealing with a personal matter.

It was a big loss for the Rams, but they were still able to come away with the 17-7 win at home. According to Sean McVay, the team didn’t know until “a couple hours before the game” that Woods wouldn’t be available.

He wouldn’t elaborate on what exactly Woods is tending to, saying he doesn’t know when the receiver will be back with the team.

“Yeah, it’s hard to say,” McVay said of when Woods will return. “I don’t want to give a finite answer on that. I most importantly want to be able to talk to him afterwards. I talked to him before the game, but want to be able to check with him and out of respect for his family, that’s why we’re just kind of leaving it at what it is.”

Woods has been the Rams’ most consistent receiver the last three seasons, playing a key role on offense. He’s not only a reliable pass catcher, but also the Rams’ best blocking wideout, leading the way for Todd Gurley countless times on the edge.

McVay should have more of an update this week as it pertains to Woods’ situation, but it’s clear the team is behind him during this time and supports him completely.

“It was a personal matter. That’s all we are going to say about that,” he said. “We love him, respect him, we are with him and his family all the way and that’s really where we will leave that at.”

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Rams shut down Bears, hold on for 17-7 win: Instant analysis from Week 11

It wasn’t pretty, but the Rams moved to 6-4 on the year with a 10-point win over Chicago.

The margin for error in Los Angeles has become razor-thin for the Rams, and they needed a win in the worst way on Sunday night. They got exactly that, beating the Chicago Bears 17-7 at the Coliseum.

It wasn’t pretty, and it certainly wasn’t a shootout by any means, but the Rams got their sixth win of the year. They move to 6-4 on the season, keeping pace with the Vikings and 49ers, who won earlier on Sunday.

The Rams had just 283 yards of total offense, and Jared Goff struggled throughout the night, but Todd Gurley had a big impact and helped lift the team to victory. The defense was a big part of the win, holding Chicago to 267 yards and 6-for-17 on third down.

Player of the game: Todd Gurley

Gurley had his most productive game of the year, gaining more than 100 yards from scrimmage and setting a season-high with 28 touches. He was the only consistent player on offense in a game where neither team had much success.

Stat to know: 3.6

The Rams held the Bears to just 3.6 yards per play on Sunday night, limiting them to only 267 yards of total offense on 74 plays.

Game notes

  • The Bears defense is good, but there’s still something off with the Rams offense. Jared Goff simply isn’t playing well right now and it’s really holding the team back. Sean McVay opted to lean heavily on the run, which was the only part of the offense that worked, but it also limited the number of big plays Los Angeles could produce.
  • Goff finished the game only throwing it 18 times, completing 11 of those passes for 173 yards. He had zero touchdowns and one interception with a passer rating of 69.9. He should’ve had two touchdowns, but Cooper Kupp fumbled it at the 1-yard line and a 51-yard TD pass to Josh Reynolds was taken off the board due to a penalty.
  • Without Robert Woods, the Rams had to change things up with their personnel. They utilized a lot of 12 personnel, putting two tight ends on the field at the same time very often – especially early in the game.
  • Gerald Everett didn’t play much in this one, and even when he was on the field, he didn’t have much of an impact on the game. He was only targeted once and made a 20-yard grab, but he played his fewest snaps of the season. It’s unclear why that is, but Everett was limited in practice with a wrist injury this past week.
  • Gurley finally got going, being featured heavily on offense. The Rams were atrocious on third down, which caused drives to stall, but Gurley played well. He went over 100 yards from scrimmage and scored one touchdown, essentially carrying the Rams offense to victory. On a night where Goff was subpar, Gurley stepped up in a big way.
  • Jalen Ramsey had his best performance of the season as a member of the Rams. He covered Allen Robinson for much of the night, and the Bears wideout only had four catches for 15 yards. Troy Hill was also effective, making six tackles with one interception and a sack.
  • The Bears had almost no answer for Aaron Donald, as is the case for most offensive lines. He had two sacks, two tackles for loss and four quarterback hits in the game.

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Watch: Blake Bortles makes nice sideline catch and Twitter loves it

Twitter loved the catch Blake Bortles made on the sideline

Sean McVay designed a play specifically for Blake Bortles last week against the Steelers, getting him on the field for a key third-down read-option. It didn’t work, but perhaps McVay put him in the wrong position.

Maybe he belongs at wide receiver.

During Sunday night’s game against the Bears, Bortles made a nice sideline catch on a throw-away by Jared Goff. He made it look easy, too.

Twitter saw Bortles’ grab and absolutely loved it, calling for McVay to put No. 5 on the field.

 

Watch: Todd Gurley scores TD after Cooper Kupp gets lucky with fumble

Todd Gurley scored his 64th career touchdown Sunday.

Cooper Kupp was on the verge of going six straight quarters without catching a single pass, but he broke through in the second quarter for his first grab since Week 8. On a crucial third-and-6 – right after Kupp was called for a false start – Jared Goff hit him deep down the left side for a 50-yard gain.

It appeared Kupp got into the end zone for a touchdown, and it was ruled as so initially, but after review, the play was overturned.

It was ruled that Kupp fumbled it at the 1-yard line, just as he stepped out of bounds near the pylon. He’s fortunate the ball didn’t go another few inches to the right and through the end zone, which would’ve been a touchback.

After the Rams took over at the 1, Todd Gurley punched it in for the touchdown to give the Rams a 10-0 lead over the Bears

It was Gurley’s 64th career touchdown, which pushed him past Jim Brown, Walter Payton and Maurice Jones-Drew for the second-most ever before a player’s 26th birthday.

Todd Gurley reaches 5,000 career rushing yards, 6th Rams RB ever

Todd Gurley hit a milestone against the Bears.

Todd Gurley’s career got off to an outstanding start, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and making the Pro Bowl in 2015 despite only starting 12 games. His production took a dip in 2016 under Jeff Fisher, but he got back on track in 2017 and 2018 with back-to-back All-Pro seasons.

As much as he’s struggled this season, he still reached 5,000 career rushing yards before turning 26. He did so on Sunday night against the Bears, becoming the sixth Rams player ever to reach that number.

The others are Steven Jackson (10,138 yards), Eric Dickerson (7,245), Marshall Faulk (6,959), Lawrence McCutcheon (6,186) and Dick Bass (5,417).

Gurley got off to a hot start against the Bears, rushing for 42 yards in the first quarter alone after fumbling it on his first carry.

With Robert Woods out, Rams must get RBs involved in passing game

The Rams should utilize Todd Gurley and Darrell Henderson as receivers with Robert Woods out.

The Los Angeles Rams will be without two of their three starting wide receivers on Sunday night against the Bears. Brandin Cooks is out with a concussion, while Robert Woods is inactive and not at the Coliseum as he deals with a personal issue.

That leaves Cooper Kupp as the only starter who is active against Chicago, which complicates things dramatically for the Rams. He’ll start alongside Josh Reynolds, but the Rams utilize three wide receivers on the field at a time more than any other team in the league.

That creates some confusion with the game plan, because the only other receivers who could step up are Mike Thomas, JoJo Natson and the recently promoted Nsimba Webster. It’s hard to imagine any of those three players having a big impact on the game, though.

With Woods out, the Rams must get their running backs involved in the passing game – and that doesn’t just mean Todd Gurley.

Jared Goff has targeted his running backs on just 10% of the Rams’ passing plays, which is the second-lowest total in the NFL. That should change tonight. Sean McVay has to call screens and designed plays to go to the RBs in the passing game, which should help make up for Woods’ absence.

Obviously, the tight ends should be more involved, too, as both Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett are active after battling injuries during the week of practice. However, this should be the game where Gurley and Darrell Henderson break out as receivers.

Gurley’s hands haven’t been reliable, and Henderson has only been targeted six times (four catches), but they have a better chance of impacting this game than Natson, Webster and Thomas.

Rams Week 11 inactives: Robert Woods (personal) out vs. Bears

Robert Woods is inactive against the Bears, leaving Cooper Kupp as the only starting wide receiver who’s active.

The Los Angeles Rams will need all hands on deck against the Bears on Sunday night with several players battling injuries. They’re already without Rob Havenstein (knee) and Brandin Cooks (concussion), who were ruled out earlier in the week, while Brian Allen (knee) is out for the year, too.

Robert Woods is a shocking scratch for Sunday night, as he will be inactive. He was healthy all week and did not appear on the injury report, so this came out of nowhere. That leaves Cooper Kupp as the only starting wide receiver who is active against the Bears.

According to the team, Woods is not at the Coliseum for the game and is dealing with a personal issue.

It’s worth noting that the Rams did add Nsimba Webster to the 53-man roster on Saturday, waiving John Kelly to make room for him. Perhaps the Rams knew Woods wouldn’t be able to play on Sunday, and they didn’t need to disclose anything since the final injury report came out on Friday.

On the bright side, both Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett are active for Sunday’s game against Chicago, as is Austin Blythe. Blythe and Kupp came down with a stomach bug on Friday and weren’t certain to play, though Sean McVay expected them to.

For the Bears, running back David Montgomery is also active. He was said to be a game-time decision and he’s healthy enough to play against the Rams.

Broncos fail to help Rams in NFC, blow 20-point lead to Vikings

The Rams could’ve used a loss by the Vikings, but Denver blew a 20-point lead.

Aside from their own, there wasn’t a more important game for the Rams’ playoff hopes than Broncos-Vikings this weekend. The Vikings held a 1.5-game lead over the Rams in the wild-card race entering Week 11, so a loss by Minnesota and a win by L.A. would’ve tightened things a bit for the Rams.

If the Rams were scoreboard watching on Sunday before their prime-time matchup with the Bears, they were likely thrilled with the first half line in the Broncos-Vikings game. Denver was up 20-0 at the half, led by former Rams quarterback Brandon Allen, appearing to be on its way to pulling off a huge upset in Minnesota.

Then things went south. The Broncos somehow managed to blow their 20-point lead in the second half, losing to Minnesota 27-23. Allen has a chance to win the game in the final seconds, driving the Broncos down the field all the way inside the 10-yard line.

However, he threw three incomplete passes in the last 10 seconds, allowing the Vikings to escape with a win. It was the first time in five years that a team came back after trailing by 20 at the half.

As J.B. Long pointed out, the Rams likely need to finish no worse than 10-6 to have a chance at the playoffs with the Vikings already 8-3 at their bye.

The Rams need to take care of their own business and win the games on their schedule, but they don’t “control their own destiny,” as it’s often said. In other words, they need help from other teams in order to have a shot at the postseason.

The Rams host the Bears on Sunday night, and a loss would be devastating. It would put them 2.5 games behind the Vikings in the NFC wild-card race.

Rams vs. Bears: Time, TV and streaming info for Week 11

How to watch Sunday night’s game between the Rams and Bears.

The Los Angeles Rams are hosting the Chicago Bears on Sunday night at the Coliseum. It’s a game both teams need to win if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive, while the loser could be done in the NFC.

To get you ready for Week 11 of the regular season, we’ve compiled all the important game day information – from streaming options to the officiating crew on Sunday night. And be sure to follow along on Twitter with @TheRamsWire and @camdasilva.

You can live stream the game on fuboTV (try it free).

Los Angeles Rams vs. Chicago Bears – November 17 at 8:20 p.m. ET

TV channel: NBC

Live stream: fuboTV (try it free)

Radio: ESPN LA 710 AM

Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Forecast: Sunny, 81 degrees, 2 mph winds

Referee: John Hussey

Odds: Rams -6.5, over/under 41.5