The Bears pull away with a 24:18 victory over the Rams

The Chicago Bears snapped a three-game losing streak and beat the Los Angeles Rams 24-18 at home on Sunday to improve to 2-2.

There were ups and downs on both sides, but all in all it was enough to help them win. As weakened as the Rams may be entering this game, the advantage of Matthew Stafford at quarterback and Sean McVay at head coach always makes Los Angeles a worthy opponent.

Avoiding a 1-3 start should prove huge for the Bears’ long-term playoff hopes and give them some hope for the rest of the season. Here are a few quick takeaways on winning.

Can both sides of the ball be good at the same time?

As the Bears defense dominated right in front of the goal, the offense struggled. Conversely, once the offense picked up steam, the defense began to slow down. When you add it all up, it was a solid performance on both sides of the ball, but just once I’d like to see this team dominate on both offense and defense in the same phase of the game.

D’Andre Swift is back

After a slow start to the 2024 season, Swift scored his first rushing touchdown of the year with a big 36-yard run against the Rams. He also proved to be a valuable threat in the passing game, as he always served as a reliable check-down option and made some defenders miss in space. His eyesight seemed to be better and his explosiveness seemed to have completely decreased. It was an encouraging development from the veteran running back.

There are still Caleb Williams ups and downs, but there is progress

There were still a few instances where Williams failed to hit his receivers down the field, leaving a handful of possible deep throws on the table by negating his targets. Accuracy on deep balls continues to be a problem for the rookie quarterback. At the same time, however, he was always able to find the open man by reading the entire field and identifying targets beyond his first read to get the ball out quickly and accurately. At this point he seems to be a good game manager, which is encouraging for a newcomer. However, if he can add up the points in these big games, the ceiling will be extremely high.

The defensive line is… good?

In recent years, the Bears have excelled in run defense but have struggled to generate pressure on passing downs. Their run defense wasn’t quite as good early in the 2024 season, but the pass rush is looking much better in the first few weeks. Gervon Dexter and Montez Sweat both had sacks and Austin Booker also had a quarterback hit. Dexter in particular looks like a breakout defender with his three sacks in four games as a defensive tackle.

Penalties galore

Too many false start penalties plagued the Bears on offense and actively worked against their will to move the ball down the field. This is more indicative of a lack of discipline on offense, but Cole Kmet was also guilty of a few wrongful penalties. This is something that needs to be clarified in the future.

Tory Taylor

Just…Tory Taylor. Enough said.

Come talk Bears with us on Mason West’s postgame show “Wear and Tear Bears” with special guest Ryan Droste!