Bear Digest

Bears and Rams In-Game Blog: Bears 24, Rams 18 FINAL

Live analysis and reporting as Caleb Williams and the Bears try to stop a two-game slide at Soldier Field against Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams.

Gene Chamberlain

Kyler Gordon shoves Rams receiver Jordan Whittington out of bounds after a completion in the first half.
Kyler Gordon shoves Rams receiver Jordan Whittington out of bounds after a completion in the first half. / David Banks-Imagn Images
In this story:

Fourth Quarter

  • Punt killed at the 7. Beautiful punt. Then Brisker with his second interception on first down and the Bears win it. Bears 24, Rams 18 FINAL
  • A 2-yard gain on zone read by Williams and the Bears will punt with 1:13 left from the Rams 43. Could use another coffin corner from Taylor.
  • Swift has hole open but then it closes quickly and he gets 2. TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!
  • A 3-yard Swift run, more like 2 1/2 and the Rams use their last timeout with 2:29 left. Next play will be the TWO-MINUTE WARNING.
  • They go Doug Kramer at fullback again and Johnson takes same play over right guard for a first down at the 50. Don't lose that play. Rams burn their second timeout. One more first down will do it.
  • A scrum play to Swift goes for 7 and ignites the crowd. For some reason those plays always do. But then he only gets 2 on second down.
  • Bears start at their 33 with 4:14 left.
  • On third-and-7 at the 11, Rams go screen and the Bears smell it coming, stack it up at the 15 and Rams will punt on fourth-and-3.
  • Tremaine Edmunds gets the TFL for a yard as Rams try to get Williams around right end unsuccessfully.
  • One of the all-time great Bears punts. Taylor knocks it 66 into the wind and out of bounds at the 8.
  • Again a false start by Kmet. This one is costly as the Rams blitz and get Williams on third-and-7 and the Bears must punt with seven minutes left.
  • Bears at 30 can't afford conservatism. They get it with a run up the middle by Swift and a loss of 1. A ahead of the sticks was huge on the last drive.
  • An 11-yard completion underneath and they set up Karty for a 52-yard try. Rams back within a TD. Bears 24, Rams 18
  • Brisker about took off Stafford's head with a safety blitz blind side for the sack and a 9-yard loss. Flus dialing it up.
  • Stafford with a 17-yarder to Atwell and they're at the Bears 36. He doesn't quit. Rams have to burn a timeout at the 36 on second-and-10 after an incompletion.
  • Stafford comes out with an 18-yard completion, of course. Rams came from 10 back last week in fourth quarter and are only down nine now.
  • Swift with the jump cut and breaks into the clear. Uses his speed to go the distance. A 36-yard TD run and the Bears are up two scores after a 2:29 drive. A crowd of 59074 here today folks The Bears thank you for your patronage. Bears 24, Rams 15
  • They were doing well in avoiding penalties but Cole Kmet jumps. But he makes up for it with a beautiful seam route cath to the 36.
  • A 7-yard pass to Moore and 5 to Swift for a first down. Swift had room to run but got dragged down from behind.
  • Bears start from the 30 with 14:55 to play.
  • Two-point pass fails, out of bounds as Billings applies pressure to Stafford and it sails long. A 6-play, 70-yard drive ends in end zone. Bears 17, Rams 16
  • Rams have second-and-goal at the 3, and Williams darts in over left guard. Bears blown off the ball again, just like on the last drive, except this time they get to the end zone. it's the first time they've had double figures in scoring in a game in Chicago since 2003.

Third Quarter

-Williams with two big runs and the Rams are right down by the goal line again knocking at the door after a 14-yard carry around right end.

-A pair of big pass plays right away, 16 yards and then to the Bears 29 by Atwell. A 25-yarder. No one near Atwell as he broke outside on the same play they used for the pass interference call in the first half.

-Williams now 13 of 19 for 114 yards. Bears are a little better on third down now at 2 of 6. But the defens

e can't afford to sit back in a shell and let Stafford throw. Because he will.

-Maybe some confidence will build in that connection now.

-The Bears drive is bogging down. Williams tried to take an RPO and had 5 so it's third-and-5 at the 9. But a huge third-down conversion, Williams to DJ Moore at the back of the end zone, led him perfectly for the touchdown with 2:37 left in the quarter. The offense finally strikes. A 12-play, 74-yard drive in 6:13. Bears 17, Rams 9

-On third-and-3 at the 33, Roschon Johnson powers ahead for 8 yards. Trampled over people. Then he runs over another guy to the 14 for another first down on a second-down play. It's a thunder-and-lightning attack.

Williams uses Swift's speed again for 11 on a short pass and the drive continues. but then they try to run him off right tackle and he goes nowhere.

-After a 4-yard Swift run up the middle, Williams connects with Cole Kmet coming across for 10 yards. Then Swift gets rolling for 9 around left end. Bears at midfield.

-Rams finally have to defend a kick return for first time this year and did a good job, leaving the Bears at their own 26.

Karty makes a 25-yard field goal to finish a 12-play, 63-yard drive. Bears 10, Rams 9

-Stevenson prevents a touchdown on a 2-yard pass in the flat with an ankle tackle then Sweat's rush forces an incompletion on third down and the Rams need to settle for a chip shot field goal try.

-A 2-yard run for a first down at the Bears 9.

-Rams have third-and-1 at the 11 after a 7-yard pass to Cody Parkinson. Teven Jenkins is out for the rest of the game with the ribs injury.

Rams benefit from a 14-yard pass interference on Stevenson and then Ronnie Rivers takes a pitch to the 20 on an 11-yard gain. Rams O-line really coming off the ball on this drive.

-A couple of Williams runs up the middle set up the Rams at their own 42 with a first down. Then he gains 12 straight up the middle with Tremaine Edmunds being held at the neck.

-Bears 0-of-4 on third down in first half.

Second Quarter

Williams is not setting his feet comfortably to throw on those passes he missed open targets. His feet have been uncertain after a few sacks early.

-A second-down sack after Williams overthrew wide open Rome Odunze along the sidelines in the end zone. In fairness, Odunze couldnt get to it because he was obviously held but there was no call. Then Williams overthrows wide open DJ Moore in the end zone. So Bears settle for a 40-yard Santos field goal with nine seconds left. An 8-play, 45-yard drive. Bears 10, Rams 6

-Review put the ball at the 24 as Swift stepped out a few yards back. Second-and-2 at the 24. The Bears have 35 seconds left and 2 timeouts. Swift races around end for the first down and out of bounds at the 17. The line has the Rams backpedaling at the moment.

-After an 8-yard completion and timeout, D'Andre Swift gets a screen thrown at the last possible second and takes it 27 yardsto the Rams 32, and alertly goes OB, then catches a scrambling pass by Williams at the Rams 21 out of bounds. Still 42 seconds left.

-Bears with 1:01 left in half from just outside their 42 and all their timeouts.

-Bears retain the lead as Karty's 42-yard field goal is wide left. First miss for him this year but first time he's kicking outdoors.

- Third-and-15 at the 25, Stafford's throw is tipped by Darrell Taylor and nearly could have been caught by Atwell, who had no one left to stop a TD. He didn't realize it and batted the ball down himself.

-Rams try a tight end screen that goes 1 yard and they're called for a penalty on Atwell for an illegal block. Officials once again couldn't figure out if a penalty was accepted. Ball now at the 25.

-Teven Jenkins has a ribs injury and is questionable to return. TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!

-Rams face third-and-4 at the 24. Ronnie Rivers dodges Kevin Byard in the hole on a third-down run and gets the first down.

-Low 10-yard throw but Whittington digs it out and Rams drive continues.e Wih play-action a, big 22-yard throw to the Bears 31 that Atwell caught. No pass rush the last two plays, so they blitz and bat down the first-down pass on a boot to Parkinson.

-Williams with an 8-yard toss left as Gordon took the wrong tackle angle but Brisker bails them out on second down with a TFL for 1 yard. Left Stafford facing third-and-3.

-No Khari Blasingame, no problem. The lined up backup center Doug Kramer as a fullback and powered the ball in on first down by Roschon Johnson over right guard/tackle. A three-play 16-yard drive to a Bears lead after Cairo Santos' extra point. Bears 7, Rams 6

-Swift gets 1 trying to spin out after an incompletion and on third-and-9 Williams can't hit Keenan Allen but interference on Tre'Davious White gets the ball to the 1. First-and-goal. The Rams secondary delivers again.

-The Sweat Effect. Strip sack on Stafford and Kyler Gordon recovers at the Rams 16.

-Williams 5 of 7 for 28 yards. They have 34 yards rushing. They have 62 yards of offense. And they have 60 yards on seven penalties.

-Darnell Wright's second penalty on the drive wipes out a nifty move by Roschon Johnson for the first down on a 14-yard completion. Then the strip-sack but Pryor recovers it. So the Bears punt with boos raining down from the stands. At some point Mr. Waldron, I presume we will have offense with this team?

-First down at the Rams 45. Best thing Bears have going for them is the Rams secondary committing penalties. Facing third-and-8 after Roschon Johnson got stacked up. Time for a Rams holding penalty on a sack.

-Another defensive holding on a sack play saves the Bears again, this one on Kam Curl.

-On third-and-10 from their 41, Stafford holds the ball forever with no one open and is sacked but the Rams were holding in the secondary, Tre'Davious White. So the drive continues at Bears 46.

-Darnell Wright called for a false start is not the thing they needed after a first down rushing by Williams. Williams hit Swift to get back the 5 yards, and Bears run a tricky little end-around up the middle to DJ Moore but a holding call on Coleman Shelton wipes out the run.

-Nate Davis is in at right guard and Pryor moves over to Jenkins' spot at left guard. . was hurt away from the point of attack, blocking on the right side

-An RPO run by Williams opens wide up and he gets the first down at the 41 but Teven Jenkins was injured blocking on the 7-yard gain.

-Roschon Johnson in and maybe that will quiet the boos. But he gets only 4 up the middle.

-Stafford is 8 of 10 for 83 yards.

-Karty from 37 yards. Rams 6, Bears 0

-Hard to believe he even threw it. Brisker went out of bounds too and came back. They reviewed the play and are giving the ball back to the Rams to try another field goal. Brisker had established only one foot back in bounds before making the pick.

-Just when I say that, Stafford panics, throws to a receiver who is already out of bounds in the end zone and Jaquan Brisker with the interception. Bears first down at the 20.

-Stafford is so calmly standing in the pocket and picking the best available option quickly. Doesn't put the ball at risk.

-Stafford gets back 6 on second down after a stuffed run on first down. Bears need to stop third-and-4 at the 18.

-Stafford hit Tutu Atwell on first-and-10 after a false start, but then Jaquan Brisker got called for an unsportsmanlike conduct on the sidelines. He didn't need to hit Atwell after Tyrique Stevenson had the play ended.

-Bears were outgained 84-31 yards in first quarter and 5-1 in first downs.

First Quarter

-Jordan Whittington catches it for 9 on second down after a TFL by T.J. Edwards on first down, but the Rams convert on third-and-2 with a simple run up the middle by Williams for 8. Kyler Gordon got blocked in the gap on that one. Quarter ends on an offsides against the Bears with the ball at the Rams 48.

-After a 64-yard Taylor punt and a return to the 25, Rams are at their 26. Looking to pad lead.

-Another pass at the line to Moore after a run gets them to third-and-13. Get ready for a punt. They'll be through the first 15 plays soon. Boos after an incomplete pass as Williams throws it away when blitzed.

-On second thought, Rams took the penalty. First-and-25 at the 15.

-Another poorly set up screen this to Moore, and not only does it lose 5 yards but Braxton Jones got called for a blindside block that was declined. Second-and-15. Another hole. Might want to try attacking downfield.

-From the 30 for next Bears drive after touchback.

-Josh Karty a 47-yard field goal and the Bears are trailing in a game. Again. Rams 3, Bears 0

-The one thing they can do to disrupt Stafford is pressure up the middle and they get it with a sack from Gervon Dexter for an 8-yard loss. Stafford is just sitting there to be sacked. On third-and-13 Williams takes a draw play into field goal range at the Bears 27.

-Stafford looks like he is throwing darts from the pocket. Has lenty of time and has the Rams at the Bears 30 after a well-designed 9-yard screen to Parkinson.

-The Rams get 5 on a run by Williams up the middle but could have had more if T.J. Edwards hadn't made a shoestring tackle while laying on the ground.

-Colby Parkinson on a 6-yard slant as Stafford beat the Bears blitz.

-Bootleg pass quickly diagnosedby Bears defense Matthew Stafford had to ground it on first down. After Kyren Williams' 5-yard run up the middle, it's third-and-5.

-Jaylon Jones downs a brilliant Tory Taylor punt at the 5. Taylor needs to rebound after a poor performance last week.

-A tight end screen fails to gain the first down and the Bears have to punt. Rome Oduzne blocked his man to the outside but Cole Kmet ran around to the outside instead of cutting inside.

-A first down after D'Andre Swift had a 6-yard run on first down. The run helped. But Bears face third and four

-Ethan Evans still hasn't had a kick returned. Touchback. Bears at the 30. Correction, Tarvarius Moore gets called for a 5-yard penalty lining up incorrectly and they started at the 25. Moore just got called up for this week.

  • Bears lost the toss. They'll receive.

Pregame

  • It appears Simone Biles came appropriately dressed for the Bears sidelines in this game, instead of wearing a Packers coat.
  • By now, Khari Blasingame is pretty much over his injuries so this must be a healthy scratch. He was able to practice in full on Friday. So unless he had a setback after he had practiced earlier in the week on a limited basis, you'd have to think he's healthy. So what Shane Waldron is saying to everyone is he can get the run blocked without a fullback today. Considering they haven't had it blocked without one, maybe it would have been good to try it with one? Just saying. Another reason to have Blasingame active? They lost fourth tight end Stephen Carlson before he could even get on the field. If something happens with one of their tight ends now, Blasingame could at least provide the blocking a tight end might supply. Not now. If the Bears have a tight end injury then it's Collin Johnson, a wide receiver, playing a tight end role.
  • Sky starting to clear out now and a bit of a drizzle and the fog are gone. Should be around 70 but the wind is 15 mph out of the north-northeast, which will make it tough on kicking.
  • Keenan Allen, as expected, will try to play but how effective he is remains to be seen. He hasn't played since Week 1, has been plagued by this painful heel condition since the middle of August, when some people were starting silly rumors that he was slow and out of shape. However, just having another potential open receiver over the middle somewhere for Caleb Williams can't hurt and can draw the crowd away from Cole Kmet and/or Gerald Everett as well.
  • It's safe to say when the Bears were done adding offseason talent, not a lot of people felt Matt Pryor figured prominently in their starting lineup. Yet, for now they love him as an option at right guard over Nate Davis, who seems to have had his groin injury issue since the middle of training camp if not earlier. Matt Eberflus said they would turn to Pryor again this week at starting right guard.
  • The Rams have made Xavier Smith their return man and he is active this week with jersey No. 19.
  • A fog rolling in here in pregame, blocking off the view of downtown a great deal. Is it a 1988 playoff fog? Anyone there would never forget it.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.