The Los Angeles Rams will face the Chicago Bears in Week 11 in a battle between two teams whose seasons are hanging in the balance. The Rams are coming off a concerning loss versus the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 10, in which they managed to score only 12 points.
Los Angeles lost the game 17-12 and the only touchdown for them came on the Steelers' second play of the game. On the play, Maurkice Pouncey snapped the ball over Mason Rudolph's head and the ball bounced right into Dante Fowler's hands.
The Rams' edge rusher would proceed to run into the end zone to give Los Angeles an early lead. Then, chaos ensued with Sean McVay's offense being unable to move the ball down the field with any success.
While the play of Jared Goff was put into question, the offensive line was the main reason why the offense was stagnant. With that being said, things along the offensive line will get even worse for the Rams with Brian Allen and Rob Havenstein ruled out for this game.
On the other hand, Chicago's offense has had their own issues on the offensive side of the ball. Above all, the play of Mitchell Trubisky has visually declined in his third season in the NFL.
Nevertheless, both of these teams will look to get back on track on Sunday night. With that in mind, here are four reasons why the Rams will defeat the Bears in Week 11.
4. Sean McVay has to adjust, right?
During the offseason, the Rams chose to allow Rodger Saffold to walk in free agency and they chose to move on from John Sullivan. The team replaced those two with second-year players in Joseph Noteboom and Brian Allen.
Neither Noteboom or Allen performed up to expectations and now, both are out for the rest of the season with injuries. Due to the lack of cohesiveness of the offensive line, Goff has been under duress every single week.
While it's been evident that the offensive line has struggled, McVay has remained adamant on running plays that involve Goff taking deep drops in the pocket. Of course, they've rarely worked because of the short amount of time he has to survey the field.
This will finally be the week that the offensive-minded coach will adjust his offensive gameplan and get the ball out of Goff's hands fast.
3. Cooper Kupp will have more than zero catches
While it was surprising to see the Rams lose in the fashion they did versus the Steelers, it was even more surprising to see Cooper Kupp end the game with zero receptions. It was the first game of his three-year career that he finished with no catches that didn't involve him getting injured.
After tearing his ACL in 2018, Kupp has become one of the league's best wide receivers. Before Sunday's game, Goff's favorite target had 58 receptions for 792 yards and five touchdowns.
When the Rams face the Bears on Sunday night, Kupp will undoubtedly be motivated to bounce back. Expect to see a big-time performance from the team's most reliable pass-catcher in Week 11.
2. Trubisky doesn't perform well on the road
Everyone tends to criticize Goff for his struggles on the road but fail to mention that Trubisky is extensively worse. In his first three seasons, the North Carolina product has won 11 of his 19 games at home with 28 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
On the other hand, Trubisky has totaled only 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 15 career games on the road. Above all, the Bears' franchise quarterback has only won eight of those games.
The game between the Rams and Bears will take place in Los Angeles. Therefore, there's a decent chance we see the less-than-ideal version of Trubisky on Sunday night.
1. The Rams' defense has been remarkable
Before the NFL trade deadline, the Rams decided to make a blockbuster move to acquire Jalen Ramsey. Since his arrival, Los Angeles' defense has been able to shut down offenses with ease.
Over the past three weeks, the Rams have held their opponent to under 280 yards of total offense twice. The duo of Ramsey and Aaron Donald are the two reasons why the defense has performed well in the team's recent games.
Trubisky is known to make crucial mistakes and the Rams defense can force him into making those. Additionally, Chicago's offensive line has allowed 27 sacks (10th most in the NFL), giving Donald and company a chance to wreck this game.
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