The Los Angeles Rams face the NFC North-leading Chicago Bears on Monday night, eager to prove that their loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday was an outlier and not the start of a worrying trend. With a 4-2 record, the Rams are tied with the Arizona Cardinals at second in the ultra-competitive NFC West, behind the 5-0 Seattle Seahawks and just ahead of the 49ers, who sit at fourth in the division at 3-3.

Against San Francisco, the Rams’ offense, which was ranked as one of the league’s best and averaged 27.2 heading into the Week 6 game against their division rivals, was limited to just 16 points, the lowest of the season. The defense, which averages 3.3 sacks per game, could not get to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who torched them by making 23 of 33 passes for 268 yards and three passing touchdowns. 

In Chicago, Los Angeles will face another top-10 defense in the league in terms of points allowed (19.3 per game, seventh in the league) and total yards allowed (337.2 per game, seventh in the NFL). But Sean McVay’s squad is determined to show that the loss was a fluke and will not happen once they play the Bears at So-Fi Stadium on Monday Night Football. Here are some bold predictions when the Rams play the Bears:

1. Jared Goff throws two touchdowns

The 26-year old Goff is coming off a sub-par game against the Niners, making just 19 of 38 passes for a season-low 198 passing yards with two touchdowns and one interception, which happened in the end zone. After the game, Goff admitted his struggles against San Francisco, but believes that it was just an uncharacteristically bad game from him, per an ESPN report. 

“It was just some uncharacteristic stuff for me, Missing guys open there early. It's something that I've never done in my life and don't expect to ever repeat.”

This season, the only times Goff has thrown fewer than two touchdown passes were in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys, when he finished with none, and in the Rams’ Week 4 win over the New York Giants, when he finished with one. However, the Rams quarterback has struggled mightily in previous meetings against the Bears. In his two previous games against Chicago, Goff has made just 31 of 62 passes, with 353 passing yards, no touchdown passes, and five interceptions.

But despite his past struggles agains the bears defense and coming off an underwhelming performance, Goff isn’t the same quarterback that he was a season ago. There’s enough reason to believe that he’ll make his first touchdown pass against Chicago on Monday and do a lot more as he seeks to prove that he can thrive under the pressure of a defense like the Bears'. 

2. Cooper Kupp has a big game

With Goff struggling to find and pass to his usual targets, the Rams’ wide receivers were also mostly ineffective against the 49ers. Kupp, who has 31 receptions, 374 receiving yards, and two touchdowns through six games, caught just three passes for 11 receiving yards against San Francisco on Sunday. But it wasn’t all on Goff, as the 27-year old wide receiver also dropped a pass in the end zone and had a hard time tracking down some of his quarterback’s throws. 

If the Rams are going to avoid suffering consecutive losses for the first time this season, they’re going to need Kupp to be at his best against the Bears. That means re-establishing his connection with Goff and being able to keep track of and hold on to his signal-caller’s passes while dealing with Chicago’s tough defense. Kupp admitted on social media that he wasn’t up to the standards he set for himself against the Niners, and Rams fans can expect a much better outing from the wide receiver after playing his worst game of the season last week. 

3. Aaron Donald finally sacks Nick Foles

Donald has been a menace for opponents since entering the NFL in 2014, but one quarterback who hasn’t been sacked by the two-time Defensive Player of the Year is the Bears’ Nick Foles. He still leads the league with 7.5 sacks through Week 6, but he failed to pressure and take down Garoppolo as the Rams failed to record a sack after recording eight sacks in Week 5 against Washington, with Donald having four on his own. 

Like his teammates, the six-time Pro Bowler admitted that the team wasn’t at their best against San Francisco, but plans to change that in Week 7 against Chicago. The fact that he has yet to sack Foles should give Donald all the motivation he needs against the Bears. The five-time First Team All-Pro also hasn’t gone without a sack in back to back weeks since last season, so it’s a safe bet that he’ll finally take down Foles like he has so many other quarterbacks throughout his career. 

4. The Rams get back on the winning track

The teams’ recent meetings have all been low scoring games, with the Rams winning 17-7 last season and the Bears taking a 15-6 victory in 2018. In a game between two of the NFL’s best defenses, fans will likely see another low-scoring affair. The Rams have shown that they can win one score games, as proven by their Week 4 win over the Giants.

Chicago, however, has played even better in close games so far this season, with all five of their wins being decided by seven points or less. The Rams, meanwhile, lost a winnable Week 3 game to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills and dropped another one score game last week to the Niners. But if Los Angeles wants to prove that they are a contender this season, they need to win close games and beat other talented teams. With the team’s disappointing performance against the 49ers last week still fresh in the players’ minds, expect them to be ready to play a better game against another top-tier defense.

On offense, Goff has plays better and is able to re-establish his chemistry with the team’s receivers, while running backs Darrell Henderson, Cam Akers, and Malcolm Brown have to get the running game going. On defense, Donald and the defense is able to disrupt Foles and the Bears offense after failing to do so against San Francisco. If they are able to do it on both ends, then the Rams should play a much better game, take the victory at home, and hand the Bears just their second loss of the season.