The Rams will head to Chicago this weekend to play the Bears, where two of the most innovative offensive minds in football, head coaches Sean McVay and Ben Johnson, will go head-to-head with a trip to the NFC Championship game on the line, in freezing temperatures. Kickoff Sunday at Soldier Field is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. pacific time on NBC.
Ahead of the contest, here are 3 Keys to Winning for the Rams, presented by The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani (CallJacob.com).
1) Win the turnover battle and capitalize on the momentum swings
For the second-straight week, winning the turnover battle will be vital for a Rams victory. Both teams rank top five in takeaways and turnover differential and have lost most of their games when they have turned the ball over more than their opponent (Bears are 1-2 and Rams are 1-3).
The Bears rank third in points scored off turnovers (98) and the Rams rank fourth (88), according to nflverse data. So, even if the turnover margin is 0, capitalizing on those sudden changes of possession while not allowing Chicago to do so will be a huge point of emphasis in this game.
2) Don't let Caleb Williams control the game from outside the pocket
McVay said it earlier this week: The "really scary" aspect of this Bears offense is their ability to make plays out of structure. Williams is one of if not the best quarterback in the league when it comes to escaping the pocket and finding receivers downfield. That type of play kept the Bears' season alive last week against Green Bay on an absurd 4th-and-8 conversion. The defense needs to contain Williams in the pocket and finish sacks when they have an opportunity to get the slippery second-year quarterback on the ground.
"You have to wrap him up," said outside linebacker Jared Verse. "It's not like any lunging. You can't jump at him. He's very athletic. He's very nimble. He's very able to get away from anything you bring to him. So you have to just keep running your feet when you wrap him up."
3) Succeed in the run game to set up play-action
This has been the kryptonite of Chicago's defense all season. The Bears allowed the fourth-most yards per carry in the regular season (5.0), which set teams up for success on play-action fakes. They allowed the seventh-most yards per play (8.0) in that context, per Next Gen Stats. Los Angeles established the most consistent rushing attack of the season, leading the league in success rate on designed runs by a wide margin (50.5%).
Establishing the ground game comes first, and then the Rams can capitalize on the movement that creates to succeed at a staple of their offense, the play-action game. They ran more play-action passes than any other team in the league this season (219), so that would be right in their wheelhouse.
