Monday Night Matchups Favoring Bears Over Rams
Winning a game on the west coast on Monday Night Football is one of the challenges Bears coach Matt Nagy has not yet accomplished.
The only chane he had came last year in a 17-7 loss to the Rams and the Bears go for a rematch in Los Angeles Monday night in their first trip to LA football's new home.
Monday night road games historically had initially been a problem for the Bears, even when Mike Ditka was coach. They had disasters in San Francisco on the road like a 52-14 defeat in 1991 and 41-0 in 1987, and these were Bears playoff teams. They lost a couple blowouts to the Chargers on the road in the 1980s and 70s but by and large a deficit the Bears once faced in general on Monday nights has been turned around in recent years.
The Bears have won seven of their last 10 on Monday Night Football dating back to their Super Bowl season of 2006 and their "Bears are who we thought they were" game in Arizona.
If they're to extend their success with trips west for Monday night games, they need to take advantage of these four matchups.
Bears LB Roquan Smith vs. Rams RB Darrell Henderson
Although Henderson has taken on a more prominent role in the offense and is more of a big-play threat than Malcolm Brown or when Todd Gurley and his injured knee was around, this is a spot where the Bears can force the Rams into passing situations by shutting down the run if Smith steps up and plays the way he did last week against Carolina. Smith stayed in his gap and was able to utilize his speed even to make plays in the backfield. He corrected the problem with broken tackles he had in the previous game. Henderson's combination of speed and power are problems and he has moves like Smith struggled with against Ron Jones, but the lack of experience and other problems the Rams must deal with against the Bears defensive front afford Smith another opportunity to make his presence felt.
Bears DT Akiem Hicks vs. Rams RG Austin Corbett
The Bears probably missed Hicks due to injury last year against the Rams more than any other time in what essentially were 12 games without him. This is because Hicks has the chance to change the game more against the Rams and quarterback Jared Goff. Hicks had a sack in the Bears win in 2018 at Soldier Field and his constant presence on the inside rush had Goff in panic mode all game, and when he didn't panic, he had Khalil Mack coming off the side or from behind. The problem the Bears have is Hicks has been sick this week and hasn't been able to practice. How quickly he comes off this illness can make a big difference. Goff doesn't stand up to pressure from the front well, and the Bears didn't have that interior rush last year against the Rams. Corbett was a free agent acquisition from Cleveland who is a steady run blocker but has struggled as a pass blocker. He has allowed a sack and Pro Football Focus puts his pass-blocking grade at a sub-par 53.0. There aren't many weak spots on the Rams offensive line but Corbett's pass blocking has been one of those.
Bears TE Jimmy Graham vs. Rams LB Kenny Young
Young has had the few people in Los Angeles who care about football and defense grumbling since early in the season with his inability to handle assignments. He's allowing 85.7% completions on passes when targeted. They try to get into nickel coverage quickly and get him out, and he's been in on 55% of the snaps. Graham has obviously not been the threat he was when younger but he does get open in short patterns and has had dependable hands. Nick Foles hasn't neessarily thrown much in the short range over the middle and it's here where his best chances could rest with the Rams' biggest coverage problems coming wherever cornerback Jalen Ramsey is not positioned. The Rams got hit for big yardage and catches by Greg Kittle last week in a loss and when the Giants hung tough against them tight end Evan Engram had six catches to lead his team. This is a chance for Graham to make an impact outside the red zone -- or even for tight end Cole Kmet to make a mark after getting his first touchdown last week. The best option in the short routes would be David Montgomery but the Bears likely will need him in the backfield blocking as much as possible to handle the imposing presence of Aaron Donald should be beat his initial block.
Bears WR Anthony Miller vs. Rams CB Troy Hill
The Rams start Miller outside but he'll move into the slot and Darius Williams comes on in the nickel coverage on the outside. In all of this mix is Jalen Ramsey, who normally covers whoever the other team's best receiver is and in this case it's Allen Robinson. The Bears will try to pick for Robinson as much as possible but they need to be ready to go after Hill because he's been the weaker link in a good Rams secondary. He's allowing a 78.4% completion rate when targeted and a 96.2 passer rating when targeted, according to Sportradar. Hill's biggest problem might be missing tackles. As a convert to the slot, this could be expected because it's a difficult position to master and even the better ones miss tackles there with so much ground to cover. He's missed 17.1% of his tackle attempts this season. Anthony Miller is coming off a stretch of disappointing games since Nick Foles became starter at quarterback. He's had only 10 receptions for 52 yards in the last three games. Miller's season hasn't been terrible from a standpoint of consistency. He is catching 61.5% of targets, which is right in line with the last two years. He was at 61.1% as a rookie and 61.2% last year. It's just getting open and doing it with enough room to run after the catch which he hasn't done. Ramsey likely will focus greatly on stopping Allen Robinson all over the field so Miller needs to win his matchup.
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