USA Today
Opening Bears Opponent Has One Proven Back
Losing running back Cam Akers for the season due to a torn Achilles tendon is likely to set back the athlete far more than it does the Los Angeles Rams.
The Bears' opponent in the season opener received terrible news Tuesday when their second-year back was ruled out this year due to the injury suffered while training during the offseason. The news was reported by NFL Network.
The loss of Akers with training camp a week away still leaves plenty of time for a replacement to be found before they host the Bears in a Sunday Night Football season opener on Sept. 12. Finding someone of Akers' abilities will be difficult.
It's also huge for the Rams because they have been able to handle the Bears the last two years relying on a running game and play-action passing. When they didn't have the running attack in Chicago in 2018, the Bears won behind a dominant defense.
Akers really started to find his way in the offense for the Rams late last season the week after they beat the Bears 24-10, and he produced a 29-carry, 171-yard game against the New England Patriots. He had 390 yards on 74 carries for a 5.27-yard average over a four-week stretch from Weeks 11-14, then came out in the playoffs and tore up the Seattle Seahawks for 131 yards on 28 rushes and a touchdown in a 30-20 win.
If the Rams have to look at the positive, it's that they still have Darrell Henderson. Akers, who had 625 yards last year, is the tougher runner but the two together formed a nice 1-2 punch. Akers led the Rams in rushing yards last season.
Henderson had 624 yards last year in his second season before suffering a high ankle sprain that knocked him out of the lineup at season's end and caused him to miss Rams playoff games. Henderson is more of a receiving threat.
Akers didn't get a carry against the Bears in last year's game, although he played.
While the injury's impact is something fantasy owners can debate, the Bears defense will not be so concerned until game week. That's because the Rams have plenty of time to come up with viable backup or alternate runner behind Henderson.
The other Rams backs are first-year player Xavier Jones from SMU, first-year back Raymond Calais from Louisiana, seventh-round draft pick Jake Funk from Maryland and undrafted Otis Anderson from Central Florida. None of them has made a regular-season NFL carry.
The run defense the Rams should see in the opener figures to look more like the one they faced at Soldier Field in 2018 than the one they trampled each of the last two seasons in 17-7 and 24-10 wins over the Bears.
The Rams had only 52 yards rushing against the Bears in 2018 in their 15-6 loss at Chicago, but then had 110 yards in 2019 in their 17-7 win and 159 yards last year in their 24-10 win last year.
Barring camp or preseason injuries, the Bears should have both Eddie Goldman and Akiem Hicks on the interior up front. In 2018 and 2019 when they had both, they allowed 79 yards rushing per game and were No. 1 in the NFL in 2018. In 2019 and 2020 when one or both were missing, they allowed 109 yards rushing. Hicks was missing in the 2019 loss and Goldman was missing in the 2020 loss to the Rams.
The Rams had 63 yards from Henderson last year against the Bears but also 57 from Malcolm Brown, who is now with the Miami Dolphins.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
