Rams seek fast start, more explosive pass plays against Bears
The Los Angeles Rams’ up-tempo offense grinded to a halt in the team’s 24-16 loss to the San Francisco 49ers last week.
The Rams had just two passing plays of 20-plus yards against San Francisco, as the Niners did a nice job of limiting L.A.’s ability to push the ball down the field.
Entering last week’s contest at San Francisco, the Rams had averaged nearly five, 20-plus plays a game.
The chunk plays allow the Rams to get into scoring position easier and put points on the board, particularly when L.A.’s offense starts slow.
The Rams have scored touchdowns on four of the team’s six opening drives to start the game. However, they have failed to score on opening drives in both losses this year.
In L.A.’s two losses to the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco, they have been outscored 42-9 in the first half.
“We just have to start faster,” receiver Robert Woods said. “It’s kind of like the same thing in both of our losses. We need to start right away, start fast. On our first couple drives we need to punch the ball in and get touchdowns with PATs.
“So it just goes back to that first half, starting off in that first quarter and playing the Rams’ way.”
While the Rams struggled to score against the San Francisco last week, most of their issues were self-inflicted, as either quarterback Jared Goff missed on wide-open targets or his receivers dropped the ball on potential big gains.
Left tackle Andrew Whitworth also had two false start penalties against the Niners to push back drives; he leads the Rams with four accepted penalties for 24 yards season.
“Offensively for us, normally that’s how we get going and how we do things,” Whitworth said. “It’s that crisp, early start where we’re moving the football and executing plays. And we just didn’t execute as well as we would have liked to as a group.”
Of course, the Rams face one of the stingiest defenses in the NFL in Chicago. While the Bears have been impressive on defense this year, the secondary has given up 20 passing plays of 20-plus yards this season, tied for fifth-most in the NFL.
So there could be opportunities for Rams head coach to create some chunk plays early in the game, but he has to be careful not to leave his Goff vulnerable to a potent Chicago pass rush led by Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks.
“We want to be consistent with the things that we’re preaching and one of the things that we talk about is making sure that we’re all holding each other to a standard of doing our job to the highest level, and that includes me,” McVay said. “I have to do a much better job, so that’s coaches and players together, but we try to keep a consistent team and a consistent approach.
“Every single week, whether we win or lose, we’re looking at that film the same way we’re making corrections; we’re making adjustments and we inevitably have to be able to move on to the next opponent as well.”
