Rams vs. Chicago Bears: How to watch, prediction and betting odds
The Rams are riding high with confidence after avoiding a disastrous 0-3 start by coming back to defeat the San Francisco 49ers, 27-24, with a last-second field goal.
If he amasses 223 yards passing, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford will move past Eli Manning into 10th place on the NFL’s career passing yardage list.
Stafford is still without injured receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, so running back Kyren Williams must have another big performance. Receiver Tutu Atwell is among others who must again step up.
Bears’ Caleb Williams impresses Matthew Stafford because Rams QB has No. 1 perspective
He was the top pick in the NFL draft, a quarterback regarded as a generational talent selected by an NFC North team coming off a losing season.
No, Matthew Stafford.
In 2009, a few months after they finished 0-16, the Detroit Lions selected Stafford No. 1. It took Stafford a few seasons to find his footing. Now — 15-plus seasons later — he’s pushing to move into the top 10 in several passing categories.
Williams, the No. 1 pick this year, is three games into his first season with the Chicago Bears. He also is a Stafford admirer, and Sunday at Soldier Field in Chicago, Stafford and the Rams will try to prevent a breakout performance by the former USC star.
Don’t remind Sean McVay of the Rams’ last visit to Soldier Field
The game was played nearly five years ago, but it does require someone with Sean McVay’s instant recall to remember it.
On December 9, 2018, the Rams traveled to Soldier Field to play the Chicago Bears.
The Rams were flying high with an 11-1 record and one of the NFL’s top offenses. But they managed only two first-half field goals in a 15-6 defeat.
Rams coach Sean McVay, preparing for the Rams’ first trip to Soldier Field since that loss, joked when a television reporter asked him about the 2018 game.
“Why would you bring that up?” McVay said. “I only wake up in sweats every night thinking about it.”
A Bears defense that featured lineman Khalil Mack and linebacker Roquan Smith shut down the Rams.
“That was a very humbling night,” McVay said, adding, “It felt like we were playing against 15 guys [on defense] that night.”
The defeat did not stop the Rams from surging toward the Super Bowl. They lost to the Philadelphia Eagles the next week, and then won two games to finish 13-3. Their season ended with a loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII.
The defeat by the Bears also contributed in part to McVay hiring Brandon Staley as defensive coordinator in 2020. Staley was the outside linebackers coach under coordinator Vic Fangio for that Bears defense, and he had moved to Denver when Fangio was hired as the Broncos coach in 2019.
Rams vs. Chicago Bears inactives for Sunday
Here are the players on the Rams and Chargers who will not be playing on Sunday:
Rams: WR Cooper Kupp, QB Stetson Bennett, RB Cody Schrader, LB Brennan Jackson, OT Geron Christian, DE Desjuan Johnson
Bears: WR Velus Jones Jr., RB Khari Blasingame, DB Terell Smith, OL Bill Murray, DL Dominique Robinson, DL Zacch Pickens
Xavier Smith making the most of his opportunity with the Rams
Xavier Smith was not angry. He did not pout.
Despite an impressive preseason as the Rams punt returner, Smith got caught in a squeeze at the receiver position and did not make the 53-man roster.
But the second-year pro said that he knew he would eventually get the chance to show the Rams or another team that he belonged.
“It was just understanding that as long as I’m doing what I’m doing, another opportunity is going to present itself,” he said, “and I’m going to take advantage.”
Opportunity presented itself last Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. And Smith, who had been promoted from the practice squad, did not flinch.
His 38-yard punt return late in the fourth quarter helped set up a field goal that gave the Rams a 27-24 victory and improved their record to 1-2.
Smith, signed by the Rams in 2023 as an undrafted free agent from Florida A&M, is now the Rams full-time punt returner, coach Sean McVay said this week as the Rams prepared for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Smith’s preseason performances “made it really difficult for us” to keep him off the roster, McVay said.
“He just kept working,” McVay said, “and to see him capitalize on his opportunity, that wasn’t just being ready that week. He had put himself in a position based on his body of work to be ready when the moment presented itself.”
Running back Kyren Williams had opened the season as the punt returner, but Smith was informed a few days before the game against the 49ers that he might play.
He called his mother, who bought a plane ticket to come see him play his first NFL game.
On a second-quarter punt, Smith had called for a fair catch. But when he jogged onto the field with less than a minute left he was not thinking conservatively.
“I’m trying to win the game for my team,” he said, laughing. “I’m not shying from those moments.”
Smith said McVay has peppered meetings with references to Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan talking about their mindset in crucial moments of games.
“If I’m going to be a big-time player,” Smith said, “my mindset’s got to be the same.”
Special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn was not surprised.
“I told him after the game how proud I was of him,” Blackburn said. “Not because of the return, not because of that one play, but just to be able to sustain throughout not getting elevated, not having that opportunity and just continuing to be the same person every day.
“That’s what we’re trying to preach to our guys.”
Some Bears fans will be rooting for Rams rookie Braden Fiske
Braden Fiske remembers the Chicago Bears’ last trip to the Super Bowl.
Fiske, a Rams rookie defensive lineman, grew up in Michigan City, Ind., about an hour by car from Soldier Field in Chicago. With family members and friends rooting for the Bears, a-7-year-old Braden was enamored by the Indianapolis Colts, who defeated the Bears in Super Bowl XLI in Miami to cap the 2006 season.
“I grew up in the Peyton Manning era,” Fiske said. “I have family down in Indianapolis, and I grew up loving that defense. [Retired All-Pro safety] Bob Sanders is still one of my favorite players.”
Fiske is looking forward to one day playing against the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and he also is excited to compete for the first time as a pro against the Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday. At least 25 family members and friends are expected to attend the game, he said.