WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – The Rams made schematic adjustments on both sides of the ball against the Bears on Sunday, utilizing the blitz and play-action passes at higher rates than they had previously.
Los Angeles saw increased efficiency in the run game and got after the quarterback consistently, but still lost 24-18 in Chicago after finishing the game with just one touchdown. Afterward, head coach Sean McVay and quarterback Matthew Stafford both cited an inability to finish drives as a major pitfall for the offense.
Here are five interesting stats from the Week 4 road game:
Rams reached season highs in pressure rate (50%) and blitz rate (34.6%) against Chicago, via Next Gen Stats
The Rams pressured Bears quarterback Caleb Williams on half of his dropbacks on Sunday, which is the fourth-highest pressure rate of the season for any team. Outside linebackers Jared Verse and Byron Young both racked up five pressures, outside linebacker Michael Hoecht had three, and defensive ends Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske each added two.
The Rams hadn't blitzed on more than 19.2% of quarterback dropbacks entering this game, but that skyrocketed on Sunday. Their blitz rate has risen in each game this season under new defensive coordinator Chris Shula, so that could be a trend to monitor going forward.
46.9% of Stafford's throws were off play-action fakes, the sixth-highest rate for any quarterback this season and Stafford's highest rate since he joined the Rams in 2021
The Rams are clearly making play-calling adjustments. This season, Stafford had never thrown more than 25% of his passes off play-action fakes, but he almost doubled that rate in Chicago. Most of the time, it did what it's designed to: get the linebackers to bite on run fakes and open up passing lanes over the middle of the field.
Most of Stafford's passes went to the middle, and he completed all but four throws into that area, according to Pro Football Focus, going 15-for-19 (78.9%). The play-action game was very successful against Chicago in part because running back Kyren Williams had his most efficient game of the season (94 rushing yards on 4.9 yards per carry). If that success continues, so could the high play-action rates.
Fiske's first career sack took just 3.01 seconds, tied for the fastest sack by a defensive tackle this season (17th fastest overall)
Braden Fiske's first career sack was a memorable one, as he came barreling up the middle to strip Williams and force a punt. Verse gave his former Florida State teammate a little push off the edge to help Fiske finish the play.
Fiske led all rookies in pressures going into Sunday's matchup, with two fumble recoveries on the stat sheet as well. Now, he's added his first career sack and forced fumble to the mix in what's shaping up to be a fantastic rookie season through four weeks. He became the first Rams player to record a forced fumble on his first career sack since John Franklin-Myers in Week 4 of 2018.
Verse's average distance from the quarterback at the throw/sack point was 2.96 yards, the closest of any qualified pass rusher in a game this season
Verse pressured Williams five separate times on Sunday, according to Next Gen Stats, but that doesn't really put his consistency into context. On average, Verse was the closest player to the quarterback in any game this season, out of all qualified pass rushers.
Even with two sacks negated by defensive penalties, Verse continued to show why he's the favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year by winning his matchup time and again off the edge. Four of Verse's five pressures yesterday were generated in less than three seconds, tying him for the fifth-most quick pressures in a game this year.
Verse missed more tackles than he'd have liked, but it's only a matter of time until he turns those consistent disruptions into a slew of sacks.
Stafford passed Eli Manning for 10th all-time on the career passing yards list in 16 less games
Stafford needed 223 passing yards to move into 10th place all-time in career passing yards. He threw for 224, placing him right above Manning with 57,025 passing yards in 210 games over 16 seasons. Stafford is the only current top 10 passer who's played in less than 234 career games, and is now trailing Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the leaderboard.
