CHICAGO – One week after a miraculous comeback in the Rams' home opener, Los Angeles couldn't come from behind on the road, and it lost to the Chicago Bears, 24-18. After the game, head coach Sean McVay, running back Kyren Williams and quarterback Matthew Stafford addressed the media. McVay's press conference can be viewed below.
Here are some of the most significant quotes and talking points:
"How do we make sure the snap and hold where we're not giving them the laces? How do we make sure that we're executing with the appropriate techniques on that protection where we gave up the sack fumble? And that's what you tell them. That's all I know I had to be able to do." - McVay
There were a few key mistakes that McVay highlighted in his postgame press conference. The two biggest were holder Ethan Evans facing the laces toward kicker Joshua Karty on his first missed field goal in the NFL, and the second was a botched protection that led to the strip sack of Matthew Stafford in the second quarter, which was followed by the Bears' first points of the game.
McVay said the offense "moved the ball well" throughout the day, but failed to finish drives. He added that coming away with six points in the first half after four drives, three of which ended inside the Bears' 30-yard line, was not good enough. There were some "uncharacteristic mistakes" made by the Rams throughout the contest, McVay said, and "everyone has a hand" in the loss.
"I think the whole (offensive) line did a phenomenal job handling the front five and even the linebackers. Well, they were giving me holes that I should have did more with, you know, the holes that they were giving me, man, I should have had probably about four or five explosives." - Williams
Williams finished the game with 94 rushing yards and a touchdown, but he wasn't happy with his total production. For the first time this season, the same offensive line started for the second-straight week, and they looked much more comfortable working combination blocks to open up rushing lanes.
Williams said he has "got to be better" once he gets past the line of scrimmage and start "being able to just, you know, make cuts and make people miss." The Rams averaged 4.8 yards per carry on the day after entering the game with an average of 3.4 YPC, the third-worst in the NFL.
"(In the red zone) the field gets smaller, windows get tighter, blocking assignments, all that kind of stuff, just everything kind of condenses down. You just got to be, you know, that much better. " - Stafford
The Rams were not "that much better" in the red zone today, turning just one of their four trips into a touchdown while the Bears converted two of their four. The Rams' offense moved the ball, but when they got into enemy territory, they just couldn't finish drives.
Stafford said there was "a lack of execution" at certain points throughout the game, and he will need to go back and look at the tape before he knows how to fix those mistakes.
"We can't sit there and go, 'Hey, next time we get the ball, let's make sure we score a touchdown in the red zone.' Well, you got to get there first, right?" Stafford said.