There haven’t been many instances where Sean McVay’s offense was completely shut down by an opponent, a testament to the job he’s done as the Rams’ head coach since 2017. He’s not immune to bad games, of course, and the first time he was truly humbled was in the same place the Rams are heading this weekend.
Back in 2018, the Rams played the Bears on Sunday Night Football on Dec. 9, a frigid night in Chicago where the temperature was only 29 degrees at Soldier Field. At the time, the Rams were 11-1 and had perhaps the best offense in the NFL. The Bears were an impressive 8-4 and boasted an outstanding defense, one that stymied McVay and the Rams that night.
In each of their previous 12 games, the Rams scored at least 23 points and had at least 339 yards of offense. Against Chicago, a defense coached by Vic Fangio and Brandon Staley, the Rams had the worst performance under McVay to date.
They gained 214 total yards, scored just six points and lost 15-6. Jared Goff threw four interceptions and was sacked three times in the loss, while Todd Gurley gained just 28 yards on 11 rushes.
Nothing went right that night and McVay was reminded of that Wednesday.
“Why would you bring that up?” he joked when asked about it in his press conference. “I only wake up in sweats every night thinking about it.”
Sunday will be the Rams’ first time back in Chicago since that loss, though they’ve beaten the Bears in each of their last three meetings – all at home in Los Angeles. But McVay will probably never forget the first time his offense was befuddled by an opponent, having no answers for what Fangio threw at hime.
“That was a very humbling night. This league is a very humbling league,” he said. “That was one of the more humbling nights and they did a great job being able to get after us. Felt like we were playing against fifteen guys on defense that night.”
A lot has changed since then, including the coaches on both teams, but the Bears’ defense is once again among the league’s best. They’ve allowed the 10th-fewest points, eighth-fewest yards and rank second defensively in third-down conversions allowed, so the Rams have their work cut out for them.
It might not be Fangio’s defense, but Chicago still has plenty of talent defensively, led by cornerback Jaylon Johnson and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.
