As promising as the Los Angeles Rams’ new-look pass rush has been through three games, the run defense isn’t enjoying the same level of success. In fact, the Rams are among the worst teams in the NFL against the run, which isn’t terribly surprising after facing the Lions, Cardinals and 49ers in the first three weeks.
It’s obviously worrisome with Josh Jacobs, Kenneth Walker, De’Von Achane, Saquon Barkley, Alvin Kamara, James Cook, Breece Hall and likely Christian McCaffrey still on the schedule, but there is a bit of good news this week. The Rams will be going up against one of the worst rushing attacks in the NFL on Sunday.
In fact, it might even be a stretch to call the Bears’ ground game an “attack.” That’s how bad D’Andre Swift and Chicago’s entire backfield has been through three weeks.
Chicago ranks 31st in rushing yards and 31st in yards per carry this season. When you dive deeper, the advanced stats tell a similar story. The Bears rank 30th in the NFL in rush EPA (expected points added) at -0.252, only better than the putrid Raiders and a Dolphins offense that has no threat of a passing game without Tua Tagovailoa.
Defensively, the Rams are allowing 0.061 EPA on the ground, which is also third-worst in the NFL. So this is a matchup between the third-worst rushing offense and the third-worst run defense.
As they say, something’s got to give.
Even with the Rams struggling to stop the run, this matchup favors Chris Shula’s group. D’Andre Swift has been atrocious behind a Bears offensive line that’s had trouble creating running lanes. On the season, he’s carried it 37 times for a total of 68 yards. He’s picked up one first down. One.
If his 1.8 yards per carry doesn’t look bad enough, this will make it even worse: His longest carry is 20 yards, which means he’s gained 48 yards on his other 36 rushes. That’s 1.3 yards per carry, an absurdly low average.
Of the Bears’ 218 rushing yards this season, 67 have been by quarterback Caleb Williams. If you exclude rushes by Williams and the Bears’ wideouts, their running backs have carried it 56 times for 130 yards, a measly 2.3 yards per carry.
In other words, if the Rams can’t stop the Bears’ ground game, they might not be able to stop anyone this season.
Sunday’s game is a perfect get-right opportunity for the Rams’ run defense. They don’t have David Montgomery or Jahmyr Gibbs to worry about. There’s no James Conner in the backfield, nor is there the threat of Kyler Murray running the ball. As athletic as Williams is, he’s no Kyler.
There’s no excuse if Los Angeles can’t slow down one of the game’s worst rushing attacks.
