Offense: 37/24 Rush to Pass ratio was huge. Cutler only had 5 incompletions and a couple were throw-aways. The two huge plays played right into the Rams aggressive play. 37 points against that defense, in STL, wow. Not much more you need to know. We also did that with Alshon getting 3/23 and Bennett getting 3/18. Our leading rushers were Langford and Carey and our leading receivers were Langford and Miller. We could've been a little better on 3rd downs, but besides for the late Carey fumble, we took care of the ball when we needed to.
Cutler: 151.0 QB Rating, 0 INTs and 0 fumbles. As close to a perfect game as you are going to get against that defense. Cutler posted the highest QB Rating against the Rams this year, and he did this with only 6 receptions going to Jeffery and Bennett. He was caught congratulating the defense every time they came of the field (but that was rarely shown on TV because it is against the media's agenda).
Oline: Hard to knock the line against the best D-Line in football, only allowing 2 sacks. Ducasse was clearly the weak point, and we need to get Grasu back so Slauson can slide back to Guard. That will be a huge upgrade.
RBs: I really like this 1-2 punch of Langford and Carey. You can tell they have fresh/young legs. Both can break long runs if they get to the 2nd level. Langford is going to be special. In back to back weeks he has out-produced Gordon and Gurley (in their houses). Both have done extremely well in blitz pick-ups and I can only assume they will get better with more playing time. Is it crazy to think we don't miss Forte, who was accounting for 1/3 to 1/2 of the offense over the past few years?
WRs: Jeffery must've been ailing from the groin injury as he was non-existent. Wilson was on the field, but largely a non-factor. They were decent in blocking though. Can't wait to see a healthy WR corps play for this team one day (Alshon/White/Royal).
TEs: If Zach Miller stays healthy, we potentially have 2x top 5 TEs. Miller is the pass catching TE that can exploit the seams and Bennett is the beast who gets the dirty yards and doesn't go down on first contact. I am excited to see more 2 TE formations with these two going out into patterns.
Defense: STL was not a very good offense, but Gurley and Austin have been explosive for them, and we largely kept them in check. The defense, minus McPhee, held Gurley to 45 yards rushing and their most targeted WR, Brian Quick, was targeted 7 times, and only caught 1 pass. Fangio worked his magic and you can tell the defense was in better position to make plays with SMC back in the lineup (I can't believe I am saying that). 3rd straight game where defense only allowed a single TD.
Dline/LBs: The front 7 played extremely disciplined ball, with SMC (8 tackles and a forced fumble), Houston (sack), and Young (INT) leading the way. This group seems to be building confidence and will only be better with McPhee coming back. SMC really stood out making numerous open field tackles and he seemed to be around the ball on every play. I would like to see more pressure and sacks from this group, but it is hard to complain when the defense only allows 13 points.
DBs: Porter and Fuller are starting to heat up, which is great to see. Both were visible defending passes and making tackles without extra yards. Foles has more incompletions (19) than completions (17). The Safeties were quiet, which speaks volumes about the front-7 and CB's.
Special Teams: Gould made all 7 of his kicks and our coverage unit was decent. However, we need a change at returner. On the 2 KO's he took out of the end zone, we started at the 14 and the 12, so we had a net loss of 14 yards on two kicks. On punts, he had 9 yards on 3 kicks and a fumble. Luckily our defense held STL to a FG because a TD could've changed our entire game plan. I would rather have someone just take every KO as a touchback and fair catch every punt. We are losing valuable yards in special teams and if there is one thing that needs to change, it is our returner.
Coaching: People forget we were playing on a short week, back to back away games, against two totally different teams (in terms of style of play). Yet Fox and Co. had the team ready to go. Gase called another brilliant game and Fangio has the defensive unit playing well above their talent level. Again my only gripe is the stubbornness on special teams. If we don't make a coaching change there, we need to look at a different returner at least.
Fans: 2nd week in a row where we had a ton of fans in visiting stadiums, great to see, and hear the Let's Go Bears chants.
A great win all around and after being 7.5 Dogs against STL, we are only 1.5 Dogs at home against Denver. That speaks volumes about how far we have come. Vegas is pretty good at setting lines, and they are basically saying this is a pick em' at a line under 3.
