Unfortunately, in football, you have to play on both sides of the ball. The Rams' defense was everything they could've hoped for against the pass. Cutler was just 17-31 for 183 yards and a pick without a touchdown. He was also sacked twice. The Bears' rushing game wasn't extremely effective either, overall, but they allowed the Bears to convert on a couple of crucial third downs. Their goal-line stand on which running back Michael Bush rushed for the Bears' only offensive touchdown was also unimpressive. But what was most disappointing about a pretty decent defensive day for the Rams, was two extremely stupid penalties that led to both the aforementioned touchdown and a field goal by extending two Chicago drives. Even the replacement refs know that you can't hit the punter and you can't hit the quarterback late. The Rams probably got away with a few late hits on Cutler, but if you do something illegal enough, you're probably going to be caught eventually. And that's exactly what happened. The flag was thrown, the Bears kept the ball, and eventually scored the game's only offensive touchdown to build a 10-0 lead. The Rams' anemic offense would ensure that would be all that the Bears would need.
I know that the St. Louis offensive line has struggled in years past and has already been decimated by injuries this season, but that's starting to not be an excuse anymore for quarterback Sam Bradford. He was sacked six times on Sunday and I would estimate that at least three of them, you could put on Bradford. He's simply holding on to the ball for too long. In the NFL, quarterbacks can not expect to get five seconds to throw the ball. They're lucky if they get three on most plays. If he can extend the play by scrambling, that's fine, but he doesn't do that very often. Bradford often goes into the fetal position and just take the sack. Sacks are better than interceptions, but these are not all coverage sacks, with zero open receivers available. On the pick-six he threw, wide receiver Danny Amendola was wide open on the left side of the field as the, but he forced it deep into tight coverage that quickly became double coverage on the same side of the field. He's clearly not going through his progressions and is still not comfortable in the pocket. Teams don't win many games in which their quarterback takes six sacks, so Bradford will either need to start making plays with his legs or at least learn to get rid of the ball quicker to get back to winning like he did in college.
