Chicago Bears: Keys to Victory in Week 1 vs. Rams

The Chicago Bears open up their 2021 season on the road against the Los Angeles Rams. Here are some keys for them to come away with a victory.

The regular season is finally here! The Chicago Bears open their 2021 season on Sunday night. They take to the road to face the Los Angeles Rams. Some people expect the Rams to be Super Bowl contenders, especially with their acquisition of Matthew Stafford in the offseason. The feeling is that Stafford is a better quarterback than the previous starter, Jared Goff. The offense struggled a bit with Goff leading it. Adding a very good quarterback like Stafford should make it a better unit.

The Bears have offensive struggles themselves. Over most of the last decade, the offense continually ranked at or near the bottom. When Chicago hired Matt Nagy as head coach the prevailing thought was that the offense would be better. That hasn’t happened, however. Hopefully, with a better quarterback room and a talented, speedy receiving corps, the offense finally flourishes.

Now, let’s go over some keys for the Bears to come away with a road victory.

Run the ball

One of the frustrating aspects of the Chicago Bears’ offense last season was the rushing attack. For most of the season, the running game was nearly nonexistent. Yes, the offensive line struggles had something to do with that. However, Nagy neglected the running game while trying to fix the passing game. Once the offensive line improved, the play-calling, whether it was Nagy or offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, had the running backs more involved in the game plan.

The Rams had a very good run defense last season. They ranked third in the NFL in rushing average, allowing ball carriers 3.8 yards per run. The Bears need to run the ball, though. If Andy Dalton is to have some success throwing the ball, David Montgomery and company need to get some nice runs. That will take some pressure off of Dalton.

Montgomery spent the offseason working on his speed. His speed coach said that he’ll be much faster this season. Well, we need to see that right from Week 1. He has a great ability to break tackles, finishing near the top in broken tackles for two consecutive seasons. If he can now break tackles and run away from other tacklers, he’ll be a dangerous back.

Behind Montgomery, the Bears have Damien Williams and Khalil Herbert. Williams is returning after opting out of last season. He is familiar with Nagy’s offense so he’ll fit right in.

Herbert is a rookie but he had a tremendous training camp and did well in preseason games. He might be more of a returner this season but he’ll get his shots in the backfield. If he comes in and does well, expect to see more of him.

The Bears offense needs to keep the Rams defense off-balance. Running effectively does just that.

The defensive front seven need to apply pressure on Stafford

The Chicago Bears are very familiar with Mathew Stafford. He spent his career in the NFC North playing for the Detroit Lions. Chicago knows what he’s trying to do and knows his tendencies.

For the defense to succeed, the front seven needs to apply pressure on Stafford. That worked when he played in Detroit.

If he stays in the pocket without much pressure, he’ll find a way to kill your secondary. With the Bears secondary a little suspect, the front seven needs to help. The Bears brought in Alec Ogletree, Christian Jones (a former Lion himself), and Jeremiah Attaochu for added depth at linebacker. Additionally, they have Trevis Gipson, someone people expect to take a big step forward this season.

New defensive coordinator Sean Desai is a Vic Fangio disciple. He wants the defense to be more aggressive and create more turnovers. That’s what Fangio’s defense did. Desai gets his first chance to show that the Monsters of the Midway defense is back.

We saw what happened last season when Stafford stood in the pocket and had time to throw. He engineered a comeback win late in the game when the defense tired and was unable to pressure him. He carved out the secondary.

If the pressure isn’t there on Sunday, he’ll do it again.

Dalton needs to use his experience to beat the Rams defense

Yes, many Chicago Bears fans are still livid that Dalton is the starter over Justin Fields. Fields is the future, and the fans want the future to start now. It isn’t happening, however. The Bears have their plan and are sticking to it…for now.

Dalton has to do something that Mitchell Trubisky couldn’t do — use his veteran experience. Dalton reads the defense better. He knows what they’re going to do by watching how they line up.

That experience will help the offensive line greatly. People still feel queasy about the offensive line play. They didn’t see anything this preseason to earn any hope. We’ll see what happens when the season begins, though.

With Dalton’s experience, he can make a decision and get rid of the ball quicker. Also, he needs to hit the deep ball. Darnell Mooney had himself a night last season when he went up against Jalen Ramsey. He found himself open on more than a few plays against one of the top defensive backs in the league. The quarterback just wasn’t able to get the ball to him. Hopefully, Dalton completes a few deep balls, making the Rams defense think about it. That opens up space underneath for Allen Robinson and Cole Kmet.

Dalton knows what the deal is with his time in Chicago. He’s actually playing for a shot with another team. This is a one-and-done with Chicago. It’s only a matter of time before Fields takes over. He can keep Fields at bay for a while with good play. Additionally, his good play becomes his resume for 2022.

Whitehair and Daniels need to play well

Cody Whitehair and James Daniels will have a great deal of pressure on their shoulders. All-World defensive tackle Aaron Donald moves around at times. That means he’ll face Daniels and Whitehair. Daniels did a great job on Donald when they faced each other in 2019. With Daniels blocking him (most of the time one-on-one), Donald finished with just two tackles and a quarterback hit. He spent most of the night frustrated that the rookie offensive lineman didn’t allow him near the backfield.

Over the last two seasons, without Daniels (Daniels was at center in 2019 and missed the game with an injury in 2020), Donald had his way with the Chicago Bears offensive line. He recorded 7 tackles, 5 quarterback hits, and 2.5 sacks combined. Even when he didn’t get to the quarterback, he put enough pressure on him to either throw before his receiver could get close to where he needed to be, or force a terrible pass that the secondary intercepted.

Hopefully, Whitehair and Daniels do a good job at keeping Donald at bay. If they can, the Bears have a good shot of pulling off an upset. If not, it’ll be another long night for the Chicago Bears.