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Los Angeles had 388 yards on offense, not an alarming total but ran only 50 offensive plays. The Rams averaged 7.72 yards per play, the fourth-highest average allowed by the Bears in the last 20 seasons. That figure includes four kneel-downs by Stafford. Remove those, and the Bears defense allowed 8.52 yards per play which would rank as the most in the last 20 seasons.
Free safety Eddie Jackson didn’t have his best season a year ago — and this one isn’t off to a good start. Jackson was burned by the same concept the Green Bay Packers used on a long touchdown pass to tight end Robert Tonyan at Lambeau Field last season. In this instance, Jackson bit on a move by wide receiver Van Jefferson and it resulted in a 67-yard touchdown on the Rams’ third play from scrimmage. It looked like the same play just with different personnel. Stafford bootlegged out of the pocket, hoping Jackson would believe Jefferson was running a deep corner route. Instead, Jefferson ran a shake route, a corner-post. He crossed Jackson’s face and was wide open. It’s the same thing that happened last November at Lambeau. Jackson jumped the wrong route and the play went for a touchdown. Strong safety Tashaun Gipson needs to help on this play and he wasn’t there. Making it worse, Jackson and Gipson both failed to touch Jefferson down when he lost his balance and went to the turf. So, he popped up and darted into the end zone for a Rams TD.
Something isn’t right when Allen Robinson is targeted 11 times and has six catches for 35 yards. Darnell Mooney has all the speed a receiver ever would need and had five catches for 26 yards. The Bears had only one completion go for more than 11 yards.
From 2015 through 2020 — a span of six drafts — there were 20 quarterbacks selected in Round 1. The head coach was fired after the rookie season of 10 of those quarterbacks. In only two cases was the general manager/team president in charge of personnel also fired.
As the national scout said, there is context with each one of the personnel changes on the chart — and surely McCaskey will have his own unique criteria as this season unfolds. What it does suggest, though, is that a highly drafted quarterback doesn’t always provide stability for a head coach. Sometimes, it’s a short runway for that coach, and the development of Fields will be fascinating to track.