An unsurprisingly defensive-minded battle didn’t go the Bears’ way in a 17-7 loss to the Rams on “Sunday Night Football.” The team’s fifth loss in six games puts their shrinking playoff hopes on even thinner ice.
A pair of takeaways in the first half gave the Bears opportunities, but a pair of missed field goals by Eddy Pineiro led to a 10-0 deficit at halftime.
The team responded in the third quarter with an impressive 12-play, 80-yard drive to cut the lead to 10-7, but they weren’t able to get any closer before the Rams scored a game-sealing TD late in the fourth quarter.
Final score: Rams 17, Bears 7
Rams 17, Bears 7: The Bears say Mitch Trubisky left the game with a hip injury.
Rams 17, Bears 7: Chase Daniel did not stir up any last-minute excitement.
Rams 17, Bears 7: Chase Daniel enters for Mitch Trubisky in apparent hopes of stirring up some last-minute excitement.
Rams 17, Bears 7: After a pass to Gerald Everett puts the Rams inside the Bears’ 5, Malcolm Brown punches it in for the team’s second TD of the game.
Rams 10, Bears 7: No penalty on a 26-yard pass to Josh Reynolds, who takes it to the Bears’ 22.
Rams 10, Bears 7: A brutal break for the Rams as an illegal formation call on Andre Whitworth waives off a 51-yard touchdown pass to Josh Reynolds.
Rams 10, Bears 7: The Bears continue to struggle in third-and-short situations, this time failing to convert a third-and-1 with a hopeless pass to Taylor Gabriel.
Rams 10, Bears 7: Disaster almost strikes for the Rams after Buster Skrine knocks the ball away from receiver Mike Thomas, but Thomas manages to get back on the ball to avoid a turnover.
Rams 10, Bears 7: An 18-yard pass over the middle to Cooper Kupp gets called off for offensive holding. Jared Goff has completed seven passes so far this evening.
Rams 10, Bears 7: The Bears can’t take advantage and end up punting it away again. That’s six straight punts between the two teams.
Rams 10, Bears 7: A big Aaron Donald sack on third-and-4 gets called off because of defensive holding by Troy Hill, giving the Bears a fresh set of downs.
Rams 10, Bears 7: The Rams’ first four drives of the second half – punt, punt, punt, punt. Johnny Hekker has been kept busy.
Third quarter: Rams 10, Bears 7
Rams 10, Bears 7: Kyle Fuller nearly comes away with a big interception, but the Bears’ defense still forces another stop as Johnny Hekker punts it away for the third time in the third quarter.
Rams 10, Bears 7: Cordarrelle Patterson gets called for unsportsmanlike conduct after taking off his helmet on the field of play, so the Rams will start their next drive with a short field from their own 43.
Rams 10, Bears 7: A brutal option play on third-and-1 ends with David Montgomery losing three yards, so they’re forced to punt it away.
Rams 10, Bears 7: The Bears’ defense forces a clutch three-and-out by sending Todd Gurley backwards on third-and-1. The Rams have only thrown seven passes so far in this game, a rarity for a 2019 NFL game.
Rams 10, Bears 7: TOUCHDOWN! What a pass by Mitch Trubisky and catch by Tarik Cohen for a 14-yard score to complete a 12-play, 80-yard drive. Cohen is up to 67 total yards on 11 touches in the game.
.@TarikCohen with the fancy footwork on the TD!
— NFL (@NFL) November 18, 2019
The @ChicagoBears are on the board. #Bears100
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Rams 10, Bears 0: The Bears have pieced together a few first downs with short passes, but they’re still trying to break through with a big play or two.
Rams 10, Bears 0: After three straight Todd Gurley runs, the Rams punt it away on fourth-and-1.
Halftime: Rams 10, Bears 0
Rams 10, Bears 0: Rather than go for it on fourth-and-10 at the Rams’ 41, the Bears opt to punt it away with 27 seconds left in the half.
Rams 10, Bears 0: Todd Gurley plows it in on first-and-goal to extend the Rams’ lead.
The @RamsNFL feed Gurley for the TD! @TG3II #LARams
— NFL (@NFL) November 18, 2019
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Rams 3, Bears 0: Officials rule it’s Rams’ ball at the 1-yard line.
Rams 3, Bears 0: Jared Goff goes deep to a wide open Cooper Kupp for a 51-yard touchdown, but the play is currently under review to determine whether he went out of bounds before crossing the end zone plane.
.@JaredGoff16 connects deep with @CooperKupp! #LARams
— NFL (@NFL) November 18, 2019
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Rams 3, Bears 0: Anthony Miller tips a ball into the air that’s picked off by Troy Hill for the Bears’ first turnover of the game. Miller also got called for offensive pass interference on the play, which the Rams unsurprisingly declined.
Deflected and PICKED.
— NFL (@NFL) November 18, 2019
The @RamsNFL defense comes up with a takeaway. #LARams
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Rams 3, Bears 0: After a three-and-out by the Rams, the Bears get moving again with a nice third-down pass to Anthony Miller on their next series. The Bears are now 4-of-9 on third down conversions so far Sunday night.
Rams 3, Bears 0: The Bears’ offense serves up its first three-and-out of the game, but hey, at least it came in the second quarter.
Rams 3, Bears 0: Jared Goff gets stopped a yard short of a first down at the Bears’ 20, so the Rams settle for a 38-yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein to take the lead.
First quarter: Bears 0, Rams 0
Bears 0, Rams 0: Todd Gurley with a couple good runs to get the Rams to the Bears’ 44 as the first quarter wraps up.
Bears 0, Rams 0: After some nice passes by Mitch Trubisky to get the Bears to the Rams’ 29, Eddy Pineiro misses another field goal attempt.
Bears 0, Rams 0: The Bears get a break with the Rams running into the punter on fourth down, giving them a first down to keep the offense on the field.
Bears 0, Rams 0: Ben Braunecker fights on third down but falls a yard short, so Pat O’Donnell punts for the first time in the game.
Bears 0, Rams 0: After L.A. drives into field goal territory, Jared Goff throws a pass near the right sideline that’s somehow picked off by Roquan Smith. The defense is certainly showing up so far.
Another takeaway for the @ChicagoBears defense!@RoquanSmith1 INTERCEPTION. #Bears100
— NFL (@NFL) November 18, 2019
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Bears 0, Rams 0: In a telling bit about how they feel about their kicker, the Bears go for it on fourth-and-9 at the Rams’ 31 and fail to convert a pass to Taylor Gabriel, who got his hands on the ball but dropped it. That’s two trips into field goal territory without any points for the offense.
Bears 0, Rams 0: Todd Gurley fumbles on the Rams’ first offensive play of the game and it’s recovered by Ha Ha Clinton-Dix for a takeaway. It looks like Eddie Jackson helped get that ball free.
.@BoJack39 forces the fumble! #Bears100
— NFL (@NFL) November 18, 2019
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Bears 0, Rams 0: After the drive stalls out at the Rams’ 30, Eddy Pineiro doesn’t come close on a 48-yard field goal attempt. Wide left, still scoreless.
Bears 0, Rams 0: David Montgomery finds some room on the right side for a 19-yard gain, giving the Bears their second first down of the game.
Bears 0, Rams 0: The Rams won the coin toss and deferred, so Mitch Trubisky and the Bears’ offense will take the field to open the game.
Before the game
The Bears return to primetime television for the first time since Week 3 for a “Sunday Night Football” matchup against the Rams. Last time these two teams met a year ago, Chicago hung on for a 15-6 victory that exposed to other teams how to limit Los Angeles’ high-powered attack.
Neither team enters this game where it wanted to be after starting the fall with Super Bowl expectations.
The Bears beat an undermanned Lions team last week to snap a four-game losing streak, but they’re still in a deep hole behind the Packers and Vikings in the NFC North. Mitch Trubisky remains a big question mark under center. The defense clearly misses Akiem Hicks.
The Rams, meanwhile, have gone 2-4 since opening the year with three consecutive victories. Jared Goff, a two-time Pro Bowler, has topped a 100.0 passer rating in just two of his nine starts this season. The defense, despite boasting Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, Clay Matthews and Eric Weddle, ranks 15th in points allowed.
It’s a different situation from last year, when the 11-1 Rams lost just their second game of the year to the 8-4 Bears, but the pressure remains high all the same.
Bears vs. Rams, Week 11
Time: 7:20 p.m.
TV: NBC
Live stream: NBC Sports Live
