Los Angeles Rams vs Chicago Bears: Gurley getting the ball

McVay figured out?

Talks about Sean McVay's offense being figured out are louder every week. In my opinion, their issues are not only related to their scheme, but also to the availability of the personnel. Let's not forget that they lost two very important lineman in the offseason (Saffold and Sullivan). Todd Gurley is on a snap count often, because of his knee. Those two things affected their ability to run the ball, which is crucial for this offense. They want to scare defenses with their run and then call different plays out of same looks.

In this game, that might be even more difficult to do. Two players (Allen, Noteboom) that replaced Saffold and Sullivan in the middle of that OL are on the Injured Reserve at the moment. Right tackle Rob Havenstein will be joining them on the sidelines for this game, after suffering a knee injury. Brandin Cooks is also still out with concussion. Chicago's defense is not what they were last year, especially after the injury of Akiem Hicks, but I still doubt that the Rams will have much success on offfense tonight.

Middle of the defense getting thinner and thinner

Chicago is one of the biggeset underachivers in the league this season. I guess that not many expected this decline on both sides of the ball. Trubisky did struggle since being drafted, but they thought when surrounded by more talent and having another year under his belt in Nagy's system, his game will improve. But the entire offense is playing way under expectations and there are no signs of turning that around any time soon.

The defense was probably the best in the league last year. They were carrying the entire team. Looking at the lineup, nobody can really spot a weakness and they also played like that on the field. But Vic Fangio obviously had more to do with it then people have thought. This defense is not playing as good under Chuck Pagano, who took over after Fangio was hired as Broncos HC. And that was especially true after losing Akiem Hicks earlier this season. Their run defense immediately went from one of the best to a mediocre unit. Now they're without another important member of that front seven - mike linebacker Danny Trevathan.

Rams vs Bears best bet

McVay was also criticized a lot because he's not using Todd Gurley enough in crucial moments, even though he's one of their best players. For example, he didn't touch the ball in the 4th quarter last week, when they were playing from behind in Pittsburgh. But he was in there for over 70% of the snaps, so the playing time is not really a problem. With Hicks and Travathan out, I'd usually bet him over rushing yards. But considering Rams are playing a bunch of backups on the OL tonight, I'd rather try with the receiving yards. They might struggle to get push up the middle, which is why they might design some screen plays and get him the ball in space.