Chicago Bears def. St. Louis Rams: Week 10 Reaction

Nov 15, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Chicago Bears running back Jeremy Langford (33) carries the ball in the red zone as St. Louis Rams free safety Rodney McLeod (23) dives to stop him during the second half at the Edward Jones Dome. Chicago defeated St. Louis 37-13. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Two teams clinging to their playoff hopes met as the St. Louis Rams played hosts to the Chicago Bears.  In what figured to be a matchup of two surging defenses, only one of them showed up.  The Rams, who boasted a top 5 unit coming into the game, were thoroughly outclassed by Jay Cutler and an endlessly resourceful Bears offense who posted touchdowns of 87 and 83 yards in a 37-13 thrashing.

The win puts Chicago back in the NFC North picture while the Rams’ only consolation is they remain 3-0 in their own division, which could prove crucial in any wild card race.

Here are some takeaways from the game.

Jeremy Langford and other rookies keep doing Ryan Pace proud

It really is astounding how well so many of the Bears rookie draft class is playing after just eight games.  Free safety Adrian Amos and defensive tackle Eddie Goldman were already starters and playing well but it’s been the amazing breakout of running back Jeremy Langford that may be the icing on the cake for first-year GM Ryan Pace.

He put 182 total yards and two touchdowns on one of the top defenses in the NFL.  Not bad for a 4th round pick in his second career start.

Rams wide receiver crisis reaching a fever pitch

The past few weeks nobody has really talked about it because the Rams have gotten their wins the old fashioned way with great defense and a power running game led by Todd Gurley.  However, there have been growing concerns that the team doesn’t have the weaponry needed to conduct a legitimate passing attack.

They ranked 32nd in the league and quarterback Nick Foles continues to struggle finding any of his receivers open.  He completed less than half his passes against Chicago for just 200 yards and none of the receivers had more than 40 for the game.  That is not good enough if they want to be a playoff team.

Cutler’s resurgence may have clinched Adam Gase a HC job

The man of the moment in St. Louis was Jay Cutler, who posted a career-high 151.0 quarterback rating with 258 yards passing and three touchdowns without a single turnover.  He was masterful at the line of scrimmage, calling some perfectly-timed audibles that led to big plays.  However, much of his success has come under the watch of offensive coordinator Adam Gase.

The up-and-coming young coach burst onto the scene in Denver and was a hot commodity last off-season for head coaching jobs.  It didn’t work out, but the feeling was if he could turn around a seemingly lost cause in Cutler for the Bears, teams would line up for a chance to hire him.

Safe to say he’s done the job so far.