Week 12 GameDay: Chicago Bears @ St. Louis Rams

The Chicago Bears are currently tied for first place in the NFC North, however they have lost their last two games by a combined score of 58-17. The Bears are in the middle of the pack in most stats which matches their 5-5 record. The Bears are in the middle of a three game road trip. Kyle Orton has been playing on a bad right ankle and has not been that effective of late. The Bears will lean on powerful rookie running back Matt Forte for most of their offense on Sunday. Matt is already over 1000 total yards on the season. With the Rams allowing almost 160 yards rushing per game look for the Bears to try to grind this one out while using effective play action passes to attack the Rams suspect secondary.

The St. Louis Rams are tied for last place in the NFC West, and were outscored 82-19 in their last two contests. Orlando Pace will join Steven Jackson this week as key starters that will be unable to play. There really is not much to say about this offense or lack there of. The Rams are 30th in points scored, 28th in passing, and 25th in rushing. Marc Bulger has been awful and the ground game has been inconsistent with the Rams game plan not really focused on running the rock. Antonio Pittman needs to get the ball 20+ times so we can slow the game down and stay in it until the second half. Marc will have to take a couple chances deep with Donnie Avery.

This game reminds me a lot of the Washington Redskins game. The Bears are not explosive and win with power running, timely passing, ball control and strong defense. I believe this will allow the Rams to stay in the game just like they did against the Redskins. The Bears defense should be the difference but they have been torched lately. The Rams who have lost four in a row look like a beaten team. I think it is time they step up one more time and apply a decent effort. Overall the difference should be the Bears D and the lack of any decent consistent offense from the Rams.

Prediction:

Chicago Bears – 23

St. Louis Rams -13