For Bears fans concerned about the team hiring Matt Eberflus to carry the team forward, the Rams showed once again that leaning on defense is a proven path to Super Bowl glory.
A few minutes into the second quarter it looked like the Rams were cruising to a Super Bowl victory. Their run game wasn’t working well, but splashy plays in the pass game had made up for it. But after a botched Rams point-after try kept the score at 13-3 the wheels started to fall for Los Angeles’ offense. On their ensuing drive, Odell Beckham Jr. went down with a non-contact injury. A few plays later Matt Stafford threw an interception in the endzone.
In the second half, things snowballed quickly. The Bengals were the beneficiaries of a missed facemask call on a 75-yard Tee Higgins touchdown on the first offensive play of the third quarter. The Rams turned the ball over again on their first offensive play of the half, and in the blink of an eye the Bengals went up 20-13. With OBJ out, the Rams couldn’t generate much offense, settling for a field goal, then going three-and-out on three drives in a row.
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It was a similar feeling to the Bengals’ AFC Championship upset over the Chiefs. After an underwhelming first half, Cincinnati woke up and turned the tide. The difference in the Super Bowl was the Rams' defense managed to stop the bleeding, while the Chiefs couldn’t. The Rams sacked Burrow six times following Stafford’s second interception. They limited Joe Mixon to 32 yards, after he rushed for 56 in the first half. Most importantly, they forced four straight punts after the Bengals 10-point burst to start the half. Then, when the Rams finally did retake the lead, the defense once again stepped up, and sealed the deal by forcing a turnover on downs on five plays.
The key for the Rams was the fearsome pass rush dialed up by Aaron Donald and Von Miller. Each man got to Burrow twice in the second half. It was a performance reminiscent of the Buccaneers’ defensive domination last year. In fact, three of the last four Super Bowl winners have done so by riding their defense.
So, can the Bears do the same thing?
Looking at their roster moving forward, they once again seem to have the scales tipped in the defense’s favor. Eberflus’ scheme is predicated on generating pressure with its four down linemen, and with Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn leading the way they should be able to accomplish that. Roquan Smith has played at an All-Pro level for years now, and can play at a championship caliber, like Lavonte David and Devin White did for the Bucs in 2020. It appears Jaylon Johnson is ready to step into the spotlight as a shutdown corner heading into his third year in the league. If playing in Eberflus’ take on the Cover 2 can help Eddie Jackson take the ball away at a higher clip again, they’ll be well on their way to rebuilding another dominant unit.
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The Bucs and Rams didn’t just lean on their defenses, though. They had Tom Brady and Matt Stafford too. Neither man put forth earth-shattering box scores in their Super Bowl wins: Brady barely cracked 200 yards on 29 attempts against the Chiefs, and Stafford threw two picks in critical moments. But each QB came through with clutch plays when called upon, too.
The question now is whether Justin Fields can be that man for the Bears. He showed flashes of brilliance in his rookie season, but will need to play much more consistently if the Bears want to make a run in the postseason any time soon. They don’t need Fields to put the entire team on his back, like the Packers and Chiefs often ask of Aaron Rodgers or Mahomes. But when the team is down four points with six minutes to go, can Fields lead a game-winning Super Bowl drive? He already (nearly) did it twice, against the 49ers and Steelers. He’s shown he can thrive on the brightest stages too, back at Ohio State. Fields just needs to put it all together at the NFL level.
The flip side of this coin is offensive line play. One could argue that’s what undid both the Chiefs last year, and the Bengals last night, rather than anything extraordinary the Bucs or Rams accomplished. While that seems to minimize the achievements of the champs, it’s a fair cautionary tale for any team moving forward. It’s also a huge question mark for the Bears next season. Are Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom really the team’s cornerstones at tackle? Will the team re-sign James Daniels? Even the futures of Cody Whitehair and Sam Mustipher are cloudy. Ryan Poles has made it clear that building the offense from the trenches out will be a priority in his front office. The extent of his work on the line remains to be seen though.
If recent history has shown us anything, it’s that the way to the Lombardi trophy is still paved by excellent defensive play. Clutch quarterbacking and reliable offensive line play are essential too. The Bears hope they’ll have each of those things in place, if not next year, then soon.