For a while, the Bears stayed close. But ultimately, for the eighth straight week, close didn’t matter.
The Bears once again proved unable to make plays at decisive moments before losing 21-16 to the St. Louis Rams. Their futility tied a franchise record for disappointment as their eight-game losing streak matches the club’s 1978 standard for consecutive failures.
The Rams, 5-5 after five straight victories, sacked quarterback Chris Chandler five times in first half, the most devastating one coming with 17 seconds remaining in the second quarter. On the play, rookie left tackle Marc Colombo sustained a dislocated left kneecap and is expected to be out for the season.
Chandler was sacked a sixth time in the third quarter and was hit repeatedly despite early attempts to move him out of the pocket to set up away from pressure.
The Bears trailed 14-6 at halftime and stood down just 14-13 after three quarters. But in the fourth quarter quarterback Marc Bulger (21-of-35, 347 yards, 2 touchdowns) hit former Bear Ricky Proehl for an 8-yard touchdown pass that beat cornerback Jerry Azumah for a 21-13 Rams’ lead.
The Bears’ Paul Edinger hit a 50-yard field goal with less than four minutes to play to make it 21-16.
The Rams put the Bears on their heels at the outset, scoring on a 10-play opening drive as they waltzed through a variety of Bears defensive looks with alarming ease. The Rams beat Bears blitzes and extra defensive backs to convert third-and-10 and third-and-9 situations with Bulger completions to running back Lamar Gordon for 13 yards and to Isaac Bruce for 21 yards for a first down at the Chicago 26.
Bulger then hit Bruce in a seam in the Bears’ zone defense for 22 yards to give the Rams first-and-goal at the 4. On third down, Bulger handed off to tight end Ernie Conwell circling from a wingback spot on the right side for a touchdown that gave St. Louis a 7-0 lead.
Linebacker Rosevelt Colvin, who was beaten for a 52-yard completion from Bulger to Conwell to open the Rams’ second possession, redeemed himself with a sack, giving him a team-high 8 1/2, and a forced fumble that Alex Brown recovered at the Bears’ 15.
The Bears converted the takeaway into points with a little creativity. On fourth down at the Chicago 46, punter Brad Maynard faked a handoff to Rabih Abdullah, faked a punt, then took off along the left sideline to 20 yards and a first down at the St. Louis 35. Anthony Thomas slashed through the left side for 17 yards, but a sack of Chandler stalled the drive and Edinger provided the Bears’ first points with a 37-yard field goal at the start of the second quarter.
Leon Johnson returned a subsequent Rams’ punt 29 yards to give the offense the ball at the St. Louis 33. Another third-down sack of Chandler forced Edinger to kick a 48-yard field goal, his 12th straight successful field-goal attempt.
But the offense’s failure to turn excellent field position into more than three points was a bad sign, one that has become a pattern for the 2002 Bears. On their second possession, when the Bears moved the ball inside the St. Louis 20, they ran five plays, not one of which went into the end zone. That drive ended with a 2-yard gain on a flanker screen at third and 20.
Chandler took a pounding early. He was sacked on three of five snaps on the Bears’ second possession in addition to being the target on a roughing-the-passer penalty on defensive end Leonard Little. Chandler was sacked a fourth time in the first half to stop the Bears’ next possession before Edinger converted the 48-yard field goal to bring the Bears to within a point at 7-6.
The Bears, as they did last week against the New England Patriots, had a chance in a short-yardage situation to exert themselves but failed completely, with dire consequences. With third-and-1 at their 47 and just less than two minutes remaining in the half, Johnson was unable to pick up the first down, forcing the Bears to punt to the Rams with 1 minute 28 seconds left in the half.
The Rams breezed downfield on four Bulger pass plays: 9 yards to wide receiver Troy Edwards, 33 yards to Bruce, 22 yards to wide receiver Torry Holt and 22 yards for the touchdown to Gordon for his second touchdown. The drive required just 39 seconds and sent the Rams in ahead 14-6 at halftime.
The first half in particular was marked by some curious Bears play-calling on the offense besides the unsuccessful flanker screen. On a third-and-13, the Bears ran a sweep by short-yardage back Leon Johnson that got nothing until Rams defensive end Leonard Little wrestled Johnson’s helmet off and threw it into the Chicago end zone, earning a 15-yard penalty.
With 10 seconds remaining before halftime and the ball at the St. Louis 41, the Bears sent wide receiver Marty Booker in at quarterback, taking their best receiver out of play as a receiving option. Booker, who earlier was well short on a pass attempt on an end around, just heaved the ball upfield as he was swarmed by Rams.
The Bears drew to within a point in the third quarter when Thomas blew through a huge hole created by left tackle Bernard Robertson and left guard Mike Gandy for 13 yards and his sixth rushing TD of the season, his fourth in the last five games.
The Rams, who have played in two of the last three Super Bowls, were without tailback Marshall Faulk, out with a sprained ankle, and it seemed to matter for the first time. Since 1999 with Faulk in the lineup, the Rams have averaged 30.9 points per game. Without him the last four games they have scored 31.8.
