It was a complete team victory for the Los Angeles Rams in Week 7 as they cruised to a 24-10 win over the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.
Jared Goff and the running game carried the offense, while the defense put on an absolute clinic in both halves. Aaron Donald and company racked up four sacks, while Jalen Ramsey and the secondary added two interceptions for good measure.
Chicago made two red-zone trips all game but came up with zero points because of a pick and turnover on downs. However, the real story was the special teams play of Johnny Hekker, who never gave the Bears any sort of field position on each of his punts.
According to Grant Gordon of NFL, Sean McVay was beyond impressed with Hekker’s performance:
“He was unbelievable,” McVay said. “To have five punts, all of those end up inside the 10-yard line, it was a big-time deal. Very rarely do you give a punter a game ball after a game, but he was very deserving of it tonight.”
One of Hekker’s punts drew praise from Aaron Donald to which the former quipped about in his post-game interview, via Greg Beacham of Associated Press:
"It’s just great to know that Aaron Donald knows my name sometimes." — the Rams' Johnny Hekker on his chest-bump from No. 99 after a big punt
— Greg Beacham (@gregbeacham) October 27, 2020
Hekker has been a long-time fixture for the Rams and he showed why he is often regarded as one of the best –if not the best– punter in the NFL today. The four-time Pro Bowler seemingly outdid himself on every punt, with his most impressive one coming off a 63-yarder that pinned the Bears at their 6-yard line.
Forcing the Bears to play so deep on their side of the field on nearly every possession made the L.A.’s defense job a lot easier and contributed to the sacks and interceptions. Foles and the rest of his offense had no margin for error and as a result, severely struggled to get anything going.
For his efforts, Hekker was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He was then also named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for October.
For McVay and the coaching staff, to see the team win in all three phases has to be a massive confidence boost and a much-needed one nearly halfway through the 2020 season. Hopefully they can ride the momentum to another win in Week 8 when they take on the Miami Dolphins.
