Getty LB Leonard Floyd of the Los Angeles Rams
As it turns out, the Leonard Floyd revenge game was very real. The former first-round pick of the Chicago Bears seems to be settling in rather nicely with his new team. The Bears opted to let Floyd walk this spring, choosing instead to sign veteran Robert Quinn to a five-year, $70 million deal and now, Floyd has become a key member of the Rams defense.
Quinn has also played well in his time with the Bears — he just hasn’t played as much as people thought he would. After playing 60 percent of the Cowboys’ defensive snaps in 2019, Quinn has played in just 39 percent of the team’s defensive snaps so far this season. He has five tackles, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, a sack and a quarterback hit, and he has been excellent when it comes to getting pressure.
When the Bears and Rams clashed in a huge Monday night showdown, however, Floyd was the one stealing the show, and his team was the one emerging with the win. Floyd had six tackles, and season highs in quarterback hits (3) tackles for loss (2) and sacks (2) against the Bears. After the game, Floyd let it be known he felt he was playing for the superior defense.
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Leonard Floyd on Win vs Bears: Rams Have the Better Defense
“I wanted to be calm, but with high intensity to go out and execute at a high level to help us win,” Floyd told the media after his new team handily beat his old one. “We proved that we was the better defense today,” Floyd said after the Rams handed his former team an embarrassing 24-10 loss.
As he spoke to the media, Floyd stood at the podium clutching the game ball Rams head coach Seam McVay gave him after the win. “Getting the game ball? Man, it was a blessing. I just went out and played hard for it and I got rewarded,” Floyd said, adding former Bears outside linebackers coach Brandon Staley, now the Rams’ defensive coordinator, got one too. “He gave me and Coach Staley game balls for beating our old team. He even let me break it down. I told the team we did a good job executing.”
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Is Rams Defense Better Than Bears Defense?
Is Floyd correct? Are the Rams better than the Bears on defense? They were Monday night, and a look at the stats suggests Los Angeles is indeed better than Chicago in most major defensive categories, at least through the first seven games.
The Rams had four sacks and eight quarterback hits against the Bears, and they currently rank higher than the Bears in points per game allowed (LA is giving up 17.7 points to Chicago’s 20), rushing yards allowed, (100.4 yards per game to the Bears’ 119.9), passing yards per game (212.4 to Chicago’s 222.1) — and they also have just one fewer takeaway than the Bears.
As for Floyd, he’s off to the best start of his five-year career. He has played 92 percent of LA’s snaps on defense this season. He has 23 tackles, four sacks, six tackles for loss and nine quarterback hits. “It was kind of emotional, but I tried not to get too far into the emotional side of it. I wanted to keep it like it was a normal week for me,” Floyd said Monday night. Looks like his new normal suits him just fine.
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