Rookie Tory Taylor boots the Bears to a near-record

The only thing that stood between Tory Taylor and the best punting day in Bears history was the rookie doing what he was supposed to do — punting a ball 35 yards to pin the Rams at the 8 with 1:03 to play Sunday.

Before that, Taylor was averaging 60.5 yards per punt, which would be a Bears record dating to at least 1960. That includes his best boot of the game, a 66-yarder earlier in the fourth quarter than rolled out of bounds at the 8.

“Last week, I wasn’t hitting the ball the way I wanted to because I just wasn’t being my aggressive self,” he said. “Whereas this week I was like, ‘No matter what happens, I just want to be me and go out there and be my aggressive self,’ because I know the rest of it will take care of itself.”

Taylor averaged 42.3 yards against the Colts and 55.4 Sunday.

The disrespect

Montez Sweat’s second-quarter strip-sack of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was rooted in a slight. When the Bears defensive end lined up, he saw the Rams planned to block him with Colby Parkinson. The tight end was helped eventually by receiver Jordan Whittington.

Sweat beat Parkinson, and then Whittington before tackling Stafford and punching at the ball with his right hand.

“I felt disrespected, honestly, man,” Sweat said. “With the tight end on me, I did what I was supposed to do.”

This and that

• Left guard Teven Jenkins hurt his ribs in the second quarter and did not return.

He was replaced by guard Matt Pryor, who moved from right guard to left. Nate Davis, who had been benched the past two games, took Pryor’s place.

“You’ve seen all year we’ve had a different lineup constantly,” left tackle Braxton Jones said. “Hats off to us for being able to adjust. Hats off to Nate for being able to come in and not blink an eye. We’re going to continue to do that.”

• Roschon Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown came out of an I-formation with backup center Doug Kramer playing fullback. Kramer hadn’t played the position since he was a freshman in high school ‚ and even then, they didn’t let him touch the ball.

Sunday marked his first offensive snap at any position that wasn’t a kneeldown.

• The Bears have won seven-straight home games.