What I Predicted:
Week 6: @ Atlanta (Sunday Night Football) The Bears will try to exact revenge for a last second loss in 2008 that could have put the Bears in the playoffs at seasons end but Ryan, Turner and White are just too much at home for them to overcome. Falcons 34, Bears 26.
What Happened: Falcons 21, Bears 14 This is the second (first being Green Bay) of what may end up being many frustrating games for the Bears this season, this frustration comes from the knowledge that the Bears beat the Bears.
They got off to a great start keeping Atlanta’s high-powered Offense at bay not allowing a first down in the entire first quarter. Michael Turner had nowhere to go and Matt Ryan looked rattled or just plain inaccurate at times early on.
Jay Cutler looked sharp until he misread quarter’s coverage in the redzone and threw a costly pick on a ball intended for Devin Hester. Red Zone troubles occurred all too often in this contest and will be revisited later on. Matt Ryan eventually settled in and found a rhythm in part because the Bears D-line had no sacks and applied very little pressure. That being said, the secondary held their own while having to cover a good receiving core for long periods of time.
Cutler threw his second pick of the game in the second quarter while looking down the middle of the field for Greg Olsen and overthrowing him badly, say what you want about Jay but he came back to make that throw perfectly on the final drive of the game that got the Bears in a position to go into overtime.
The Bears Offensive line has looked dismal at times this season and that was not more evident at any time this season than in Atlanta. There is enough blame to go around for the lack of running offense this season and Matt Forte is high on that list. Forte looks as if he is running with weights on his ankles this year as he is dancing rather that cutting. 15 carries for 23 yards is not going to cut it against any team. Two fumbles on back-to-back plays inside the 5 is pathetic and inexcusable, I’m afraid that the sophomore slump is in full effect this season for Forte.
This game was a battle of two teams that did not seem interested in executing and in the end the team that made the least amount of mistakes came out on top. With all of the terrible play by the Bears in this game they needing 3 feet on fourth down, and they called time to set up a play. But Pace inexplicably took off ahead of the snap, leaving Chicago with fourth-and-6. Cutler’s final pass, going for Desmond Clark over the middle, with 29 seconds left.
Lets breathe for a minute Bears fans, they are 3-2 with Cincinnati and Cleveland due up. They did look very bad at points on Sunday but I choose to take away a few good points from this game: Johnny Knox is for real, Wolfe is a capable backup, the secondary is better than we thought. One serious downside is that the running game needs to fixed quickly or it could cost Lovie his job at seasons end.
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