By Don Stone - Football
Atlanta
This game featured two
teams trying to get their seasons going in the right direction. One would
wind up 2-4 with bleak hopes of anything good to come. The other would be
3-3, not a lot better, your chances are much better than the former.
The Falcons clearly are a team that thrives on home cooking with
all three losses on the road and both wins at home. In fact, it was the 2012
season the last time Atlanta won away from the Georgia Dome. For that
reason, this one was especially important was a schedule that has four
straight road games to follow.
Chicago is also 2-3, but their wins have both come on the road.
Both teams came in with two game losing streaks. Last week, the Bears had
a three point lead going into the fourth quarter only to see Carolina score
10 unanswered points to end the game with a win 31-24. Atlanta, similarly,
had a 20-10 lead at New York only to watch the Giants rattle off the last 20
points to win 30-20.
So, the last quarter would be interesting to watch to see which team
maintains that non scoring trend. Unfortunately, it would be Atlanta.
The Bears began the game with a 20 yard pass to Brandon Marshall
at the 35. But that's all they would get.
Atlanta's first drive went a little better as Steven Jackson
barreled forward for 14 followed by an 18 yard catch up the middle by TE
Levine Toilolo all the way to the
Bears 34. But the drive stalled there with Matt Bryant
putting Atlanta on the board first with a 52 yard field goal.
The Bears next drive included a Jay Cutler
sack by Jonathan Massaquoi and a punt
that pinned the Falcons at their 10 yard line. But, Atlanta went the first
of several three and outs giving Chicago great field position at their 39
yard line. An illegal formation call nullified a first down pass to
Matt Forte, but the RB made it up on the next
play with a catch that he took 16 to the Atlanta 46. TE Martellus
Bennett got it 14 yards closer to the 32. A
questionable late hit call on Paul Worrilow
gave the Bears new life at the 14 as the
first quarter came to an end. The defense held the damage to a game tying 25
yard Robbie Gould field goal. Falcons
3, Bears 3.
Matt Ryan started making progress
when he found Roddy White for 10 yards
at the 38 for a first down, then hit former Bear Devin Hester
for 23 more to the Chicago 40. But when he was sacked for 8 yards by DT
Stephen Paea, his drive stopped in its
tracks.
Cutler got to midfield quickly with an 18 yard connection to Forte then
more on the ground. But a holding call and a false start slowed things down.
Not for long, though, as Marshall brought down a 47 yard bomb to bring up a
first and goal at the three. WR Josh Morgan
got the rest to put the visitors up with
their first lead 10-3. The go ahead drive took 7 plays and 79 yards.
Julio Jones took a short pass and
moved it 15 yards downfield to the 37 to start Atlanta's drive. But a pair
of incompletions to White forced a
punt as the Falcons offense continued to sputter with 4:08 left in the half.
Chicago had been overcoming sacks and penalties all game with big plays.
They did it on this drive as well when Cutler was sacked for a third time by
Robert McClain, But, he quickly got
another first down at the Falcons 36 on a 15 yard pass to Marshall with 39
seconds to go. Nine more in the air got them within field goal range at the
27 to make it a 10 point lead at the half 13-3.
The Falcons defense had done a credible job posting three sacks and
holding the Bears to a touchdown and two field goals. But, they were giving
up big chunks of yardage to extend drives that should have been over.
The problem was mainly on the offense, which had done little or nothing
with just five first downs, going one of five on third downs with just 98
yards of total offense. Another problem was dropped balls, several by White
and Toilolo.
The question, I'm sure, was being asked among the fans. "Where is
Antone Smith?" With an offense unable to get
anything going, why was one of their most explosive players sitting on the
bench for all but one play? The RB had six career touchdowns of at least 38
yards scoring four times this season with two runs and two receptions
averaging 53.5 yards per TD. Coming in, Smith and Seahawks RB
Marshawn Lynch were the only players to post
multiple rushing and receiving TDs this season. They wouldn't have to wonder
for long.
The good news was that Atlanta was just down by three and had the ball
first to start the second half. From their 17 yard line, Ryan hit Jones for
just his third catch of the game to give them 17 yards and some breathing
room at the 26. Julio got 29 more on the next play to the Chicago 45. He
then took a handoff for 10 more and another first down. But the play came
back on a holding call. Another penalty moved them back to their 36 for a
first and 29.
Ryan got 14 back with a completion to Toilolo at midfield. Smith finally
got in the game and got a nine yard catch to bring up a third and six. Then
they made the wondering crowd happy and hit Smith again. The exciting back
did what he does best and took it the rest of the distance 41 yards for the
Falcons first TD of the game to pull them to within three, 13-10.
"Obviously, when he gets the ball in his hands he certainly makes a lot
of plays," said Ryan. "He’s taking full advantage of that. I’m sure as we
move forward; we are always trying to find ways to get the ball in space
with the guys we feel can make the plays."
It would be one of the few highlights of the game for Atlanta.
Samuel L. Jackson exhorted the
Falcons to "Rise Up" on the big screen and the defense did its part forcing
a punt from the 22. The offense would take its turn at their 31. Smith got
them a first down at the 42. Ryan scrambled and found Eric Weems
downfield at the Chicago 43. Jacquizz Rodgers
added seven to the 36. Bryant tied it up with
a 54 yarder, 13-13.
As with last week, it would be all Bears from there with 14 unanswered
points starting with a killer three play eighty yard drive highlighted by a
75 yard pass to Jeffery putting them with a first and goal at the six. One
play later, the crowd exploded as the numerous visiting Bears fans saw their
team make it into the end zone. A second later, the hometown crowd roared on
their own with a missed extra point. Chicago was back in the lead 19-13.
“That was probably the turning point in the game," said head coach
Mike Smith. "Absolutely the turning point in
the game. You can’t fight back from a 10 point deficit coming out at
halftime, starting fast and end up giving up the big touchdown that quickly
in the second half. We’ve got be better across the board as a football
team.”
The Falcons got their chance to go back ahead with a score but had
another three and out. A 47 yard punt combined with a holding call moved the
Bears back to their 13 yard line to start their drive.
Marshall got them out of the hole with a 13 yard catch at the 26. Forte
got them another first with a catch and carry plays to he 37. On a third and
eleven, Cutler ended the third quarter with a 25 yard pass to Bennett into
Falcons territory at the 39. The drive continued with another completion to
Jeffery for 10 to the 23 then another first down to bring up a first and
goal at the 10. He pulled down a touchdown but saw it called back on an
illegal touching penalty, moving it back to the 13. Again, they were able to
overcome a setback as Forte got them the TD anyway with a back breaking nine
yard carry into the end zone. A two point conversion made up for the missed
extra point earlier to put the Bears up by two scores 27-13 with 10:07
remaining.
The only time the Falcons offense had done anything was with Smith in the
lineup and the next drive began with him again on the sidelines with Jackson
in at back. The result was nothing new, another three and out with a
Jared Allen sack thrown in to make it worse.
From there, Chicago only needed to let the clock run out. Atlanta
eventually got the ball back at 5:19. But, was not seeing any comebacks as
the offense could only get another three downs and nothing except another
Ryan sack. Atlanta was forced to go for it on a fourth and 14 from their 39.
3:37 remained on the clock but the game ended for all intents and purposes
as the CB Demontre Hurst intercepted
the embattled QB at their 45. The Falcons suffered their first home loss of
the season and third loss in a row dropping to 2-4 with a lot of questions
to be asked and probably not a lot of answers to give.
"Third and longs, giving them up on the defensive side, having some critical
drops on the offensive side, and we weren’t able to score any points in the
fourth quarter of the football game" said coach Smith. "When you don’t score
in the fourth quarter it’s tough to win, especially the way this game went.”
As we mentioned before, the last quarter has been a continuing problem. And,
now, the Falcons had not scored a single point in the fourth quarter in
their last four games and only seventeen in all six games.
And, as we mentioned before, Atlanta has not been a good road team. The
hopes being bleak play into that as they take a 2-6 record on the road again
with no home games until the weekend before Thanksgiving. The schedule takes
them to Baltimore, Detroit, then to London with a winnable game against the
Bucs, whom they throttled earlier 56-14. Then another away game at Carolina.
But, when they do return to the Georgia Dome, it won't get any easier
with games against the Cardinals, Packers, Steelers and Panthers. Is another
4-12 season looming? |