In my Power Rankings for Week 5, I entered next to the Bears the following comment: "I don't like the matchup in Atlanta, but with Cutler they are never out of it."

My suspicions were confirmed on Sunday Night when the Bears fell short of a comeback against the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome on national television. A final drive by the Bears came up 10-yards short, to be exact, but the game could have and maybe even should have been won by the Bears.

The Bears had their chances, right down to the final seconds of the game. Whether it was a solid opening drive, a goal line opportunity, an interception on what could have been the Falcons drive to ice the game or six yards from tying it in the final moments, the Bears had their chances.

It was a less than stellar performance from Jay Cutler, who threw two interceptions, one on that opening drive inside the 10-yard line. But it was Jay Cutler who kept this Bears team in the game right down to the final minute.

The Bears out gained the Falcons 373-253 in yards and held Michael Turner to just 30-yards on 13 carries, but it wasn't enough to overcome all the costly miscues and mental errors that plagued the team all night. Nick Roach, who is filling in for the injured Brian Urlacher had a night to forget. He was fooled on two big plays, both of which ended up in the endzone. One went to Roddy White on a play where where Matt Ryan simply caught Roach (who had his D out of position) with a no huddle quick pass to Roddy White, and the other a pass to Tony Gonzalez in the back of the endzone tin an area that was Roach's responsibility to cover.

The graphic above (courtesy of ESPN) illustrates just what went wrong on Sunday night. The Bears got into the redzone four times in the game and were only able to convert it to points once. Cutler threw an INT on the first drive, Matt Forte fumbled on the goal line on the second trip, Cutler hit Greg Olsen for a 2-yard TD on the third and the final drive ended the game.

The final drive was marred by mental errors. A Frank Omiyale false start, an Earl Bennett offensive pass interference  and finally Orlando Pace's false start on 4th and 1 with the game on the line made the improbable impossible.

The running game for the Bears was once again non-existent with Cutler the game's leading rusher with 34 yards. The offensive line has been dismal, both in the running game and in the passing game. Too often there is no hole for the backs and too often Cutler is having to run for his life.

It was a rough night for the Bears, who could have easily left Georgia 4-2. The Bears missed opportunities and if they think the Vikings and the Packers are going to let them off the hook in the weeks to come they better think again. Chicago needs to get back to the practice field and begin preparing for a date with the Bengals in Cincinnati and a game against the Browns, both games they can not afford to lose.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (2)

...
written by LeeTee21 , October 19, 2009

I think the Bears should have gotten a litte more creative around the goal-line. They have a lot of speed, and they could have caused some trouble for the Falcons D.

...
written by Rex Jaybels , October 19, 2009

It probably would have helped to go to someone other than Forte when he fumbled the first time last night. That was three fumbles at the goaline if you go back to the seahawks game.

This offensive line is getting no push right now. You have to be able to get one yard in the NFL, and last night Forte never got close on either of the two plays in which he fumbled.

Unless this oline steps up and starts blocking this team will not win 10 games.

Write comment

Name

Email

Website

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment