The Bears should think about rescheduling their remaining six homes games this season. After winning two of their first three on the road to open this year, Chicago turned on the jets against the Falcons in the Georgia Dome to snap a two-game losing streak. Jay Cutler led the charge, throwing for 381 yards and one score, but it was the defense (which held Atlanta to 287 yards) that came out swinging. Sacks late in the fourth and an interception to seal the game were what the Bears needed to hand Atlanta its third consecutive loss. Let's take a look at how it all went down.
First quarter
Ten minutes into the game and everyone's favorite rookie Kyle Fuller forces Julio Jones to fumble the ball. Jones recovers it, but the play reinforces the fact that Fuller is not human and offers better coverage against receivers than a State Farm agent. Fuller for President ... or at least Illinois governor!
Falcons linebacker Paul Worrilow blasts through the line with five seconds left in the quarter and hits Cutler so hard his head slams on turf. Would have been fine and dandy, had the refs not blown the whistle prior to the ball being snapped. Shame on you, Paulie. Go in the corner and think about your actions.
Twitter blows up at the end of the quarter with calls for Bears lineman Jordan Mills' head. He committed two first quarter penalties that overturned big plays. He wasn't done for the day, either. The Falcon's make him look like a junior college dropout toward the end of the half as they blitz their way past Mills to force an awkward throw from Cutler. (More on that in a minute.)
Score: Atlanta 3, Bears 0
Second quarter
Fox keeps showing Brandon Marshall writing in this little book. While I originally believed he was writing the script to the third "Bridget Jones' Diary," the sideline reporter comes on and says it's a positive thoughts journal that Marshall uses to keep himself thinking happy thoughts. He's got a lot to be happy about as he ends the half with five receptions for 100 yards.
Cutler dumps off a short TD pass to Josh Morgan with six minutes left in the half. It's Morgan's first score of the year. His celebration is lackluster, to say the least, but that's probably because it's the first time he reached the end zone since December 2012.
This game just keeps getting uglier. The Bears drive nearly 90 yards in the last four minutes but can't score a TD. The Falcons bull rush Mills, and force a right-handed Cutler to try to make a throw with his left hand. Good news for Bears fans is the left-handed toss look better than anything backup Jimmy Clausen has thrown in his career. Gould saves the drive by hitting a short field goal.
Score: Bears 13, Atlanta 3
Third Quarter
Safety Chris Conte goes down after hitting Julio Jones. He makes it to the sideline, but soon heads to the locker room and doesn't return to the game. This is the fourth game this season that Conte, who doctors later say is made of glass, hasn't finished.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan dumps it off to Antone Smith, who takes it 41-yards for the touchdown. The guy came into the game averaging 26 yards per reception. You would think the Bears would have game planned for him. His four catches for 64 yards and a score on the day say otherwise.
Holy smokes! The Bears are turning this around!!! Alshon Jeffery catches a 74 yard pass from Cutler and drags safety Kemal Ishmael nearly 15 yards after the catch. He's stopped short of the end zone, but Forte scores on the next play. Would have been a perfect drive for the Bears if it weren't for the Falcons blocking the extra point. It was the first time Atlanta blocked an extra point since 2003.
Score: Bears 19, Atlanta 13
Fourth Quarter
Jeffery is called for "illegal touching" following a score five minutes into the quarter. Doesn't matter, Forte takes the ball from nine yards out on the next play to score. A two-point conversion catch by Martellus Bennett puts the Bears in front of the Falcons by 14 points. You can almost hear Bennett yell, "YOU CAN BLOCK EXTRA POINTS BUT NO ONE CAN BLOCK ME!" as he celebrates.
Jared Allen records his first sack of the season, throwing Ryan down to the turf like a rag doll. Atlanta calls a timeout, and all you hear on the TV is fans chanting, "Let's go Bears! Let's go Bears!" I keep seeing these anti-Pat Quinn commercials saying Illinois has lost millions of job under "The Jobs Governor's" tenure. I'm starting to think all of these jobs moved to Atlanta-taking thousands of Bears fans with them.
Demontre Hurst picks off Matt Ryan with 3:37 remaining in the game. It's the first interception Ryan has thrown at home this season. Coincidentally, it's also the first time any Bears fan has heard of Hurst.
Final score: Chicago 27, Atlanta 13
Side Notes
Forte rushes for 7,000
OK, that's a little deceptive, but Forte eclipsed the 7,000 yard rushing mark in the first quarter. Shortly after the run, the Bears tweeted that he was the 20th player in NFL history with 7,000 rushing and 3,000 receiving yards. Way to go, buddy!
So you think you can dance?
Willie Young and Allen certainly think they can. The two partook in some sort of dance-off after they combined for a fourth-quarter sack. While we can't speak for Allen's future in the dance world, Young may have a career post-football if he works on that fish reeling thing he was doing.