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| BAL at IND | CAR at TB | CHI at ATL | CIN at NYJ | DAL at ARI | DET at MIN | GB at SEA | JAX at DEN |
| MIA at HOU | NE at SD | NYG at CLE | OAK at NO | PHI at SF | STL at WAS | ||
Week 6 Game Recap: Chicago Bears 20, Atlanta Falcons 22
What you need to know
| Chicago Bears |
Matt Forte carried the ball 20 times for 75 yards, while catching five passes for 34 yards. He was able to score on a late third quarter three yard run up the middle, but was later stacked at the line on a fourth and one late in the game. Forte did not face much competition for carries from backup Kevin Jones, and is clearly the focal point of the Bears offense.
Kyle Orton attempted 43 passes, completing 26 for 286 yards and a touchdown. The Bears appear confident in Orton running the offense, as he lead an impressive late game drive to put the Bears in the lead. Despite the heartbreaking loss, he is in no risk of losing the starting job.
Devin Hester is starting to resemble a professional receiver. Hester gained career highs of six receptions on 12 targets for 87 yards. He was targeted deep three times, narrowly missing on big plays a few times, but his intermediate route running has clearly improved significantly.
| Atlanta Falcons |
Matt Ryan completed 22 of 30 attempts for 301 yards and a touchdown against an injured Bears secondary. Amidst constant pressure, Ryan showed excellent pocket presence to avoid the rush to buy himself time on numerous occasions. Though there have been criticisms about a lack of arm strength, Ryan made a number of tough throws, and looked very impressive the entire game.
Roddy White caught nine of his 16 targets on the day, for 112 yards and a touchdown. White had a second score nullified by an offensive pass interference call, but it's clear rookie Matt Ryan has the utmost confidence in the emerging receiver.
With the exception of a 23 yard gain in the second quarter, Michael Turner had trouble finding running lanes, being stacked for negative or no gain in 11 of his 25 carries. Despite a lack of effectiveness, he remained a large part of the Falcons offense throughout the game. Though he only gained 54 yards in the game, he regularly needed to be gang tackled to be taken down.
What you ought to know
| QB Kyle Orton, Pass: 26 - 43 - 286 - 1 TD / 0 INT |
Orton completed 26 of 43 passes for 286 yards, while throwing one touchdown for 17 yards to Rashied Davis. Orton looked deep frequently, though his longest gain was for 22 yards. Despite being without the Bears apparent top receiver Brandon Lloyd, Orton did a nice job using all of his weapons, especially out of the two tight end formation, where both Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen were heavily involved. With the Bears down by two scores late, Orton was able to bring them back, primarily with the hurry up offense, to take the lead with only a few seconds to play. The Falcons were able to pull off the win, but Orton certainly didn't do anything to hurt them. He played a good game, and his job security has probably never been better.
| RB Matt Forte, Rush: 20 - 76 - 1, Rec: 5 - 34 - 0 (5 targets) |
Matt Forte had 20 carries for 76 yards, while catching all five of his targets for another 34 yards. His only touchdown of the game came on a three yard carry up the middle. He had a chance for a second touchdown late in the game on fourth and one from the one, but he was stacked up at the line and the Bears turned it over on downs. Forte runs with great patience, waiting for blocks, but is also capable of hitting a hole hard and decisively when it's presented. The Bears run their offense around Forte, and Kevin Jones only had two carries in the game, so that figures to continue.
| RB Kevin Jones, Rush: 2 - 3 - 0 |
Kevin Jones only carried the ball twice for three yards. He spelled starter Matt Forte throughout the game, but he was not a big threat to Forte's carries.
| RB Jason McKie, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0 |
McKie's only carry of the game came late in the fourth quarter on third and one from the one yard line. Needing a touchdown to come within one score, McKie got the call and was stuffed for no gain.
| WR Devin Hester, Rec: 6 - 87 - 0 (12 targets) |
Devin Hester caught exactly half of his 12 targets for 87 yards. Though he was looked at deep three times, he seemed to be developing a nice rapport with Orton on intermediate routes. His longest gain was for 17, but five of his catches were for first downs. He seems to have matured as a route runner, and also played a full compliment of downs. His receptions and yardage were career highs. He assumed his role as both primary kick and punt returner, failing to make an impact at either.
| WR Rashied Davis, Rec: 4 - 41 - 1 (6 targets) |
Starting for an injured Brandon Lloyd, Davis caught four passes for 41 yards and a 17 yard touchdown. Kyle Orton found him deep over the middle on that score. He was targeted six times.
| WR Marty Booker, Rec: 3 - 33 - 0 (6 targets) |
Booker caught three of his six targets, for 33 yards. He was targeted in the endzone twice, both in tight coverage.
| WR Brandon Lloyd |
Brandon Lloyd was inactive for this game with a torn PCL.
| TE Desmond Clark, Rec: 5 - 50 - 0 (7 targets) |
Desmond Clark was used frequently both in single and double tight end formations, catching five passes for 50 yards. Orton really seemed to emphasize utilizing the tight end, whether it be Clark or Greg Olsen. He was targeted seven times in the game.
| TE Greg Olsen, Rec: 3 - 41 - 0 (7 targets) |
Olsen caught three of his seven targets for 41 yards. Kyle Orton targeted Olsen twice on jump balls in the endzone, both of which were into tight coverage. They made an effort to get Olsen the ball there, but he couldn't come down with one. As with Desmond Clark, Olsen was looked at frequently in both single and double tight end formations.
| PK Robbie Gould 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Gould hit on both of his field goal attempts, the longest being from 36 yards out. He was successful on both of his converts.
| CHI Rush Defense |
The Falcons ran for 79 yards on 23 carries, for an average of 3.4 yards per carry. With the exception of a 23 yard carry by Turner, and a 21 yard direct snap to Jerious Norwood, the Falcons did a great job of limiting the Falcon runners to small gains.
| CHI Pass Defense |
Charles Tillman was injured early in the second quarter, leaving the Bears' secondary somewhat inexperienced. Matt Ryan looked outstanding, completing 73 percent of his 30 attempts for 301 yards and a touchdown. It's difficult to say whether it was a weakened Bears secondary, or if it was Ryan simply playing that well. Overall, the Bears were beat deep a few times, and given they were up against a rookie, put up a pretty weak performance.
| QB Matt Ryan, Pass: 22 - 30 - 301 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0 |
Ryan completed 22 of 30 passes for 301 yards and a touchdown. Ryan looked composed against a tough pass rush, often buying himself time with great pocket presence. His touchdown came on a three yard slant to his favorite target, Roddy White. Ryan had another 14 yard touchdown nullified by penalty, when White was called for offensive pass interference. Ryan showed great touch on many of his throws, while also proving he could get the ball deep down the field. By the way he played, if you didn't know him, you would certainly think he was a veteran.
| RB Michael Turner, Rush: 25 - 54 - 0 |
Turner struggled throughout the day, as the Bears constantly stacked up the line. He finished with only 54 yards on his 25 carries, while 11 of those went for either zero or negative yards. Despite a lack of effectiveness, the Falcons stuck with him. He did have a 23 yard carry in the second quarter. Turner had a fumble ruling overturned. Backup Jerious Norwood only received three carries.
| RB Jerious Norwood, Rush: 3 - 31 - 0, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
Norwood again showed to be electric with the ball in his hands, but his largest contribution came on special teams with an 85 yard kick return that gave the Falcons a good opportunity to go up by two scores very late in the fourth quarter. Norwood also took a direct snap, faked a handoff to Michael Turner, and took the ball himself for a 21 yard gain. He finished the game with only three carries though, for 31 yards, while catching one of his two targets for six yards. Norwood fumbled on a strange play where the defense also fumbled, and Atlanta ended up recovering the ball for a new set of downs.
| WR Roddy White, Rec: 9 - 112 - 1 (16 targets) |
It appears as though Roddy White has emerged into a premier receiver. Matt Ryan constantly looked White's way, getting him the ball nine times for 112 yards. Atlanta's only touchdown of the game came on a left slant where Ryan found White for the three yard score. White had a 14 yard touchdown nullified by penalty earlier in the game, when he was called for offensive pass interference. He was injured on that play, however returned the next series without apparent limitations. He was targeted on an amazing 16 of Ryan's 30 attempts.
| WR Harry Douglas, Rush: 1 - -11 - 0, Rec: 5 - 96 - 0 (6 targets) |
Rookie Harry Douglas gave the offense a spark, catching five of his six targets for 96 yards. Showing some excellent deep speed, fellow rookie Matt Ryan found Douglas deep down the middle for a beautiful 47 yard gain. He was also used on an end around, though it went for negative 11 yards. He played behind Michael Jenkins, but gives Ryan a more dynamic vertical threat to look to opposite Roddy White.
| WR Michael Jenkins, Rec: 4 - 58 - 0 (5 targets) |
Jenkins started the game opposite Roddy White, and caught four passes for 58 yards. None were larger than on the second last play of the game where Ryan found Jenkins deep down the left sideline for a 26 yard gain, going out of bounds with one second left. Kicker Jason Elam kicked the game winning field goal on the next play. He was targeted five times, dropping one he could have probably caught in the endzone.
| WR Brian Finneran, Rec: 3 - 29 - 0 (4 targets) |
Brian Finneran caught three of his four targets for 29 yards. He did drop a pass, but Ryan showed confidence throwing to him in tight coverage.
| TE Ben Hartsock |
Hartsock started the game at tight end, but Ryan did not look his way all day. His primary contribution is in the blocking game.
| PK Jason Elam 5 - 6 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 16 points |
Elam went from zero to hero in just a few minutes. With the Falcons up by six points late in the game, Jerious Norwood returned a kickoff 85 yards to put the Falcons in field goal range. Elam would eventually miss left badly on a 33 yard attempt that would have put the Falcons up by two scores with less than three minutes to play. Elam got redemption on the last play of the game, when he nailed a 48 yarder to win the game by two. Overall he made good on five of his six attempts, and was also successful on his only convert attempt.
| ATL Rush Defense |
As a team the Bears ran for 75 yards on 30 carries, an average of 2.5 yards per carry. Matt Forte had one run of 20 yards, but otherwise the Falcons were successful limiting his gains. The Falcons run defense had an impressive stand late in the game, where they stopped Jason McKie on a goalline plunge on third down from the one, and then again on fourth and one did the same to Forte.
| ATL Pass Defense |
It was far from a lockdown performance, but the Falcons did a satisfactory job of covering the Bears receivers. The longest receiving gain on the day by the Bears was for 22 yards, so they did well to keep the ball in front of them despite numerous deep attempts by Kyle Orton. They sacked Orton just once, and the pass pressure was generally about average.