It was a must-win game for the Chicago Bears yesterday at the Georgia Dome. In a game that the Bears had to have to save their postseason hopes, they responded with a statement 27-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
This was the Bears’ best performance of the season and they did it with their backs against the wall. The Bears could not afford to lose to Atlanta and fall to 2-4, even with a winnable home game in Week 7 against the Miami Dolphins. They have two difficult road games looming after that against the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers. The Bears needed to navigate their first nine games no worse than a 4-5 record, and they are a win away against the Dolphins next week from doing just that.
The Bears won in all three phases, which was excellent to see. Devin Hester touched the ball on four different occasions on returns and the Bears special teams coverage was able to minimize any damage that Hester tried to inflict.
The defense had its best game of the season and it’s not even close. The defensive line was tremendous with four sacks and seven hits on Falcons QB Matt Ryan, and they completely shut down an already struggling Falcons running game, only giving up 42 yards on the ground. Willie Young continues to shine; Young added two more sacks to his total giving him seven on the season, which is leading the NFL. Jared Allen also finally got off the snide and recorded his first sack of the season.
The secondary was tremendous as well. They had their moments where they left players open, but any game where Julio Jones is targeted 12 times, and he finishes the day with only four catches for 68 yards, is a tremendous victory for any defense.
Offensively, the Bears shined. The biggest knock on the Bears offense is that when your offense runs up 478 yards of offense, you expect more than 27 points on the board. Regardless of that detail, Jay Cutler was superb, throwing for 381 yards and a touchdown. That included a huge 74-yard completion to Alshon Jeffery (the score was tied at 13 in the third quarter), setting up the go-ahead touchdown from Matt Forte. Forte is proving he might be the best all-around back in the sport with another tremendous performance.
Clearly, the story of the Bears’ 2014 season is turnovers. When they take care of the ball, they win. When they don’t, they lose. You hate to break it down into that simple of an equation, but the numbers don’t lie. The Bears are 3-0 in games where they are positive in turnover ratio, and they are 0-3 in games where they turn the ball over more than their opponents. Yesterday, Cutler was superb. He took care of the ball, and he made smart decisions with the football, despite Atlanta being able to put some sustained pressure on the Bears’ QB.
The Bears have put their fans on a roller coaster this season. The inconsistencies have been maddening. Chicago finds itself sitting atop on another peak, just like it was after the great win against the San Francisco 49ers. Unfortunately, the Bears have provided too many valleys. It’s critical that they ride this peak into another win next week against the Dolphins. Hopefully this Falcons victory proves they will do just that.
Bill Zimmerman is a Chicago Bears writer for www.RantSports.Com. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.
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