Bears Blitz

Published by Bob Warja on October 13, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

When the Chicago Bears lock horns with the Atlanta Falcons Sunday night on national television, they will have more than pride at stake. They need to keep up with Minnesota, who may never lose again, and the Packers, who are surprisingly mediocre so far.

Despite having beaten the Bears in Jay Cutler’s disastrous debut in Week One, Green Bay is only 2-2 on the young season. That game certainly did not show the Bears in a favorable light on national TV, so the Bears will relish another chance to show the football world that they have a good team. 

The Bears, sitting at 3-1 and coming off a bye week, have a tough road over the next couple weeks. First, they need to get by the Falcons, who will be no easy target, to say the least.

Following Sunday night’s game, the Bears play the Bengals, Browns and Arizona before matching up against the 49ers on a Thursday night in November.

Cincinnati surprisingly sits atop the AFC North with a 4-1 record, and you better believe that Bears castoff Cedric Benson would love to shove it in his former employers’ faces.

The Browns are awful, and Arizona is beatable, so Sunday night could be a key momentum builder or it could be the start of a two-game losing streak.

So what about the Falcons? Well, like Chicago, they sit at 3-1 in the season and are coming off a thrashing of San Francisco that had to make Lovie & Co. a bit nervous.

Led by Matt Ryan, with a 102.9 QB rating, these Falcons are proving that last year’s 11-5 team was no fluke. Meanwhile, the Falcons of last year stunned the Bears and don’t think they have forgotten that beat down, despite Lovie’s attempts at downplaying it.

“It’s about this year,” said Smith. “We’re playing a good 2009 Atlanta team, and that’s about as far as we go … really not talking a whole lot about what happened last year.”

Ryan has a full year plus under his belt now and wide receiver Roddy White going up against a bad Bears secondary. I hate to admit this, but you have to like that matchup if you’re Atlanta. 

White caught eight passes for a franchise-record 210 yards and two touchdowns, including a 90-yarder, against the Niners.  The offensive line didn’t allow a sack of Matt Ryan for the third consecutive game.

The Falcons defense is playing well, too, especially against the run. They held the Vikings Adrian Peterson under 100 yards. And while Matt Forte finally amassed some yardage in his last game, most of his yards came on two big plays.  

The bye came at a good time for the Bears, and it may result in Hunter Hillenmeyer being able to start on Sunday. It also helped reduce the pain in Alex Brown’s ankle. And believe me, that defense will be needed against an Atlanta offense that is in very good form.

Despite the Ryan-White tandem, perhaps the key to the game for Atlanta will be the running of Michael Turner, who got untracked with 97 yards rushing on 22 carries. The Falcons are 13-1 when he has 20 carries or more in a game.

Two of the best young QBs in the game in Jay Cutler and Matt Ryan. Two solid football teams. National TV. Should be fun. May the best Bears win, come to think of it.

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