The Chicago Bears went to Atlanta to take on the Falcons with an injury-depleted defense and still dominated Matt Ryan and the Falcons as Jay Cutler had a field day against a porous Atlanta defense
Jay Cutler went off for the Chicago Bears as they improved to 3-3 on the season as he threw for 381 yards and a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons who dropped to 2-4 on the year in the 27-13 game from the Georgia Dome.
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Playing without their three starting linebackers and without starting Chris Conte who left with an injury, the Bears got standout performances from the front four, including Jared Allen and Willie Young who combined for three sacks of Matt Ryan who was let down by his receivers and tight ends who had a habit of dropping balls all day.
The Falcons actually began the scoring from the Georgia Dome on Sunday afternoon with a Matt Bryant field goal from 52 yards out on their first possession of the game following a punt by the Bears. But the rest of the first half belonged to the Bears as they limited Ryan and the Falcons to only 98 total yards in the half in a sign of things to come in the second half.
Da Windy City
Chicago was shutout in the first quarter but put together three scoring drives in the second quarter with Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall leading the offense. Cutler passed for 233 yards on 17-of-26 passing and a touchdown.
Marshall had his first 100 yard first half since Christmas Eve in 2011 against the New England Patriots with five receptions for 100 yards, including a 47-yard catch on third down to set up a touchdown to Josh Morgan.
Robbie Gould booted two field goals and Matt Forte had 96 total yards from scrimmage as the Bears took a 13-3 lead at half.
The second half began with the Falcons regaining momentum as Antone Smith continues to build on his big-play reputation with a 41-yard touchdown reception from Ryan to cap a seven-play, 87-yard drive on their opening drive in the third quarter.
Following a stop by the Atlanta defense, Ryan led the team on a 10-play, 33-yard drive that ended with Bryant booting his second field goal of the day, this one from 54 yards out to tie the game at 13 with 6:19 remaining in the quarter.
Blogging Dirty
With the Bears on the verge of letting the game slip away and letting the Falcons get the home crowd amped up, Cutler hooked up with Alshon Jeffery for a 74-yard catch to set up Forte who would score from six yards out to give the Bears a 19-13 lead they took to the fourth quarter where they extended their lead.
Cutler led the Bears on a 15-play, 87-yard drive, picking up three third downs along the way as Forte scored his second rushing touchdown of the day on a 3rd-and-goal from the nine and Cutler found Martellus Bennett for the successful two-point conversion to make up for the blocked PAT in the second quarter to give Chicago a 27-13 lead after the 8:28 drive.
Jeffery led the team with a game-high 136 yards, Marshall had 113 yards and Forte had 10 receptions and 157 yards from scrimmage and the two touchdowns as the Bears played their most complete game of the season.
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