The Atlanta Falcons tried to make that one interesting, but the Chicago Bears regrouped and slammed the door on the Falcons’ comeback attempt, winning 31 to 23.
The Bears pulled the defensive starters in the fourth quarter while up by 24, but had to put them back in to close out the game after a Falcons score and a Bears fumble. Head coach Ben Johnson addressed his end-of-game thinking about trying to win while also resting his players with the New England Patriots coming to town on Thursday Night
Football.
“I mean, you’re trying to thread the needle a little bit. If we didn’t have the Thursday night game, I don’t know that we’d do things like we did,” he said. “So that’s part of the equation. I do believe if we hadn’t had that fumble on offense (Roshon Johnson had it punched out with 7:21 left in the game) that maybe we would have gotten out of there the way that we wanted to, but you know, things happen and we got to keep playing. We know that’s the case, especially with an offense like that. So, once again, we’re trying to thread the needle and do what’s best for us. We had to win this game first and foremost, which we did, but of course, we want to think long term also.”
Johnson’s fumble came at midfield after picking up the first down, so they likely could have run some more clock, which was something they were good at in the game, having the time of possession edge (40:08 to 19:52).
The Bears also had more yards (368 to 257), more first downs (20 to 13), and ran more plays (73 to 50), but they also committed far more penalties (12-133 to 4-31).
Chicago had the turnover edge (3 to 1) and were much better on third downs (52.9% to 25.0%). The Bears’ defense also stopped Atlanta on all three of their fourth-down attempts.
Let’s look at the Bears’ playing-time breakdown and a few individual stats from the game.
OFFENSE
We’ve only seen Caleb Williams in two full games and part of another one in a steady rain, but he’s leveled up his play. He’s still pushing the ball downfield, but he’s taking the check-down when it’s there more often, as his league-leading 72.5 completion percentage can attest.
According to Next Gen Stats, Williams was 24 of 24 for 248 yards on throws from a clean pocket in Atlanta, and those 24 attempts are the most without an incompletion from a clean pocket in a game since at least 2018. Kudos to the game plan, which featured more quick passes from the pocket; possibly to take some stress off his hamstring. His average depth of target (3.6) was the second-lowest of his career; we saw fewer rollouts, and he scrambled only once for 2 yards.
His completion percentage (83.3%) in Atlanta was the best ever by a Bears quarterback with at least 30 passing attempts.
Four of his 6 incompletions were on throwaways. Another was on a play where he was hit. Then there was the goal-line miss, where he threw the ball expecting Colston Loveland to settle near the sideline.
Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good, despite what some of the rage-bait haters are trying to say about him now being a checkdown merchant. The goalposts will constantly move when it comes to Caleb, and I think he likes it.
He is inevitable after all.
DEFENSE
The Bears were without defensive starters linebacker T.J. Edwards, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, and defensive linemen Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo, so Dennis Allen dialed up some blitzes, and defensive backs recorded 4 of their 5 sacks.
Rookie Dillon Thieneman recorded his first sack.
Kyler Gordon’s stat line in his return was unreal, but lost in his overall game impact was the holding penalty he drew blitzing off the edge.
Dennis Allen did a great job showing blitz, getting the Falcons to commit the pass protection one way, then sending free rushers or players with favorable one-on-ones.
SPECIAL TEAMS*
*The above image has players who only played in the third phase.
Cairo Santos was wide left on a 56-yarder and made a 50-yarder. He hit all 4 extra points.
Tory Taylor had 5 punts with a 44.8 average (41.0 net), and 3 punts inside the twenty.
Josh Blackwell had 2 special teams tackles and recovered a fumble after Taylor’s banana-ball punt caused a muff.
Zavion Thomas returned 4 kickoffs for 85 yards.
Kalif Raymond had 3 punt returns for 54 yards.
Chicago’s practice squad call-ups both scratched the stat sheet on special teams. Zavier Scott forced a fumble and made 3 tackles, and Buddy Johnson made 2 tackles.
To check out the complete Bears vs. Falcons box score, I find ESPN’s site is easy to navigate.
All statistics and snap counts, as well as the accompanying pictures, are taken directly from the NFL’s Game Statistic and Information System.
