Welcome to Atlanta where the Bears collapse

FOOTBALL THOUGHT OF THE WEEK

What do you say about a game that your team both should have won and should have lost? A game where one team dominated for the first 50 minutes, the second team took over for nine minutes and 50 seconds, and then team one came back in the final ten tics to win it. A game where neither side played particularly bad or particularly well, though at some times, it seemed like both were happening. A game that should be replayed on ESPN Classic with the warning ‘Not suitable for fans who understand how the game of football works.’

Yes, Sunday’s Bears-Falcons game required all of those statements. The game included a rookie quarterback repeatedly showing up a supposedly ‘vaunted’ defense, a goal line stand, a double-fumble play where each team had possession and lost it, an easy field goal shanked by one of the league’s best kickers, and a tremendous two-minute drill capped off by a great TD catch. Sound good? Well that was just the first 59 minutes and 50 seconds. The final ten tics one the clock were even more jaw-droppingly astounding.

In case you didn’t see or read about the game, here’s what happened. The Flacons took control early on, repeatedly converting third-and-longs against what appeared to be a tired Bears D (It should be noted that the Bears were down to their third and fourth corenerbacks after injuries to Nathan Vasher and Peanut Tillnam). Yet, call it luck, good defense or just a rookie QB playing like a rookie, but Matt Ryan and Atlanta couldn’t put the ball in the end zone and kept settling for field goals. Bears rookie Matt Forte made some nice plays to move the ball down the field for the Bears and scored the team’s only touchdown in the first three quarters, But a questionable decision, going for it on Fourth and One from the goal line that was untimely stopped, put the Bears in a 19-10 hole with only a few minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Last season, that would have been it. Down by nine with only five minutes left, the game would have been over. But for some reason, with Kyle Orton under center, the Bears never seem to be out of it. He led a nice 40-yard drive, giving Robbie Gould the chance to make it a six-point game with a field goal at the four minute mark. But as they had done all day, the offense failed to make a stop. Ryan drove the Falcons back into field goal range, but thanks to something- call it karma for everything that’s happened to Chicago sports fans in the past month- Falcons kicker Jason Elam’s kick was off, and the Bears got the ball back. And once again, Orton led the troops down the field, perfectly executing the two-minute drill before finding Rashied Davis in the corner of the end zone with 11 seconds left. Bears 20, Falcons 19. Game over, right?

Wrong. After the Davis touchdown, Bears coach Lovie Smith chose to squib kick instead of booting the ball downfield. Now there are two sides to this debate. With a squib kick, it is less likely the Falcons will return it for a touchdown, since a blocker is returning the kick, which means fewer blockers. But the downside is that instead of having the ball at 25 or 30 yard line, the normal place where kicks are returned to, the Falcons started at their own 44 with six seconds left. Ryan then continued to do what he did all day, which was pick on the Bears reserve cornerbacks. A 26 yard pass to wideout Michael Jenkins- who was way too open given the situation- put the ball to the Bears 30, with one second remaining on the clock. Elam came back in, and in another sign of karma, nailed the 47 yard field goal as the clock expired, giving the Dirty Birds the 22-20 win.

So to recap, the Bears were dominated the entire game, and should have lost. Then they came back at the end, and played as though the win was theirs. And then, at the very end, they lost it again. Who’s to blame for this? I think that it doesn’t fall on just one person. Lovie gets some blame, not for the fourth and one call, but more so for the squib kick in the final seconds. At the same time, the entire defense is at fault for not coming up with a big stop when it was needed. It was truly a team effort in blowing a lead in the span of 11 seconds.

This is one of those games that will only be put into perspective at the end of the year. If the Bears collapse and miss the playoffs, fans will look back on this loss as the turning point. Ten seconds away from 4-2, and the Bears give it away. On the other hand, if they turn it up, win the NFC North and make a post-season run, maybe we’ll see this game as what sparked the team to play a full 60 minutes, considering all of their losses have been in the come-from-behind variety. Whatever happens though, its unlikely that for the rest of the year, the Bears will be involved in a crazier game than what took place in Atlanta on Sunday.