Bears and Falcons In-Game Blog

Live analysis and reporting on the Chicago Bears game against the Atlanta Falcons as Justin Fields tries for his third straight 100-yard rushing game.

Fourth Quarter

• Allgeier clinches the game with a run off tackle for the first down. Then they kill the clock. Bottom line to this one: Using Justin Fields as a running back caught up with the Bears. They get what usually happens when a QB becomes mainly a runner. Falcons 27, Bears 24. 
• Fields overthrows Montgomery and it's tipped. Then it's picked.  Bad pass and it was picked no replay needed.
• He runs and slides and gets hit but no penalty.
• So far Fields is 14 of 20 for 153 yards. Bears had to use a timeout on a play that went ouf of bounds. He was grabbing at his shoulder, his left shoulder not right.
• A useless first-down run by Fields. He stays down after getting hit. He also looked slow trying to run there. 
• Will Justin Fields be able to step back in a pocket and find targets to run a successful two-minute drill? He hasn't done it yet.
• We're right back where we have been so many times. The Bears need a score on their last drive to tie or win. They've failed five straight times in this situation. Four of those were drives that failed. The other was a muffed punt by Velus Jones.
• Younghoe Koo from 53 and right down the middle. Falcons 27, Bears 24
• Mariota throws deep but his receiver, Zacchaeus, never even saw it.
• Atlanta in field goal range at the 35 but it's no gimmee from there.
• Clock ticking  and Bears stuff second-down run. TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!!
• From Bears 38, Sanborn stops Allgeier after 3. 
• On fourth-and-2 they give it to Patterson again and he gets the first down on this one.  Running it out of the gun on that helped isolate Bears linebackers. 
• Patterson stuffed on third-down-run. Was actually about to lose 4 yards but got away from the tackle.
• Sanborn tracks down Patterson, who has returned, and it's third-and-1.
• Thomas gets hurt trying to tackle Tyler Allgeier. They help him off the field. Soon won't be many healthy bodies available if this keeps up.
• Patterson gains a first down but appears to have hurt his leg and walks off the field.
• Damiere Byrd with a short gain and first down on a catch taking advantage of Kyler Gordon being taken out of the slot due to a possible concussion. He may have suffered it when trying to tackle Mariota on a scramble.
• Joe Thomas with an outstanding play on a scramble. He fought off the block and hailed Mariota for a 2-yard gain.
• Fields looks like more is wrong than tired legs in this one. They keep working on his hamstrings with an electric massager on the sidelines. Have done it repeatedly.
• Another shaky snap from Patrick Scales. But they get the kick. Bears 24, Falcons 24
• Montgomery lets the hole develop and cuts into it for the TD. Now if only Santos can manage to make an extra point it will be tied.
• First-and-goal at the 2.
• Officials detect Mooney being held in the end zone. Actually got held three times on the same play.

• Montgomery was stopped for a short gain.
• EQ clearly is hurt and gutted out the catch for the first down. He was hurt on a block earlier
• Fields scramble-ama. Keeps alive a play in the backfield and finally EQ pops open and manages to get the first down.
• Bears looking at third-and-12 with ball at Atlanta 20.
• Byron Pringle, the great run blocker, called for holding. 
• Spectacular play by Fields with his arm and brain. Play-action, saw Montgomery on the sideline route and waved him downfield with his hand then hit Montgomery on a huge gain on the run. 
• Fields looked like a QB, stood tall in the pocket on third down play-action and hit Kmet for a 5-yard gain and first down.
• Bears start the final quarter from the 38 and really need a TD march. They haven't been able to put a decent one together since early on. They had 24 third-quarter yards.

Third Quarter

• Chase Claypool becomes useful. Third-down catch for the first down at 38. Quarter ends.

• A short one to Kmet on second down sets up third-and-3.

• You're seeing the lack of a Bears pocket passing attack hurting them. Atlanta schemed to stop the mobile passing and QB running, and the Bears have nothing to counter.

• It's been rare this year when it happened, but Atlanta came out of the locker room and has dominated on both sides of the ball. The Bears offense normally had been extremely effective coming out of the locker room.

• Brisker was pulled off the field by officials, apparently to be checked for a concussion. Falcons saw this and ran the option at DHC and Mariota scores the TD. Falcons 24, Bears 17

Matthew Adams leaves with an injury after a 4-yard run by Patterson. Adams was just back from a calf injury.

• Gipson with offsides and a poor call by officials against Gordon for a low hit. There actually needs to be forcible contact on the play and there wasn't. Either way they were getting a penalty though.

• Bears sniff out Mariota option keeper and Morrow is flagged immediately for facemasking but officials talk about it and waive it off. They got it right He wasn't near the facemask.

• Zaccheus on an end around is forced back but no one is there to tackle him and he takes it to the Bears 31

• Boot pass to one-time Bear Mycole PRuitt puts it back in Bears territory at the 44.

• Atlanta starts after the punt from its own 38. Poor coverage when they had him bottled against the sidelines.

• Fields sacked on second down. Cody Whitehair just let the best pass rusher the Falcons have go. Then they blitz and sack Fields again on third down on what was supposed to be a screen.

• So they put in Ebner again and lose yardage on first down

• Finally they go back to Montgomery on the pass. He turns a simple check down into a great gain. Third-and-2. Then he takes a toss and gets the first down. EQ hurt after blocking on the run.

• Bears from the 30, and Schofield false-starts. I can't believe that Teven Jenkins with an injury is worse than Schofield has been today.

• Montgomery turns a play headed nowhere into a 5-yard gain on an option toss. Then Montgomery does his burrowing routine and drives for a first down.

• Touchback on punt after good fake by Dante Pettis to make it look like he was fielding it. A big stop by the defense after they initially coughed up yards. Gordon's two plays might have been his best back to back since coming into the league.

• Kyler Gordon stops Mariota at the line on a scramble to force third-and-one and then also makes play in slot on Cordarrelle Patterson WR screen to cause a loss of yardage and force a punt.

• Gipson with a stuff at the line of scrimmage, returned from first-quarter injury.

• From the 42, play-action pass over the middle to Pitts for 17 yards. Eddie Jackson with a slid hit on the knee and Pitts has trouble getting up.

• Should Bears fans have buyer's regret over Claypool? Not because he's bad, but because they gave up a second-round pick and aren't even using him as a receiver, just a blocker and runner.

• Fields nearly sacked again, escapes and can't find a target as his pass is knocked down. Bears must punt.

• Mooney gets back the lost sack yardage on an end around. Third-and-10.

• Bears start second half in gun with a fullback and Montgomery and get Field sacked on the first play. Abdullah Anderson comes back to haunt the Bears with a sack. Loss of 6. Again Schofield involved in poor blocking

• Fields "limited" to 73 rushing yards in the first half on 14 carries and a TD. He is 7 of 12 for 71 yards passing and a TD.
• Bears held Atlanta to nine first downs, 153 yards of offense, but the NFL record ninth kick return TD by CP is a killer. Matthew Adams made a play on the kick coverage so bad that he looked like a kicker trying to make a tackle.
• Montgomery with 41 yards rushing in the first half. Playing solid. They should stick to him and forget about Ebner.

Second Quarter

• Falcons get game-tying field goal from Younghoe Koo to end the half. Once a 10-point lead and dominating the game, they let it out on special teams. Falcons 17, Bears 17 Half.
• Eddie Jackson was the blitzer who got stopped
• On third-and-6 all-out blitz, Atlanta beats it with a 20-yard pass to Damiere Byrd and 23 seconds remain.
• Atlanta calls timeout with 40 seconds left and the ball at midfield. It's a big drive to stop because the Bears get the ball to start the second half.
• Falcons get a first down but also an illegal hands to the face 
• Now Atlanta with the ball at its own 46 and 1:10 left.
• Fields' pass to Ebner hits Schofield in the back of the helmet so the Bears have to try a 56-yard field goal. Santos' streak ends as his low kick hits the very bottom of the crossbar.
• Great pass rush off the edge from Atlanta and Fields throws it off with a fake and scramble around right side to make it third-and-9.
• Montgomery blasts off tackle for 7 of the yards they lost on the penalty. and they are back into Atlanta territory at the 43. 
• Fields scrambles for a first down, then Schofield holds.
• The Bears need to get Montgomery in, keep him there and forget about it. Ebnber doesn't know what's going on.
• Fields gets only 3 on a run left and Bears face third-and 9. TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!
• On second-and-11 from their own 49, officials race in as the Bears are ready to start a play but Montgomery has to come off the field for medical reasons? He wasn't on the field the last play. 
• Ebner on the field and loses on a toss play that he cut away from the blocking. Time for them to take the rookie out. He doesn't seem to get it. Montgomery needs to be out there to make sure they aren't losing yards.
• Fields nearly breaks a third-and-1 student body right. Actually, he did, but ran out of room and gained to midfield.
• Fields with 4 tough yards cutting back. That's not a good thing for a QB to do.
• Finally they get a ball to Claypool on first down from the 25. He takes a short one OB for a 5-yard gain. He had 7 but ran backwards.
• You can't let Crazy Horse get going, and the Bears did. Bears 17, Bears 14
• Bears just let Atlanta back in the game the only way it can happen. Cordarrelle Patterson with a 103-yard TD return. Made up for his fumble. Has the record to himself now, nine TDs.

• Guys plowed the road for Fields. Sweep left for a 4-yard TD. Wide open. Blocking tore apart the Falcons. Cody Whitehair the key block. Bears 17, Falcons 7
• Fields sneaks for the first down. He's becoming much better at that. First, he couldn't even do it, or wasn't given the chance.
• Ta'Quon Graham removed from field on  a cart after second-down run by Ebner. Bears now have third-and-1.
• They give Ebner a chance to go outside left tackle and it works as he gains 6 and nearly drives for the first down. Third-and-1 coming at the 6.
• Ebner for 3 again on first down. They need to get him outside. 
• EQ finally makes a play besides a block. He catches a short one  and gets OB for the first down at the 15. 
• Bootleg pass well defended and Fields throws it away. Claypool shouldn't be the short guy on that play like he was. Poor design. 
• Ebner in for Montgomery and waits too long to attack an obvious hole. Gets only 3 yards.
• Bears at the Falcons 28 after the return by Johnson.
• Patterson carrying like a wide receiver and not a running back, is stripped off the ball on a cutback run and Jaylon Johnson receovers as Brisker forces it.
• Patterson prevented from reaching the 25, a net loss for Falcons special teams again.
• Fields comes up short on the scramble and then a third-and-4 running play by Fields fails completely.  Falcons are ready for Fields as a runner. Santos drills his 15th straight field goal this year, a 41-yarder. Bears 10, Falcons 7
• Cole Kmet! One-handed for 26 yards over the middle and takes a hit besides. Again his baseball background must have helped.
• Montgomery on a quick toss breaks one to midfield.
• Bears start from just past the 30.  Not really understanding still why Schofield starts ahead of Jenkins unless it's the injury.
• Best defensive play of the game. Well defended third down and Mariota throws it out of bounds as Atlanta punts from the 20.
• Gipson appears all right and walks off the field.
• Allgeier stacked up but the Bears only missed about four first attempts to tackle him. Trevis Gipson injured on second-down incompletion while undercut by Mike Pennel. Looks like a knee injury. Wouldn't have happened if there hadn't first been illegal hands to the face against Atlanta that wasn't called.
• Gordon with defensive holding out of the slot on Pitts.
• They had Michael Schofield trying to block Jarrett and that's not going to work.
• Grady Jarrett had the sack. That's what the Bears need: A defensive tackle who is actually a threat to make sacks on obvious passing downs. They occasionally get some heat on non-passing downs from Justin Jones. No one else provides any rush inside and Jones doesn't do it enough. The Bears need Jalen Carter.
• Terrible pass blocking on third down against a four-man rush and Fields is sacked out of field goal range. Blocking never developed anywhere on that play. A wasted takeaway.
• Sam Mustipher creates a third-and-19 with a false start
• Fields starts the second quarter by completely faking out the opponents on a scramble for a first down and then sliding! Now at the Falcosn 28.

First Quarter

• Two great opportunities and the Bears come away with three points.
• Finally ran the WR screen right as the quarter ends. Bears 7, Falcons 7
• DHC with the strip and Bears have it as replay confirms it. Bears at Atlanta's 41.
• The Bears need to keep that bomb to Mooney in mind. Falcons cornerback coverage has been horrendous all year. They can go deep like that again. They're overly concerned with coming up with their corners and safeties to stop Fields from running and the bombs take a little time to develop but you can't cover both that play and worry about Fields running at the same time.
• Bears have the ball on the punt return and and officials say he's down but it's being challenged. It does appear he lost it with his knee not on the ground but it takes several angles to see the ball was out. The last angle they showed definitely shows the ball has been moved out of the hands of Avery Williams before his knee hit.
• Third-and-6 and Mooney runs right past the coverage and Mooney overthrows him at the Falcons 20.
• Bears continue to have trouble with WR screens. They got 2 on the play to Mooney. The receivers are blocking it well. The pass catcher doesn't wait long enough for the blocking to develop.
• Fields scrambles for a first down and takes a dangerous side hit. Should have slid.
• Montgomery powers ahead for 4 on first down. He's running hard, like he always does. He just doesn't present that breakaway speed.
• Bears at the 16 after the punt.
• Morrow has a pick right in his hands and can't hold it. At least they finally force a punt. That was supposed to be a strength of Morrow's but he looked to be wearing skillets on his hands on that one. 
• Falcons get a first down with useful deployment of Cordarrelle Patterson outside, then bury Al-Quadin Muhammad on a 4-yard Caleb Huntley run.
• Fields looked off the coverage beautifully and the Falcons ran themselves into a wide open schemed TD by the Bears. Darnell Mooney scores first Bears game-opening TD. A 16-yard pass play. Equanimeous St. Brown. Bears 7, Falcons 7
• Fields' first pass is knocked so high into the air it never seemed like it would come down. Incompletion. Second-and-10 at the 18.
• Fields gets it to Montgomery for a dump off on first down. If he had thrown it two seconds earlier when Montgomery was completely open, it might have gone for a first down. Instead 9 yards. Good to see them throwing to Montgomery for a change, though. They haven't done it much for four weeks.
• Velus Jones Jr. is Back! A 53-yard return of a kick, saw where the blocking had opened up. Still carries the ball out in a bad place.
• The Bears' defensive approach seems to be let them think we're terrible early in games. Then later, they can find out we really are bad.
• Ten-play TD drive as Mariota throws a 2-yard TD pass to Drake London as he left Kyler Gordon well behind on coverage. No Bears defensive speed on that drive. The artificial turf makes it apparent they lack any defensive line speed. Falcons 7, Bears 0
• Nicholas Morrow with a half-baked tackle attempt of Patterson and fails of course. A 7-yard run.   On second down, Mariota gets the first down on a QB keeper and officials are quick to say a fumble he had was down. What's more disturbing is the ball wasn't even recovered by the Bears anyway.
• Hodge with a first-down catch at the 14. Right in front of Jaylon Johnson as Atlanta took advantage of a poor blitz effort.
• Tyler Algeier with a breakaway run through the arms of Jack Sanborn. Brisker has to leave the field with an injury after Marcus Mariota is stopped for a 1-yard gain.
• Kyle Pitts with a first down catch in Bears territory. Took advantage of Jaquan Brisker and Bears linebacker issues.
• On third-and-1, Justin Jones jumps the count. Just what Atlanta was trying to do.
• Blitzing right from the start by the Beas. Good to see. 
• Bears kick off to start the game and Cairo Santos gets it a couple yards deep for the touchback.

Pregame

• Best thing about the inactive/injury list thing is Teven Jenkins returns. There would appear to be no reason to keep him out. It isn't as if Michael Schofield outperformed him greatly last week. Jenkins has been one of their top two blockers all year and should be starting again today.
• Nothing surprising or big in Bears inactive list. Harry has been sick and was listed out on the injury list, but would have been unlikely to get to the active list anyway. Rest haven't been contributors anyway. Layne is a new player.  

• As expected, Velus Jones Jr. is active for this one. They need that extra speed on the artificial turf today.

Inactives

Bears 

WR N'Keal Harry

DB Justin Layne

G Ja'Tyre Carter

DB Lamar Jackson

S Dane Cruikshank

G/T Alex Leatherwood

Falcons

TE Feleipe Franks

S Jovante Moffatt

CB Rashad Fenton

ILB Nate Landman

TE Anthony Firkser

WR Bryan Edwards

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