The Atlanta Falcons fell to the Chicago Bears 31-23 in a scoreline that probably flattered the Falcons; the final score made it look closer than it felt throughout the game.

The game couldn’t have started much worse for the Falcons. The Bears go on a long, time-consuming drive that results in a touchdown. The Falcons go three-and-out on their first drive and give up a 23-yard punt return by Kalif Raymond, putting Chicago in good field position to start their second drive. 

The Bears converted a 3rd and 17 after a fumbled snap; six plays later it was 14-0, and Caleb Williams was 10/10 for 122 yards and a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Penix had gone into the medical tent, presumably to take a look at his injured ribs. Penix returned, but it was another three-and-out for the Falcons. 

The Falcons' defense stood up to the Bears on consecutive possessions, giving the offense a chance to find itself. Penix missed a wide-open Drake London on a well-drawn-up play-action, but they found paydirt on the next drive when Penix threw a nice fade to Jahan Dotson to make the score 14-7.  

The Falcons needed to show some life, because at this point in the game, they were in danger of being blown out in front of a pro Chicago-transplant crowd in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Atlanta’s defense held again with just under two minutes left in the first half. FOX’s play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt rightly said it seemed as if the Falcons had weathered the storm.

Then Zachariah Branch muffed a punt at the 10-yard line. Branch lost the punt return duties to Olamide Zaccheaus earlier this year after he fielded a punt inside the five that took him into the endzone. I’ll be a little surprised if we don’t see Zaccheaus back there for the next several weeks. 

To add insult to injury, cornerback Avieon Terrell left after the second-down play with a shoulder injury. On third down, the Bears pushed the ball into the end zone to make it 21-7.

Any momentum the Falcons had clawed back was sucked through the roof of the stadium going into the half.

21-7 at the half. Outgained 243 to 97, and the Bears held the ball for 22:13 of the 30 minutes. It was the least amount of time the Falcons had the ball in the first half of a game since 2012. How do you stop Bijan Robinson? Make him watch from the sidelines.

The Falcons looked like a team that had already made offseason plans. Getting beaten handily by the Panthers with Cooper Rush at quarterback was almost understandable, predictable even. But the first-half showing by the Falcons would lead even the staunchest of Falcons’ defenders to be ready for a roster reset at the end of the year.

It got worse in the second half, not better.

Atlanta knew they needed a spark in the second half, and they came out more aggressive. They got a pass interference call against Drake London for a big gain, and then they were bailed out on a roughing the punter penalty after Penix was sacked on a third-down blitz. 

They weren’t able to take advantage of their good fortune. Penix got sacked again on a Bears blitz, and the drive ended on an incomplete pass to Drake London on fourth and three from the Bears' 28. 

Insult to Injury 

Atlanta came into the game banged up on defense, and then it got worse. There was Terrell’s shoulder injury. Divine Deablo left with an arm injury. The most serious of all looked to be Kendal Daniels, who injured his head/neck area on a tackle. He went off on a stretcher, which looked more precautionary. A concussion looked probable after both his hands went to the side of his head and he rolled over after the tackle.

FOX later reported that Daniels was fully conscious and had movement in all of his extremities.

Terrell returned in the second half. His brother A.J. is eligible to return to the team this week if his hamstring injury is deemed recovered.

Bullied

Entering the fourth quarter, the Falcons trailed 28-7 and had fewer yards on offense (100) than the Bears had in penalty yards (133).

The book is out on Penix: Pressure him. The Bears put Penix under pressure, and he was 9/20 passing for 48 yards when the Bears were up 31-7.

Robinson was bottled up because the Bears kept him off the field. The defense couldn’t stop Caleb Williams.

The special teams had enough errors to lose the game on their own.

Still...

Even after all the bad through three-plus quarters, and ironically, Tom Brady doing color commentary, the Falcons made it interesting.

The Falcons showed some life after the game was seemingly out of hand. A pair of Kyle Pitts touchdowns were both encouraging and head-scratching. He looks amazing with the ball in his hands. Why is his first target in the fourth with the score 31-7?

Atlanta had the ball and was down 31-23 with just under four minutes to play. But with the game in the balance again, the Bears turned up the pressure again and forced a turnover on downs.

Gut Check Time

We saw the good Falcons and the bad Falcons against the Bears. Unfortunately, the good Falcons didn't show up until it was 31-7. However, they showed they weren't ready to just mail-in the rest of the season.

They have a big opportunity coming up next Sunday.

Rekindle the season against the 49ers, or start looking towards 2027 when the Falcons have a ton of space under the salary cap and a full allotment of draft picks.