Bears make a complete turnaround, beat Atlanta
ATLANTA — Given little chance of success because of an injury epidemic at linebacker, the short-handed Bears defense played its best game of the season.
Quarterback Jay Cutler had his most productive game as a Bear, Brandon Marshall had his first 100-yard game of the season, Alshon Jeffery had the second-longest reception of his career, and running back Matt Forte had his second straight double-digit reception day and ran for 2 touchdowns.
It all added up to a 27-13 Bears victory over the Falcons in Atlanta's noisy Georgia Dome that by late in the third quarter began to sound as if it was the Bears' home field, thanks to thousands of fans who made the trip.
The Bears' defense at times utilized three rookies and one first-year player and played without its top four linebackers but still allowed just 287 total yards, its best effort of the season. The 13 points also were the lowest total allowed under head coach Marc Trestman.
It was even more surprising considering the Falcons' explosive offense was averaging 30.2 points in all games and had piled up 93 points in just two home games.
The Bears' third win in four road games lifted them back up to .500 at 3-3 and dropped the Falcons to 2-4.
“It's huge, 3-3 puts us right back in the hunt,” said defensive end Jared Allen, who picked up his first sack of the year, the longest drought he has ever had to begin a season.
“Everything, all of our plans all of our goals are still available. At 2-4, you're behind the 8-ball; 3-3 opens the door for everything.”
The defensive line tied its best effort of the season with 4 sacks, including 2 more by Willie Young (team-high 7) and 1 by Stephen Paea (career-high 4). The pressure they brought on Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan helped take some of the pressure off the new crew at linebacker and a young secondary.
The defensive backfield started rookie cornerback Kyle Fuller, and first-year player Demontre Hurst was the nickel corner. His first career interception with 3:48 remaining sealed the victory. The secondary also turned to rookie Brock Vereen at free safety after starter Chris Conte left in the first half.
Linebacker was even more cobbled together than the secondary.
The Bears' started second-year man Khaseem Greene at weakside linebacker in place of seven-time Pro Bowler Lance Briggs, who was out with a rib injury. Greene's performance in training camp and the preseason was so uninspiring that he was inactive for the first two games of the season.
At middle linebacker, in place of D.J. Williams (neck), the Bears started five-year veteran Darryl Sharpton, who had been with the team 17 days and had the added burden of calling defensive signals.
“I Just used my experience from previous years of playing and went out and gave it my best effort.” said Sharpton, who started 19 games with the Houston Texans from 2010-13. “Lance, D.J., all those guys, they rallied around me; they were there supporting me along the way.
“The D-line was doing an amazing job getting those sacks. That helped out tremendously, and we just came together as a defense and were able to get a victory.”
At strongside linebacker, undrafted rookie Christian Jones filled in for Jon Bostic (back), who had been filling in for Shea McClellin (broken hand).
“These guys did great,” Trestman said. “It starts with (defensive coordinator) Mel (Tucker) and our staff with (linebackers coach) Reggie Herring getting those guys ready.
“The guys on the defensive line really came back and wrapped their arms around these young linebackers. We asked them to just do your job and not do anything more than that.”
The group defensive effort limited the Falcons to a measly 42 rushing yards on 13 carries (3.2-yard average), which allowed the D-line to get after Ryan, who came in with a 142.2 passer rating at home but completed just 19 of 37 passes for 271 yards for a 73.1 passer rating.
Cutler, on the other hand, was superb. He completed 26 of 38 passes for 381 yards, his most as a Bear, 1 touchdown and no interceptions for a passer rating of 109.6.
“You could tell he's comfortable in the offense,” Forte said. “He put some pinpoint balls out there to Alshon and Brandon early in the game. He was on fire back there.”
Marshall caught 6 passes for 113 yards, and Jeffery hauled in 5 for 136 yards, including the 74-yard bomb that set up Forte's first TD run. That 6-yard burst with 5:06 left in the third quarter put the Bears back up 19-13 after the Falcons had tied it just 73 seconds earlier.
On the Bears' next possession, they drove 87 yards in 15 plays, converting 4 third-down situations, including Forte's 9-yard TD run on a draw play. Cutler's 2-point conversion toss to tight end Martellus Bennet concluded the scoring, and the Bears' defense took it the rest of the way.
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