The drive that went nowhere
ATLANTA - The Bears wanted to call Kyle Orton's performance in rallying the offense to 10 fourth-quarter points Sunday just another step in their quarterback's maturation process.
What they could not call it, though, was a winning step.
Despite an 11-play drive capped by Rashied Davis' 17-yard, go-ahead touchdown catch with 11 seconds remaining, the Bears came away 22-20 losers to the Atlanta Falcons.
"We didn't start fast enough, especially as an offense, and obviously as a team we have to finish," Orton said.
The real regrets on offense centered not around the game's start, but the Bears' fourth-quarter drive to the half-yard line. Atlanta slapped down Matt Forte's attempt to dive over on fourth down, one play after offensive coordinator Ron Turner called for fullback Jason McKie to carry up the middle for half a yard.
Turner said the Bears gave no thought to a quarterback sneak on either play, and split Forte out of the backfield on McKie's run in an attempt to get an Atlanta linebacker to move outside.
"They (the Falcons' defense) were in there way too tight," Turner said. "They have everyone covered up inside. Looking at it, going into it, quarterback sneaks are tough when they were as tight as they were.
"So the plays we went with were ones we felt good about coming into the game and I thought we could run."
The offense closed correctly when Orton directed a 77-yard drive in 2:32, one that included 6 completions and ended with a toss in the corner to Davis to give the Bears a 20-19 lead.
"I had the defensive back with his head turned and I saw Rashied's eyes, so I just tried to throw it as hard as I can and get it there before the guy turns around," Orton said of Falcons cornerback Chris Houston. "Rashied made a great catch on it. It was a great drive as an offense."
Orton actually put together three fourth-quarter drives into the red zone and finished the game 26 of 43 for 286 yards with an 87.9 quarterback rating.
"The offense did a great job at the end with Kyle at the helm," tight end Greg Olsen said. "We had two back-to-back, two-minute-style, no-huddle drives and came away the first time with only a field goal, and the second time we were able to score that touchdown. You've got to give credit to Kyle."
Orton also threw for 38 of the Bears' 40 yards on the way to Robbie Gould's 32-yard field goal with 4:05 left in the game
"Offensively, we had a chance to do some more and not put the game in that situation at the end and we've got to make sure we get that done," Turner said.
The first half resembled a re-enactment of the dreary era of former offensive coordinator Terry Shea, as the Bears produced 3 points and 6 first downs. Orton managed only 88 of his 268 passing yards in the first half.