Bears comeback effort falls just short against Falcons

ATLANTA - For most of the game, and especially when it mattered most, it seemed as if the Bears couldn't cover anyone.

A defense decimated by injuries in the secondary needed to make just one play at the end to preserve a victory, but it couldn't. Even though Falcons rookie quarterback Matt Ryan had just five seconds to turn an apparent loss into a victory against the Bears, it was enough.

Ryan, playing in just his sixth NFL game, made it look easy all day against a veteran Bears defense. But he made it look spectacular at the end when, with just one play left, his perfectly placed pass to Michael Jenkins picked up 26 yards in front of safety Mike Brown and allowed the wide receiver to get out of bounds at the Bears' 30-yard line and stop the clock with just one second left. That was enough time for 38-year-old Jason Elam, who'd hooked a 33-yarder wide left with 2:50 remaining, to connect from 48 yards away for a 22-20 victory as time expired.

"Tough," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "I wish I could give you a couple more words to really show you how bad it really is, but I can't. That's life. This one hurt. We had victory there right within our grasp, but we couldn't pull it out."

The Bears' defeat was one of the most bitter in memory, considering Rashied Davis' 17-yard TD grab with 11 seconds left appeared to have given them their only lead of the afternoon and an unlikely 20-19 victory.

But Robbie Gould's ensuing squib kick was fielded cleanly on a bounce by Harry Douglas at the 34-yard line and returned 10 yards. The clock stopped with six ticks left, and Ryan's 22nd completion set Elam up for the game-winner. Ryan, the third overall pick in the draft, threw for a career-best 301 yards, missing just 8 of 30 passes, and he was neither intercepted nor sacked while posting a passer rating of 116.1.

"We built our hearts up to get them broken down," linebacker Lance Briggs said. "But that's football."

Well, Bears football, anyway. With a chance to maintain sole possession of first place in the NFC North, the Bears instead fell to 3-3 and into a tie with the Vikings and Packers, who both won Sunday. The Falcons improved to 4-2.

The Bears won their battle to nullify Falcons running back Michael Turner, limiting the NFL's leading rusher to 54 yards on 25 carries and a 2.2-yard average. But their focus on Turner and a rash of injuries to key defensive backs left the defense susceptible, even to a rookie quarterback. Starting cornerback Nate Vasher was inactive because of a thumb/wrist injury that occurred in Week Four. The other starting corner, Charles Tillman, suffered a left shoulder injury with two minutes left in the first half and didn't return. Trumaine McBride, the No. 4 corner, also suffered a shoulder injury in the first half, and Danieal Manning, the nickel corner, suffered a hamstring injury on the second-half kickoff. Neither returned.

That left Corey Graham, who started in place of Vasher; and Marcus Hamilton, who has been with the Bears less than three weeks after being waived by the Bucs, as the corners. It also forced the Bears to stay in their base defense with three linebackers, instead of substituting a defensive back for a linebacker in passing situations.

"Of course (the injuries) hurt," Smith said. "When you lose three DBs that would have played, it hurts. But we had ourselves in position. Injuries are a part of the game. I'm sure they lost some guys, too."

As long as the Falcons had Ryan throwing to wide receivers Roddy White (9 catches, 112 yards), 171-pound rookie Harry Douglas (5 for 96) and Jenkins (4 for 58) that was enough.

"We were down to out last two corners, but I'm not going to say that is the blame," defensive coordinator Bob Babich said. "I'm just going to say it's the leader of this unit. We didn't get it done. I'm taking responsibility for that."

Brown accepted the blame for the final pass that set up the winning kick.

"It was a corner route, and we were in Cover 2," Brown said. "Good ball, good catch. I should have made the play, and I didn't, so I'll take the blame for that."

After more than two quarters of offensive ineptitude, the Bears' offense, which managed just 104 yards and 3 points in the first half, put together one of its most impressive drives of the season, using 8 minutes and 12 seconds to go 82 yards on 14 plays and draw to within 12-10 with 2:24 left in the third quarter.

To that point, the defense had kept the game close by forcing the Falcons to settle for field goals on their first four scoring drives, three of which penetrated inside the Bears' 25-yard line. But the defense's lack of coverage ability began to surface when the Falcons drove 76 yards, mostly through the air, to take a 19-10 lead with 13:25 remaining.

As losses go, this one was tougher than most, even if the Bears didn't want to admit it.

"I don't rate losses," Brown said. "They all (stink)."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Photo Galleries</h2> <ul class="gallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=242228&src=148">Images from Bears @ Falcons </a></li> </ul> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=242238">Rozner: Bears got what they deserved <span class="date">[10/12/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=242251">Hamilton forced into difficult assignment <span class="date">[10/12/08]</span</a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=242252">The drive that went nowhere <span class="date">[10/12/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=242250&src=148">Elam comes through for Falcons <span class="date">[10/12/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/733">Blog: Vasher out again <span class="date">[10/12/08]</span></a></li> </ul> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://video.ap.org/vws/search/aspx/ap.aspx?t=s316&p=ENAPsports_ENAPsports&g=1012s_Falcons_Bears&f=ILARL','_blank','width=788,height=598,status=1,scrollbars=1,resizable=1'));">Elam Boots Game Winning Field Goal for Falcons </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>