Falcons' Ryan another big test for Bears' defense
The last time the Bears' defense faced a Pro Bowl quarterback with a pair of dynamic, big-play wide receivers it wasn't pretty.
That was in Week 4, the 38-17 loss to the Packers. Aaron Rodgers picked apart the Bears with scoring drives on each of Green Bay's first six drives, throwing 2 TD passes each to Jordy Nelson (10 catches, 108 yards) and Randall Cobb (7-113).
This week's opponent, the 2-3 Atlanta Falcons, have been even more explosive than the Packers.
The Falcons are No. 1 in the league by a wide margin in yards per play (6.58), No. 2 in passing yards per game (319.2) and No. 3 in scoring (30.2 per game) and total yards per game (434.6).
Coach Mike Smith's team also is No. 4 in passing yards per play (7.94), No. 7 in third-down percentage (46.8) and No. 8 in average yards per running play (4.69), despite an offensive line that has been decimated by injuries.
In the early going, the Falcons have relied more than ever on big, fast and talented Julio Jones, who leads the NFL with 40 catches and 552 receiving yards. Atlanta's "other" wide receiver, Roddy White, has been nagged by a hamstring injury and has just 213 receiving yards, although he's averaging 13.3 yards per catch.
White was slowed last season by a high ankle sprain and a hamstring injury, but the 2-3 Bears know they can't sleep on the four-time Pro Bowler. In the six seasons from 2007-12, he caught 563 passes for 7,773 yards.
Oh, by the way, the Falcons also have some guy named Devin Hester who has contributed 14 receptions for 212 yards and is averaging 15.1 yards per catch. He also does a little work on special teams.
Hester is fourth in the league with a 14.4-yard average on punt returns and eighth in kickoff returns with a 24.2-yard average.
Although quarterback Matt Ryan is a notch below the Packers' Rodgers, he hasn't had a passer rating under 89.6 in any of the previous four seasons, and after five games he's at 96.4.
Since 2010, Ryan has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 126-58. During the same period, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler has thrown 86 touchdown passes and 55 interceptions.
Even without retired future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez, Ryan has plenty of firepower with Jones and White.
"Obviously, they're probably two of the premier receivers in the league," said Bears strong safety Ryan Mundy. "(Then) throw in their quarterback, who has the ability to get them the ball. I really don't know too much about their (other) offensive personnel right now.
"But just those two guys and their quarterback, that's probably enough for them. So, we'll have our hands full once again, but we're excited about that challenge, for sure."
"Excited," might not be the best word, considering the Packers fiasco, but it will be interesting to see how the Bears' cornerbacks - rookie Kyle Fuller and two-time Pro Bowler Tim Jennings - match up against the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Jones and the 6-foot, 212-pound White.
Fuller is coming off an excellent performance at Carolina, when he shadowed 6-5, 240 Kelvin Benjamin and limited him to just 3 catches for 38 yards, even though he was targeted 11 times by quarterback Cam Newton. The 5-11, 190 Fuller drew that assignment because he matched up better with Benjamin than 5-8, 185 Jennings.
"Kyle made a good effort in the red zone," coach Marc Trestman said. "He knocked a ball out of his hands. It's a real positive that Kyle could match up with a guy that size and really take him out of the game to the degree that he did, other than the one (other) red-zone play."
Fuller was penalized on a disputable pass-interference call in the end zone on a first-and-goal play from the 7, just before the Panthers' game-tying touchdown midway through the third quarter.
It doesn't get any easier for the Bears' first-round pick this week.
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