Chicago Bears Roll Past Atlanta Falcons: A Mostly Unbiased View
Oct 12, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Chicago Bears defensive end Willie Young (97) tackles Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) after a short gain in the fourth quarter of their game at the Georgia Dome. The Bears won 27-13. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
It can be hard being a fan of an NFL team. The roller coaster ride from week to week is exhausting. One game your team looks like they could take on anybody, but just a week later they could be taken apart by a team that you don’t think they should have any trouble defeating. It’s never as good or as bad as it seems, and certain problems will persist throughout a season while others can be worked through. That’s why we here at BGO have decided to bring you “Bear and Balanced: A Mostly Unbiased View of Your Chicago Bears”. I can find the silver lining to any cloud, but also find areas of concern in the most convincing victory. Each week I’ll try to bring you the facts of the game from an unbiased standpoint to help you, the fans, get a better feel for where the season is going.
Another week is in the books and the Chicago Bears tack on another win, this time against the Atlanta Falcons. This was an impressive victory for the Monsters of the Midway, albeit against the struggling Falcons. The offense finally put together four quarters of solid football, while the defense held up their part of the bargain. I don’t want to take anything away from this exciting road win, but I still have some concerns going forward. The Bears are .500 right now and there are still a lot of games to be played. They still have a long way to go before anybody is going to call them a true contender, so I’ve compiled a few points to be wary of in the near future.
The offense still has a bumpy road ahead of them. While the 478 total net yards that the Bears accrued in this game is an impressive number, it came against an Atlanta defense that currently ranks 31st in the league. The Bears will play tougher teams this season, and I would be shocked if the offense doesn’t falter at least a couple more times this year. Jay Cutler has had a really solid season so far, but he’s a true gunslinger and gunslingers are bound to have a few bad games in any given season.
Another area of concern for the offense is the razor-thin depth at the wide receiver position. Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery looked great against the Falcons, but the fact that none of the other receivers have stepped up to solidify the third spot is troubling. Can you imagine what would happen if one of them missed a significant amount of time due to injury? It doesn’t look good in my mind. The optimistic light at the end of this tunnel is that Marquess Wilson, the man who the coaching staff tabbed for the third receiver spot in training camp, should be back in action in a couple of weeks after breaking his collarbone prior to the season opener. The problem with that is, Wilson is still a largely unknown commodity. I’d like to say that I trust the coaching staff in their praise of the second-year player out of Washington State, but I’ve been burned too many times on that line of thought.