Chicago Bears Win Again Leaving Everyone Speechless
The recent Chicago Bears win, without a doubt, proved the Bears are the most entertaining undefeated team in the NFL. In their thrilling Week 3 comeback, the Windy City home team left fans hanging with plenty of nail-biting moments and dramatic storylines.
The Bears' latest victory was another thrilling fourth-quarter comeback. Quarterback Nick Foles scored 20 points on the way to the last minute 30-26 win over the Falcons; the Atlanta team, once again, threw away their second fourth-quarter lead this season.
Any Windy City sports bettor who placed money on the Falcons undoubtedly regrets going against the home team, now that online sports betting in Illinois are legal. Remember, betting against the Bears is just bad karma.
5 Reasons Why the Chicago Bears Defeated the Atlanta Falcons
The Bears' historic win against the Falcons last Sunday, involved their second comeback of the season. The Chicago team trailed Atlanta by 16 points in the fourth quarter, but took the lead at the very last minute. In doing so, the Bears became the first team in NFL history to do that, and it happened three games in a row. This only proves the fortitude of the Chicago Bears; even when the team is down, they never give up. The Bears keep fighting and they pulled off an improbable comeback one more time for Chicago.
Going into the fourth quarter, Chicago trailed 26-10. Then, Nick Foles scored 20 unanswered points in just four and a half minutes. That put the Bears ahead, 30-26, with less than two minutes left in the game. As they've done the first two weeks of the season, the Bears defense was able to push back a late rally by Atlanta, which seemed certain until safety Tashaun Gipson intercepted Falcon Quarterback Matt Ryan.
Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky led the team to a fourth-quarter comeback against the Detroit Lions in Week 1. While some could argue that Trubisky should not have been pulled in the middle of the third quarter, yet putting Nick Foles in the game was the right play. For one thing, Trubisky was struggling 16 points down, and the offense seemed limited. When Foles it the field, the game took an upturn. Fans will never know if Trubisky could have also mounted a miraculous fourth-quarter comeback, but they do know that Foles won the game in just a quarter and a half.
The catalyst for the Bears thrilling comeback win was Nick Foles. Right off the bench, Foles brought much-needed confidence to the offense. Even the defense felt the swagger after Foles entered the game, as they held Atlanta to just 63 yards of total offense.
Foles' performance was phenomenal, especially when you consider there were just a quarter and a half left in the game. In that time, Foles completed 16-of-20 passes for a gain of 188 yards and three last-minute touchdowns. While technically, Foles threw five touchdowns, two were contravened by a dubious interception ruling and as well as a dropped pass. While Bear's head coach Matt Nagy hasn't decided the starting quarterback, it seems like a no-brainer to go with Foles going forward.
While the Bears' defense struggled early in the game, they were able to hit Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan with an unbearable wave of pressure, even more than the final score indicates. Bears linebacker Khalil Mack and defensive end Akiem Hicks were all over the field, as Chicago's defense sacked Ryan twice with eight quarterback hits. Safety Tashaun Gipson also had a key interception of the Falcon's quarterback in the final minutes of the game, sealing a win for Chicago.
Technically, Chicago also had another forced fumble and recovery, as well as another sack. But a roughing the passer penalty negated those. Although the Bears defense did not look like the solid unit many fans expected at that point, they're definitely improving when it comes to going after the quarterback. However, stopping the run is a whole other issue.
The Falcons Seem Cursed
Despite the Bears trailing 26-10 in the fourth quarter, many had a sneaking suspicion that somehow the Falcons would blow yet another lead, even with the bookies projecting a 99.3% win probability in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for Falcon fans, that's exactly what the team did.
Only a week after throwing away a 15-point fourth-quarter lead against the Dallas Cowboys, the Falcons blew a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Bears. In fact, Atlanta has the honor of becoming the first franchise in NFL history to lose twice in one season with a 15-plus point lead in the fourth quarter. Surprisingly, the Falcons achieved that dubious honor in back-to-back weeks.
During the game with the Chicago Bears, dubious play-calls by Atlanta's offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, overseen by Coach Dan Quinn, ultimately proved to be the Falcons undoing. Koetter kept calling pass plays as Atlanta held the lead despite solid performances from both running backs Brian Hill and Todd Gurley.
This season, Arthur Blank, the Falcons owner, has kept both coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff hoping to turn things around after back-to-back, 7-9 showings. Blank now has to decide regarding maintaining Quinn and other changes that could improve the team's future.
The Bears Chances at the Playoffs
While it's too early to consider the Bears going into the playoffs, it's impossible to ignore the Bears getting off to an impressive 3-0 start. Historically, teams that have started 3-0 have a 73.6 % chance of making the playoffs. The chances of making the playoffs only improve to 82.4% for teams that start 4-0.
If quarterback Nick Foles is able to keep the team winning for the rest of the season, they will absolutely make it to the playoffs. And if the Chicago Bears do make it to the playoffs, it's obvious what Foles can do at crunch time.
The Bears' chances at the playoffs will certainly be a big topic among both sports media and the fans going into week four. However, right now, Chicagoans can feel confident that the Bears are on a winning streak.
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