The 6-9 Chicago Bears are taking part in the 7-8 Atlanta Falcons at Soldier Field in a Week 17 matchup. Here’s what you could know.
Halftime: Bears take management with 21-7 lead
Bears quarterback Justin Fields threw for 166 yards to gas a 21-7 halftime lead towards the Falcons on Sunday at Soldier Field.
Fields threw a landing move to DJ Moore and ran for a landing because the Bears stayed in management for nearly your complete half. Moore had 5 catches for 82 yards, setting a profession excessive for receiving yards in a season with 1,223.
The Bears went forward 7-0 on their first drive when Fields hit Moore for a 7-yard move on third down.
Fields and Moore opened the drive with a 32-yard connection, and it additionally included a 24-yard move to Roschon Johnson that bought the Bears to the 3-yard line. The Bears misplaced 4 yards over the subsequent two performs, however Fields hung within the pocket to search out Moore within the again left nook of the tip zone with 8:47 to play within the first quarter.
Fields made it 14-0 with a 9-yard landing run early within the second quarter. The drive included a pleasant 32-yard, over-the-shoulder catch from Moore.
The Falcons wanted only one play to chop into the lead. Taylor Heinicke hit Tyler Allgeier with a display screen move that went for a 75-yard landing. Allgeier outran 5 defenders on a well-blocked play to chop the Bears lead in half.
The Bears went up by two touchdowns once more on Johnson’s 2-yard run with 4:02 to play within the second quarter.
After Fields gained the wanted yard on fourth-and-1 from the three, Johnson surged up the center for his second landing of the season and the primary for the reason that opener towards the Green Bay Packers.
Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo missed his first two field-goal makes an attempt within the first quarter, from 50 and 42 yards.
After the Falcons’ first two performs went for 22 and 21 yards, the Bears protection caught a couple of breaks, together with Heinicke’s overthrown move in the long run zone to Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson’s fumble for a lack of 7 yards.
After Heinicke’s third-and-17 move went for 8 yards, Koo missed a 50-yard field-goal try quick. His 42-yard try after the Bears went up 7-0 hit the left upright.
Bears kicker Cairo Santos was quick on a 55-yard try on the finish of the half, and Dee Alford returned the miss 96 yards to the Bears 13-yard line earlier than Robert Tonyan helped journey him up. Center Lucas Patrick and Santos have been additionally in pursuit, and Patrick got here up limping on the play.
The field-goal try got here after linebacker T.J. Edwards intercepted Heinicke with 1:10 to play to present the Bears the ball on the Atlanta 37-yard line.
Inactives introduced
Bears tight finish Cole Kmet is energetic for Sunday’s sport towards the Falcons.
Kmet handled a knee damage through the week and was listed as questionable. He by no means has missed a sport in 4 seasons with the Bears, a streak of 65 straight coming into Sunday.
Bears middle Lucas Patrick can also be energetic after being listed as questionable with a knee challenge. Left guard Teven Jenkins will return after clearing concussion protocol.
Running again D’Onta Foreman, nevertheless, is inactive after training all week. The Bears will depend on Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson as an alternative.
As the Bears introduced Friday, they are going to be with out extensive receiver Darnell Mooney, who’s in concussion protocol. Linebacker DeMarquis Gates, security Quindell Johnson, offensive lineman Ja’Tyre Carter and quarterback Nathan Peterman are also inactive. Peterman will function the emergency third quarterback.
For the Falcons, tight finish John FitzPatrick, defensive linemen Joe Gaziano and Tommy Togiai, offensive linemen Jovaughn Gwyn and John Leglue and quarterback Logan Woodside are inactive.
‘People put a timeline on whether they can judge guys, but I’m actually simply initially’
By most accounts, Justin Fields has made steps towards turning into the kind of quarterback the Bears can win with.
Interceptions and sacks are down since he got here again from the thumb damage Nov. 19. He has closed out some wins. He has had flashes of enchancment in his motion throughout the pocket and his willingness to move downfield quite than all the time tuck and run when the pocket breaks down. And he has continued to indicate his distinctive skill — in contrast to few others within the NFL — to increase performs along with his legs.
But is that sufficient to persuade the Bears to guess on him once more? Read extra right here.
How have the Bears fared on New Year’s Eve video games?
Fans at Soldier Field on Dec. 31, 1988, settled in to look at a divisional playoff sport towards the Philadelphia Eagles in surprising consolation.
There was vibrant sunshine, little wind and temperatures heading for the 40s. Until, a sudden slap within the face.
“A fog that rolled in from the lake late in the first half left the spectators to stare into a gray shroud from which the players would emerge with maddening infrequency,” Tribune reporter Phil Hersh wrote on the time.
Few of the 65,534 spectators have been in a position to see the ultimate moments of the Bears’ 20-12 victory because of the thick haze.
The “Fog Bowl” — which marked the primary time the Bears ever performed on New Year’s Eve — is now one of many franchise’s most memorable video games. Read extra right here.
Defensive numbers don’t lie
There is a hyperlink between the 2023 Bears and previous groups, together with the division champions in 2018 and 2001 and even the Super Bowl XX champions of 1985.
The run protection this season is each bit nearly as good because it was for the dominant defenses of these profitable groups. In reality, with two video games remaining, Matt Eberflus’ workforce has a shot at being the most effective run protection in Bears historical past, a outstanding risk when contemplating final yr’s workforce ranked thirty first within the NFL permitting 157.3 yards per sport, the group’s second-worst season within the Super Bowl period (161.4 yards per sport in 2013). Read extra right here.
Catch up on all our protection earlier than kickoff
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Source: www.bostonherald.com