Sunday Night Football - Bears Vs Falcons game summary

After the Saints storming win in the early game the question heading into last night was whether the Bears could steal a tough win on the road against a well balanced Falcons team on Sunday night football.

The game was close from the outset with both defences imposing themselves on the game and both Quarterbacks blowing hot and cold on possessions.  Matt Ryan seemed to have the edge early on as he continued to impress with his maturity.  He has a canny ability to avoid the sack whilst also not forcing too many plays which makes him a dangerous foe for years to come.  Jay Cutler on the other side was having problems under pressure as the Bears struggled to establish the running game.

The contest was littered with penalties and some surprising mistakes by the Bears special teams.  Coach Dave Toub will be having nightmares after this one.  They managed to get away with a huge mistake late on where they fielded 12 players and kept a late Falcons drive alive.  Luckily the Defence stepped in and picked Ryan on the next play giving the ball back to the Bears deep in their own territory with just 3 minutes left on the game clock, trailing 21 to 14.

Cutler was able to drive down to the red zone in part thanks to a great open field move by Devin Hester but ultimately they were unable to convert on 4th and 7 and blew what would have been a perfect Sunday in my household.

The Falcons next up face the Cowboys before heading to the Super Dome for a division showdown with the Saints. It's a mouth watering clash in prospect. 

The Falcons may be without Jerius Norwood who limped out injured in the first half of this game.  Without him the Falcons will rely on Michael Turner to carry the ball even more than they do at present.  Turner is more effective with Norwood in the game as the change of styles offered by the two RB's keep defences guessing.  His recovery from injury in time for the Saints clash could be an important factor in the eventual outcome.

Injuries, injuries, everywhere I look there are injuries

It's week 3 of the season and already the brave are falling.  Strange that so many season ending injuries happen within the first 5 weeks of a season and thereafter the figures decline.  Either people are starting the season badly conditioned or it takes the first few weeks to really work up to game day fitness that no gym workouts or off season prep can prepare the body for.

Shame to see Chad Pennington is gone for the season so too Brian Urlacher.  Urlacher in particular is a player I love to watch.  Hard hitting, tough, team leaders like him and Ray Lewis are worth the attendance money alone sometimes and the league is the poorer for seeing him on the sidelines for the season. 



Heads up to Fantasy players as Frank Gore is out for a couple of weeks as well.

Who's your money on for this years Super Bowl?

Hi sports fans,

So the NFL season is back and we're already in week 2, can you believe it?!!  I love the early stages of the season as being a die hard Saints fan I am able to maintain hope until at least weeks 6 or 8.  Thereafter the crushing reality of another playoffless season looms ever larger in the distance and I start having to stat crunch to at least see if any of our boys will make the Pro Bowl.



This season we've jumped out to a 2 and 0 start in some style.  I won't get ahead of myself and predict a division championship but I will say at least we look like contenders.  If Drew Bree's can stay fit and healthy we have as good a chance as anybody.  That said Defence's win championships, as the old saying goes, and sometimes I think my old gran could tackle better in open play than some of our so called linebackers... oh how I wish the Dome Patrol were still around.  So far so good  but I'm not sure we have the frontline quality and depth to go all the way (please, please prove me wrong boys).

OK so that is my opening admission, I am a Saints fan, yadder, yadder, but I don't want this to be a Saints focused blog and basically just love football so will endeavour to speak from a neutrals perspective as much as is humanly possible.

Early surprises for me are witnessing a 100% record for the Broncos and Jets to date.  I'm impressed by how fast Mark Sanchez has made an impact as the pressure's on a rookie QB are pretty intense especially playing for a hard to please New York crowd.  Granted it's not the same kind of pressure as holding down 3 jobs, supporting a family of 5 with back rent and outstanding utility bills (any help would be much appreciated ;-) ) but you get my point.

Talking of QB's it's great to see Tom Brady back playing.  Quality QB's make for a better league and I for one love to watch the likes of Tom, Manning, Favre, et al, ply their trade.  It's a highly skilled business and it's fantastic to watch when executed by such practitioners of the art.

OK so early season prediction time.  I'm wagering a tonne on the Steelers to regain the Vince Lombardi trophy.  They'll beat either the Bears or Saints (OK the Bears as I said I'd be neutral) in the big final with a big Ben QB sneak with 1.32 left on the clock.

You read it here first people.  Get your spread bet set on that now.