Do Da Dirty Bird: Previewing Week Six, Falcons v. Bears

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

"Da...Bearss, da Bearss, da Bearss, da Bearss..."

If you're not feeling my SNL reference, I hereby pronounce you clinically dead. There are no fans more super than Mike Myers and Chris Farley.

Anyway, that's who's coming to the Georgia Dome this weekend (not Myers and Farley, silly, the Chicago NFL franchise), and I'm gettin' pretty ready for some Sunday Night Football. We've got ourselves a couple of 3-1 teams, both second in their division, comprising two-thirds of the three-way tie for the two Wild Card spots.

I may or may not have just referred to the "Wild Cards" barely a quarter of the way into the season. Sorry, it's just the way my brain works. I hunger for success, especially that of the back-to-back winning seasons that has so eluded my Falcons.

Truth be told, the patient and cerebral pigskin spectator (they might exist, you never know) may have even more to enjoy from this game than biased boneheads like me. Jay Cutler versus Matt Ryan will be a glimpse into the crystal ball; a lot can be told about the future of NFL quarterbacks from these two. We're also bound to find out what happens when an upstart receiving corps faces an equally upstart secondary.

It's looking like I might have to miss my first Dirty Bird home game this season—darn you, national media and your crowding of our press box—but I'll savor this Sunday nonetheless.

Chicago Rush Offense v. Atlanta Rush Defense

In his rookie season, it took Matt Forte a few weeks to catch people's attention. By the end of the year, though, most people had him ranked among the top five backs in the league, and even a homer like me is going to admit that 1,238 yards as a babe is pretty good.

Now, here in his second season, it has taken Matt Forte a few weeks to do anything at all of note. Two weeks ago was a beast of a game against the Lions (who I may no longer call the worst team in the league, records considered), but before that, he averaged 2.2 yards a carry in the first two games and not much better against the Seahawks in Week Three.

Whether or not that performance against Detroit was a reemergence, we won't know for a while, but I would definitely hesitate to say he'll replicate it versus Atlanta. Jonathan Babineaux is no creaky Grady Jackson, and while Detroit's linebackers are coming along, they don't swarm the way Curtis Lofton and Mike Peterson do.

Chicago's offensive line has underachieved to this point in my opinion. Orlando Pace and Olin Kreutz are old, sure, but they're great players and should be opening up holes in more effective fashion than they are. Not to mention protecting Cutler a little better, but more on that in a bit.

I think it'll come down to Forte getting about 60 yards on the ground, but the Bears will rely on the pass, as they have in 75 percent of their games to this point.

Atlanta Rush Offense v. Chicago Rush Defense

Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood looked like a mighty fine one-two punch last week, as Burner got close to triple digits and Norwood played the traditional change-of-pace back role well. I'll go ahead and say that's bad news for a Bears run stoppage that quite nearly succumbed to the Steelers' two-headed monster less than a month ago.

The Falcons will need to mix it up, though obviously Turner is still the heavy lifter. As in our San Francisco showdown, I see him having little trouble getting to the second level, but once he's there, he's got some hard-hitters to watch out for. It would be foolish to underestimate Lance Briggs and his 27 (24 solo!) tackles.

Chicago also struggled when faced with a single back in Seattle, though perhaps that was more Julius Jones' doing than their shortcoming. Still, they have not proven themselves particularly stout: 90 yards to the Lions?

The Bears have done a great job overcoming the loss of Brian Urlacher, but note that Hunter Hillenmeyer, who isn't as big of an in-game factor as Nick Roach but is increasingly becoming a field general, is still feeling some pain in his rib.

Blocking was solid for us last week; I would have expected Patrick Willis to make a few more plays. Needless to say, I want more of the same here.

I see Turner managing a first down on his own per drive. Obviously, that won't be enough to get us even in field goal range, but he'll do the necessary (keep the opponents honest) so Ryan can work some aerial magic.

Chicago Pass Offense v. Atlanta Pass Defense

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