Chicago Bears vs. Atlanta Falcons: Breaking Down the Bears' Game Plan

While every game on the NFL calendar is important, this week’s game is extremely important for the 2-3 Chicago Bears.

Coming off back-to-back losses, the Bears travel to Atlanta to face Matt Ryan and the Falcons. Ryan is 38-10 at home with Atlanta since entering the league.

Chicago has some very discouraging issues to work through this week. For starters, Marc Trestman needs to do a better job of making in-game adjustments. Chicago has been out-schemed in the second half of the last two games, where the Bears have been outscored 34-3 over the stretch.

“This year it’s a little bit harder because we got 16 games on tape, so defenses have a better idea of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Jay Cutler said on his radio show with ESPN Chicago’s Waddle and Silvy. “That’s not a cop out, that we shouldn’t improve. We should. It’s just the reality of the situation.”

Well, the “reality of the situation,” as Cutler called it, needs to change immediately or this team will continue to sink until there’s no light left to see.

Turnovers need to be addressed, too. It’s been a major reason why the Bears offense has struggled of late. Jay Cutler has thrown four interceptions over the past two weeks, and Matt Forte’s costly fourth-quarter fumble against Carolina essentially gave the Panthers the game.

Similar things can be said for the Bears defense. Mel Tucker’s defense has done a great job of creating turnovers—11 in four games—but it can’t be an all-or-nothing defense as it has been so far.

If the Bears defense isn’t forcing a turnover, there’s a good chance points are being scored. Tucker needs to do a better job of disguising coverage schemes, which cornerback Tim Jennings addressed on his Tuesday radio show with The Game 87.7 FM in Chicago:

“That just lets you know how vanilla we are,” Jennings said, after the host, Adam Hoge, pointed out that he was able to read coverage from the press box.

All of these issues must be addressed sooner rather than later, which might be the most obvious statement of the day. But it needs to be said, because neither Trestman nor Tucker have shown the ability to out-coach the other team for four quarters. The Bears have yet to play well in all three phases of the game for the entire game. It’s been a mishmash of inconsistency.

Oh, and let’s not forget: Devin Hester will be lining up on the sideline opposite the Bears for the first time in his career. The “should the Bears punt to Hester” conversation is going to be compelling and rich, that’s for sure.

Hester spoke to the Chicago media Wednesday, via conference call. He didn’t take the bait when asked about what happened last season with the Bears. You know Hester will be one of the major talking points until this week is over.

Now let’s dig into the actual game, take a look at what the Bears need to go in order to get back in the win column.

The Falcons pass blocking can be taken advantage of Sunday

Don’t let the Falcons' three sacks against fool you; Matt Ryan hasn’t been protected all that well this season. The Falcons offense line ranks sixth in QB hits allowed (12) and third in QB hurries allowed (44), according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Rookie first-round pick Jake Matthews has struggled getting acclimated to the left tackle position. The season-ending injury to Sam Baker forced Matthews to move from right tackle to left without much notice.

Matthews is responsible for nine QB hurries this season. Jared Allen should be able to win this matchup swimmingly. Allen has yet to record a sack this season, but he has made a habit of being in the vicinity of the quarterback through the first five games. Allen has 12 total pressures this season, which is the sixth-best number in the league, per PFF.

In other news, the Falcons could have left guard Justin Blalock back for Sunday’s game. Blalock left last week’s game due to a back injury. He was back on the practice field Wednesday, according to ESPN Atlanta Falcons reporter Vaughn McClure.

Now this is important because Blalock is the Falcons' most consistent lineman and has been an anchor in pass protection. Per PFF, he played more snaps at guard than any other player last season. Having him back on the field Sunday would bring some continuity to the struggling line and a smile to the quarterback’s face.

Last week against the New York Giants, Ryan was pressured 18 times on 46 total dropbacks. He was sacked one time while completing just 8 of 17 passes and a QB rating of 75.1.

Ryan is too dangerous throwing the ball downfield to Julio Jones and Roddy White to be given a lot of time in the pocket. The Bears must sully the pocket early and often. If that happens, the banged-up secondary will be forced to do less.

Watch out for Antone Smith!

Do you know who leads the Falcons in touchdowns? (Yes, the title of this section gives it away, but play along anyway.)

It’s Smith! You guessed it!

Smith is a guy who knows how to do a lot with very little. The 5'9" running back has played just 49 snaps this season, yet he’s scored four touchdowns (two rushing, two receiving).

The Falcons employ a four-back system—Steven Jackson, Jacquizz Rodgers, Devonta Freeman and Smith.

Smith by far has seen the fewest snaps of any of the four backs, but head coach Mike Smith wants to get Smith more involved, via Vaughn McClure of ESPN:

"

We need to have more plays designed for Antone Smith. When he touches the ball, he makes plays. He did another fine job. We caught them in Cover Zero and it was a great throw by Matt (Ryan), getting the ball out of hands. And in zero, there is no defensive depth, and he just outran everybody.

"

Antone Smith is the type of player with whom the Bears struggle. Smith is as shifty as they come. He can get to the outside at a moment’s notice. The Bears don’t really have the speed to make this a favorable matchup, either.

Smith’s four touchdowns have come on 17 total touches. His two rushing scores came on runs of 38 and 48 yards, respectively. His two passing scores, both of which were caught behind the line of scrimmage or within nine yards of it, came on long receptions of 54 and 74 yards, respectively.

Check out this crazy stat from McClure: Smith “now has six touchdowns in 25 career touches, with 24 touches over his past 16 games.”

Don’t be surprised if Coach Smith throws the kitchen sink at the Bears' “vanilla” defense.

Let Brandon Marshall take over

Marshall has gone missing from the Bears offense of late. After catching 12 passes on 20 targets for 119 yards and four touchdowns in the first two weeks of the season, Marshall has just six catches on 17 targets for 69 yards and one touchdown over the last three games.

It’s his quietest stretch of production since joining the Bears three seasons ago.

Let’s get one thing straight: Marshall can’t fully be a productive player unless he gets the ball. Aside from blowing off the media after both Weeks 4 and 5, Marshall came back last week sounding refreshed and ready to get back at it.  

"When the media asks for your time you better give it to them. They're killing me right now," Marshall said, via Will Brinson of CBS Sports. "I have to say, these people in Chicago really treated me good. And I need to give them more.”

Coach Trestman addressed Marshall’s production at Monday’s press conference, via ESPN Chicago’s Jeff Dickerson:

"

For the most part Brandon has done well. We’ve had an open line of communication and we talked this morning about it. We talked last week ... we’re going to continue to press on and do it. I kind of looked at it at times like a little bit of a batting slump for a hitter. We don’t get as many opportunities as those hitters get, certainly, but we’ve got to do a better job of getting him more swings at the plate and allowing him to take more shots.

"

Given the lack of consistency shown by the Bears offense during the current two-game losing streak, the Bears might be best served to find any and all ways of getting Marshall the ball early and often Sunday. Game-plan to get him the ball a few times in the first 15 plays, with the hope of creating more space for Alshon Jeffery and Martellus Bennett to work in single coverage.

“We want him to have more productivity,” Trestman added. “When he touches the ball good things happen. … It’s certainly something we have to continue to work on to get him back involved where he can get more touches that will result in bigger plays.”

Hopefully “biggest plays” will result in bigger wins.