Chicago Bears: 5 Players Who Performed Best in Week 1 vs. the Falcons

So much for being home underdogs to begin the season.

The Chicago Bears refused to show anything worthwhile in the preseason, holding their cards close and not revealing any specifics on game planning or detailed plays. It appears when the contests matter, they knew what they were doing all along.

From the start, the Bears looked like they were in cruise control against the Atlanta Falcons. The running game was effective, Jay Cutler had time in the pocket to make smart decisions and the defense was relentless. All of the offseason worries seemed to have been corrected for this game.

An area of concern offensively was staying away from the Martz-ian philosophy of throwing the ball until Cutler’s blue in the face. Chicago did a nice job of mixing up 32 pass attempts and 27 rushes. In doing so, the Bears were able to win the time of possession battle 33:19 to 26:41.

Another nice improvement to see was how the Bears converted third down tries. The team went 6-16 on third down attempts for a solid 37 percent. There is room to improve here still, but some were longer than others due to the five sacks the Bears allowed during the game.

The final bullet point that stood out was the turnover ratio. Chicago finished with a +2 rating, something that head coach Lovie Smith noted in his postgame remarks leads to a 90% chance of victory any given day. Chicago finished with an interception and two forced fumbles on defense while surrendering just one interception on a batted ball at the line of scrimmage.

Overall, it was a tremendous team performance in all facets of the game. However, five specific players elevated their performance to the next level.

Here are the top five performers from Week One for the Bears:

5. Charles Tillman

Charles “Peanut” Tillman has been working the whole offseason to prove his critics that he is not old, but rather seasoned and experienced. He certainly played like that Sunday.

Tillman finished the game with seven tackles, a forced fumble and domination on Falcons wide receiver Roddy White, whom he covered most of the game. The big play potential of White was well contained as he finished with eight receptions for just 64 yards. His biggest catch was a 14-yard gain.

“It’s a good start. You can only have one good start,” said Tillman in the locker room following the victory. “1-0 is always a good thing to be to start a season. It was a good day in all.”

Sunday was a great showing for Peanut and provided reassurance to the Chicago defense that the cornerback position is one that will be just fine in 2011. Tillman, along with the rest of the secondary, will certainly be tested in Week Two against an elite New Orleans Saints passing attack.

4. Henry Melton

This is an exact replica of what we saw all of last year as a direct result of the “Julius Pepper Effect.” Israel Idonije was able to explode for a career high eight sacks in 2010. Why? So many teams were focused on double-teaming Peppers that other players had a chance to step up and make plays.

Déjà vu struck Sunday when defensive tackle Henry Melton was able to penetrate the offensive line with regular frequency. Melton finished the game with five tackles and two sacks. He hit Matt Ryan a total of nine times.

“I need to work on my [sack] dance,” joked Melton in postgame. “I didn’t really have anything prepared for today. I just started skipping today… I need to start with the dance, and then I’ll name it. It’ll be fun.”

It will be lots of fun for Bears fans to see this defensive line keep the intensity going as consistently as they did against the Falcons. The defense will have a much easier time on Sundays when offenses are in panic mode.

3. Matt Forte

Matt Forte has nothing to prove when it comes to his value. The organization knows just how much he means and what his on-field production does for the Bears offense. He has no additional reason to demonstrate why he deserves a new deal.

Forte reassured general manager Jerry Angelo Sunday afternoon that he is the most versatile weapon the Bears have had on offense in quite some time. Forte was solid running the ball 16 times for 68 yards, an average of 4.3 yards per carry. Forte additionally hauled in five balls for 90 yards and a touchdown. He benefited directly from the screen game.

“We do a lot of different stuff,” said Forte after the game. “It’s not just one thing that we’re going to harp on offense just because we made a big play on a big screen play. Next week it may be a big run play. It’s something different every week.”

Even more encouraging was Forte’s response to teams knowing he is just as dangerous as a running back as he is a receiver.

“If they don’t know that by now, I don’t know what else I have to do,” he continued.

If he is able to keep up this pace throughout the season, Forte will be due for a gigantic pay day when the offseason arrives. Just how valuable is he to this team? The Bears would be foolish to even experiment with that thought.

2. Jay Cutler

What an outing from a guy who hadn’t played a meaningful game since the NFC Championship game.

Cutler looked like a man on a mission to disprove the critics and doubters of his leadership and toughness. He stood tall in the pocket, made wise decisions and never forced the ball except for a few occasions.

The Bears quarterback, now in his third year with the franchise, went 22-32 for 312 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Even after a solid statistical game and 30 points on the scoreboard to show for it, Cutler was still critical of how the Bears can improve.

“We left some out there,” he said at the podium following the game. “We started off pretty good but we just have to get better in the red zone. We just have to hammer out some of these details because we left 14, 21 points on the board.”

Does having a year of experience under your belt with Mike Martz help for 2011?

“You always want to have more work, you always want to have more time with the offense and just the repetitions and experience and plays,” Cutler continued. “The second year [under Martz’s offense] definitely helps. Not only me, but those receivers. Everyone has expectations of what’s happening out there and there’s less thinking.”

And finally, what about the offensive line’s performance Sunday?

“Protection-wise those guys did a heck of a job for me. If we can get that level and those guys are going to get better and build on that, we’re going to be pretty good I think.”

If this is what Cutler has in store for the Bears in 2011, they will be right in the thick of the NFC North race until the very end. His decision-making and execution were exceptional. As long as the Bears can use the screen and running games when they need to, Cutler should be just fine.

1. Brian Urlacher

When Sunday’s game came to a conclusion, it looked like Brian Urlacher had been dipped into the fountain of youth.

Urlacher had one of his best statistical games as a professional. He was in on ten tackles, intercepted a pass and returned a fumble for a touchdown.

Despite all the solid numbers in the box score, Urlacher knows there’s only one important stat from Sunday’s game.

“We won the game, that’s all I care about” said Urlacher following the contest. “Stats, whatever, this and that, you can have all those. I’m just glad we won.

“There were a lot of questions about our team obviously coming into the season. We’re off to a good start 1-0 against a good football team so we just have to keep building.”

He went on to state that the win came against a good team in the Atlanta Falcons and what fueled the victory.

“They’re a good offense, I don’t care what anyone says,” Urlacher continued. “We still have a lot of respect for them. They’re a good offense. We made plays. Guys got after the quarterback. Our DBs were hitting as usual. We got downhill and made some plays.”

Even after holding the Falcons to no offensive touchdowns and just two field goals, Urlacher still sees areas where the defense can learn and improve.

It appears as if this Bears defense is going to be the backbone of the team once more in 2011. With a fierce defensive line, corners who are capable of containing big play receivers and a hard-hitting secondary, this may be another season Chicago sees its Bears contend for the Lombardi Trophy.

Brett Lyons is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials.

Follow Brett Lyons on Twitter @BrettLyons670.