NFL- Falcons Defeated the Bears Again in Final Seconds

They may have had more than 11 seconds this year, but not much more. Nevertheless, the Atlanta Falcons again beat the Chicago Bears in the final minutes of their game, finishing ahead 21-14 on Sunday – a close repeat of last October’s electrifying 22-20 Falcons-Bears match. The Falcons, coming off a win against the San Francisco 49ers last week, are now in second place of the NFC South Division with a 4-1 record, just behind the New Orleans Saints. Both teams entered the game with their defense mobilized, determined to prevent the other from scoring. And they were both successful – the first quarter came and went without any points. In the second quarter, though, several plays initiated by the quarterbacks – Jay Cutler from the Bears and Matt Ryan from the Falcons – brought the first points onto the scoreboard. First Cutler found Johnny Knox, who ran 23 yards to take the first touchdown of the game. But the Falcons responded with a quick 14 points, the result of two passes from Ryan. The first throw went 40 yards to Roddy White; the second went 10 yards to Tony Gonzalez, setting the score at 14-7 in favor of the Falcons. The score remained until halftime. The third brought another scoreless quarter, with strong defense on both teams. In the fourth, the Bears managed to tie the score thanks to a 2-yard assist from Cutler to Greg Olsen, evening the score at 14-14. But Michael Turner of the Falcons decided to have an incredible night, taking the decisive lead through a 5-yard run that brought a touchdown. The touchdown left 3:06 minutes on the clock and required seven plays, but it gave the Falcons the lead that fed them the victory. The Bears wanted to answer – they tried. But despites enjoying three solid opportunities to tie the game in the final minutes, the Bears suffered from a rash of errors that lost them the game: Matt Forte’s loose ball, Pace’s penalty, and a key fumble. The game finished 21-14 in favor of the Falcons. At the game’s conclusion, Falcons coach Mike Smith expressed his happiness at his team’s performance and the players’ stubborn determination for the win. "Our guys just kept fighting and fighting. There was no quitting in that group of men tonight," Smith said. Bears coach Lovie Smith, on the other hand, lamented his team’s mistakes. "We had a lot of opportunities to win the game. You can't make those kinds of mistakes on the road against a good football team. We still put ourselves in position at the end to tie the game or win the game," Coach Lovie said. “We kind of self-destructed. We had chances to have a couple more takeaways and we didn't take advantage of it.” The next game for the Falcons will be against the Dallas Cowboys on October 25th whereas the Chicago Bears will face the Cincinnati Bengals on the same day at the Paul Brown Stadium.