The Atlanta Falcons and the Chicago Bears are tied 10-10, and it does not matter who wins this game because the Falcons should be playing better against a weak Bears team. There may be some bugs in the Falcons offense, and there may be some motivation on the part of the Bears. These two things may make this game a scary one for the Falcons, but the Falcons are simply a better team. Most pundits who watch football have been happy to praise the Falcons at every turn, and Atlanta should be honoring that praise with much better play. A team that was thought to have the best offense in football should have scored more than ten points halfway through the game.
New coordinator
Having Steve Sarkisian call plays for the Falcons may cause problems because the offense is not used to having Sarkisian in the press box. They have not felt the weight of his play calling throughout an entire game, and Matt Ryan may need time to learn how Sarkisian does things. Their new offensive coordinator surely has different ideas than Kyle Shanahan, and those subtle differences may be a cause of the sluggish play that we have seen so far in this matchup. The Falcons must learn quickly how to handle Sarkisian because they have many games left to play, and the NFL will catch on if they are uncomfortable.
Motivated Bears
Everyone including this writer was sure that the Bears would get beaten badly by the Falcons today, and they may have been motivated by the general lack of belief in their abilities.
The Bears are a proud franchise that plays in a historic building, and they likely expected to get more respect from the football community than they got. Hard defensive play along with a solid offense run by Mike Glennon could cause fits for the Falcons.
Maybe the defense is not good enough
The Falcons defense has been praised many times over for getting faster, but they must perform on the field to back up all the praise they got.
Someone who watches football every weekend knows that the Falcons defense has been their weakness for the past few years, and the Falcons are hoping that they have improved enough this year. They must be faster, hit harder, and give up fewer big plays. The defense lost the Super Bowl for the Falcons not so long ago, and it would be tragic if they let the team down once again.
The Bears await Trubisky
The Chicago Bears are awaiting Mitchell Trubisky, and it is possible that they can put off his first start if they continue to play as well as they are right now. There is no reason to throw him into the fire if the team is decent, and he could be worked into the offense slowly in the coming months. Only time will tell.
