Falcons start slow, rally late, fall to Bears 31-23 at home
October 20, 2026 - JR McHenry, On-Air Talent/Field Reporter
ATLANTA -- On a cool, chilly, sunny fall day in Atlanta, the Atlanta Falcons took on the Chicago Bears under the climate-controlled roof at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. As you walked in the stadium, you could feel the electricity in the air for this football Sunday. The Falcons were looking to rebound from the tough loss in Overtime to the Ravens in Week 5. The Bears were coming in licking their wounds as well after being outclassed by the Packers in Week 5. Unlike in Week 5, when the Falcons got an injury fortune in their favor when the Ravens were without Lamar Jackson, this week, the Bears got Quarterback Caleb Williams back for this matchup with the Falcons. Despite being nicked up in Week 5, Falcons Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was a full-go for this matchup.
First Quarter Story
The Bears took the opening drive for 10 plays and 67 yards resulting in a touchdown. On this drive two plays stood out the hook & lateral play on a 3rd & 11 to keep the drive going and on the scoring play after a delay of game penalty, Quarterback Caleb Williams showed that he was back scrambling, moving up in the pocket and firing a ball across his body to the front of the end zone into the arms of Tight End Colston Loveland. The Falcons immediately went 3 & out. After the Falcons 3 & out, the Bears went on another extended drive, which went 9 plays and 57 yards resulting in a touchdown. Both of these drives allowed the Bears to win the time of possession battle, having the ball for 12 minutes and 12 seconds of the 15 minute 1st quarter clock. The key plays on this second Bears drive was a 23 yard completion by Williams on 3 & 17, followed by a 25 yard completion to get deep in Falcons territory and on the touchdown play Williams changed the play after seeing the Falcons in an overload front which led to an easy waltz into the end zone for Running Back D'Andre Swift.
Second Quarter Story
Down 14-0 the Falcons go 3 & out again having to punt the ball back to the Bears. In their second drive of the 2nd quarter the Falcons got some flashes from Running Back Bijan Robinson, the drive ultimately stalling ending on downs after the Falcons went for it on 4 & 5 from the Bears 43 yard line. The Bears had an opportunity to make this a 3 score game after favorable field position after the turnover on downs, but Kicker Cairo Santos missed a 56 yard field goal, which gave the Falcons life. The Falcons responded admirably with Penix Jr. hitting Wide Receiver Drake London for 39 yards to get in the high red zone and then Penix Jr. hit Tight End Kyle Pitts Sr. for 13 yards to cut the Bears lead to 14-7. After a Bears punt which was muffed by Falcons Wide Receiver Zachariah Branch and recovered by the Bears, 3 plays later the Bears punched it in with Running Back D'Andre Swift making it a 21-7 game heading into the halftime locker room.
Third Quarter Story
The Falcons received the ball coming out of halftime and things looked promising after a 28 yard defensive pass interference penalty. Things stalled out for the Falcons, but got reprieve from a roughing the kicker penalty on Punter Jake Bailey. The Falcons drove down into scoring range but stalled out on downs once more. The Bears pass rush in this quarter turned up the heat on Penix Jr. and the Falcons, causing him to rush his throws while moving him off of his preferred spot in the pocket. Late in the 3rd quarter the Bears went on another methodical drive over 7 plays covering 52 yards resulting in a touchdown by Bears Running Back Roschon Johnson to make the score 28-7 in favor of the Bears. On the ensuing kickoff Falcons Wide Receiver Zachariah Branch fumbled the kickoff giving the Bears the ball in Falcons territory which was his second turnover of the day. The Bears out gained the Falcons through 3 quarters, 325 yards to 100 yards.
Fourth Quarter Story
The Bears tack on a field goal to make the score 31-7 early in the 4th quarter. Being down 24 at that point in the 4th quarter the Falcons were in 4 downs for every drive the remainder of the game, this was confirmed by Falcons Head Coach Kevin Stefanski in his postgame comments. In that initial drive after the field goal, the Falcons went 4 & out and gave the ball back to the Bears, on that drive the Falcons defense rose up and forced the Bears to punt. The Falcons got the ball at the 9 yard line and went into hurry up mode. By being in hurry up mode the Falcons prevent the Bears from bringing the exotic blitzes that they brought during the first 3 quarters forcing them to play various shell coverages that keep the ball in front of them. The hurry up paid dividends and Penix Jr. connected with Pitts Sr. for a touchdown along with 2 point conversion to make the score 31-15. On the next drive, Falcons Safety Jessie Bates III forced a fumble and the Falcons recovered. The Falcons, still in hurry up mode, get down the field in 57 yards ending with another touchdown from Penix Jr. to Pitts Sr. bookended by another 2 point conversion to cut the Bears advantage to 31-23. The Bears go 3 & out once more giving the Falcons an opportunity to go down and tie the game. On the potential game tying drive, the Bears pass rush and blitz packages that gave the Falcons trouble throughout the day reared it's ugly head again, when they got a sack, fumble on Penix Jr. which allows the Bears to run out the clock, thwart the Falcons late rally and get out of Atlanta with a victory.
Postgame Comments
Falcons Head Coach Kevin Stefanski was disappointed with the team's slow start in this game. He stated that was something that has discussed in preparation for the game. He stated this is something you can't do in this league and expect to win. He was proud of the way the guys fought like heck to get back in the game. When asked about the elephant in the room, the crowd noise and the amount of Bears fans in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, he didn't take the bait, stating that they love their fans, while confirming that they did have use a silent count in their home stadium. Falcons Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. stated when asked that he's good health wise and that he really liked game plans these previous two weeks and it's just a matter of execution. He also confirmed that used the silent count throughout the game.
Key Stats
The Bears truly dominated the Falcons in time of possession, doubling up the Falcons 40 minutes 8 seconds to 19 minutes 52 seconds. In the NFL it's difficult to win games when being doubled in time of possession. The Falcons lost the turnover battle 3 to 1. Coaches say this in the NFL every week, everything begins and ends with the ball and it must be protected. The Falcons gained 157 yards in the 4th quarter after being held to 100 yards through the first 3 quarters. Due to the deficit, the Falcons running was limited and Bijan Robinson only had 61 yards on 9 carries. The Falcons will be back in action on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers at 1pm Eastern on FOX.
JR McHenry is On-Air Talent/Field Reporter representing The Bossman Show on Your Radio!
To stay in-tune with JR's goings and comings: Connect with him here:
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/BossmanShow
Website - https://BossmanShow.com
Comments