As Kevin Seifert points out in his blog, the Atlanta Falcons will provide a formidable test for the defense. Atlanta put on quite a show last week, in their 45-10 victory against San Francisco. With Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez, and Michael Turner, this offense has more dimensions that the Twilight Zone. If you focus on containing White and Michael Jenkins, Gonzalez is likely to dominate the middle of the field; if you use bracket coverage on the tight end, White will abuse one on one coverage. If the defense tries to shut down the passing game with nickel coverage, Turner will do some damage. The Bears may be forced to pick their poison.
Jeff Dickerson insists that the pass rushers and cornerbacks are the keys this game. Obviously a decent pass rush would be a huge boon to the defense, but Matt Ryan has only been sacked twice this year so temper your expectations. If the Bears can at least hurry Ryan into check-down throws, they may be able to at least keep the passing game in check.
It will be interesting to see how this defense matches up against the Falcons offensive weapons. After witnessing the tremendous difference Tillman made when matched up on Chad Johnson of the Lions, I, for one, am hoping that they use that strategy from the start of this game. The return of Pisa Tiniosamoa could prove to be a big factor in this game. If Chicago can get away with using their athletic linebackers to cover Gonzalez, it would give them a lot more flexibility on defense; freeing a safety to blanket White or help against the run.
It will be interesting to see if Lovie comes out of the gate making aggressive calls to test the O-line and, hopefully, rattle Ryan, or if he will start out in a more basic defense trying to make adjustments on the fly. Let's just hope he adjust more quickly than he did in week four, or the Bears will be in trouble.
This may be a game where the offense has to carry the defense.
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