{"id":6018,"date":"2009-10-14T15:47:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-14T20:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2009\/10\/falcons-will-make-a-few-more-big-plays-in-win-over-bears\/"},"modified":"2009-10-14T15:47:00","modified_gmt":"2009-10-14T20:47:00","slug":"falcons-will-make-a-few-more-big-plays-in-win-over-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2009\/10\/falcons-will-make-a-few-more-big-plays-in-win-over-bears\/","title":{"rendered":"Falcons will make a few more big plays in win over Bears"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=Section1>\n<p class=MsoBodyText><font size=3 face=\"Times New Roman\"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Two very evenly matched teams meet in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.betonline.com\/\" title=sportsbook>sportsbook<\/a> when the Chicago Bears (3-1) visit the Atlanta Falcons (3-1). <\/span><\/font><st1:City><st1:place>Atlanta<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> crushed <st1:City><st1:place>San Francisco<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> 45-10 last week while the Bears are coming off a bye. They&#8217;re two weeks removed from a 48-24 win over <st1:City><st1:place>Detroit<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal><st1:City><st1:place><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><font   size=3 face=\"Times New Roman\"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold;   mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Chicago<\/span><\/font><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:City><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight: normal'> Bears at <\/span><\/b><st1:City><st1:place><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:   normal'><span style='font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Atlanta<\/span><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:City><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight: normal'> Falcons<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><font size=3 face=\"Times New Roman\"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold; mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Sunday, October 18 at <\/span><\/font><\/b><st1:time Hour=\"20\" Minute=\"20\"><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span  style='font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>8:20 p.m. ET<\/span><\/b><\/st1:time><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight: normal'><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><font size=3 face=\"Times New Roman\"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold; mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><a href=\"http:\/\/www.betonline.com\/sports-betting\/football\/nfl\" title=\"NFL odds\"><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>NFL odds<\/span><\/a><\/span><span style='mso-bidi-font-weight:bold'>: <\/span><\/font><\/b><st1:City><st1:place><b><span   style='font-weight:bold'>Atlanta<\/span><\/b><\/st1:place><\/st1:City><b><span style='font-weight:bold'> -3<\/span><\/b><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span style='font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoBodyText><font size=3 face=\"Times New Roman\"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The Falcons obviously got some issues sorted out during their bye since they looked fantastic against the <span class=SpellE>Niners<\/span> last weekend. The 45-10 demolishing showcased a balanced, attacking offense; Michael Turner rolled up 97 yards and three touchdowns before being pulled while <span class=SpellE>Roddy<\/span> White hauled in eight passes for 210 yards and two scores. Matt Ryan, who looked a little shaky against the Patriots a few weeks ago, bounced back with 329 yards and two touchdown passes. The second-year pro also avoided taking a single sack on the day.<o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n<p class=MsoBodyText><font size=3 face=\"Times New Roman\"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Atlanta&#8217;s defense was very active, racking up three sacks, six hits on the quarterback and three takeaways. The run defense, however, remains a serious concern. The Falcons are allowing nearly 130 yards per game on the ground, not to mention a troublesome 4.9 yards per carry. All of it is coming in small gashes, as <\/span><\/font><st1:City><st1:place>Atlanta<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> has allowed just two runs of 20 yards or more.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=MsoBodyText><font size=3 face=\"Times New Roman\"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>That&#8217;s something the Bears, coming off a bye, will likely try taking advantage of. Running back Matt Forte, who struggled during the first few weeks, blew up against the Lions, carrying 12 times for 121 yards and a touchdown. Forte will be assisted by Jay Cutler, who has quelled much of the panic in the <\/span><\/font><st1:City><st1:place>Chicago<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> area after his disastrous debut against <st1:City><st1:place>Green Bay<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>. Since that four-interception debacle Cutler has tossed seven touchdowns and just one pick.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=MsoBodyText><font size=3 face=\"Times New Roman\"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Defensively, the Bears have been solid if unspectacular; they&#8217;re allowing 19.5 points per game and taking care of business with an excellent pass rush. Two weeks ago, against <\/span><\/font><st1:City><st1:place>Detroit<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>, the Bears racked up five sacks and two takeaways. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.payperhead.com\/\" title=\"Sports betting software\">Sports betting software<\/a> shows the rush defense has been especially good, holding opponents to just 93 yards per game. <o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=MsoBodyText><st1:City><st1:place><font size=3 face=\"Times New Roman\"><span   style='font-size:12.0pt'>Atlanta<\/span><\/font><\/st1:place><\/st1:City> looks like a well-oiled machine after the impressive win over <st1:City><st1:place>San   Francisco<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> but <st1:City><st1:place>Chicago<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> has a chance to do the same after resting in Week 5. These teams feel very evenly matched but, so far, the Falcons offense has proven more explosive (and the defense hasn&#8217;t allowed many long runs either). In a close game big plays often decide the victor; in this case, that should be <st1:City><st1:place>Atlanta<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>. Bet on the Falcons with your <a href=\"http:\/\/www.freesportsbetting.org\/\" title=\"sports picks\">sports picks<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"blogger-post-footer\"><a\nhref=\"http:\/\/www.offshoreinsiders.com\/\"><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>OffshoreInsiders.com<\/b><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two very evenly matched teams meet in the sportsbook when the Chicago Bears (3-1) visit the Atlanta Falcons (3-1). Atlanta crushed San Francisco 45-10 last week while the Bears are coming off a bye. They&#8217;re two weeks removed from a 48-24 win over Detroit. Chicago Bears at Atlanta Falcons Sunday, October 18 at 8:20 p.m. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2009\/10\/falcons-will-make-a-few-more-big-plays-in-win-over-bears\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Falcons will make a few more big plays in win over Bears<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}