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Thursday, March 28

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Bears Tue Oct 13 2009

Footballic Ramblings: Bears "Done Gone Bird Huntin'!"

Your 3-1 Chicago Bears are headed down that lonely road into the land of chicken-fried steak, cheese grits and Ludacris this weekend for a Sunday night tilt with the, thus far, impressive Atlanta Falcons. Both squads are sitting pretty with 3-1 records and in second place in their respective divisions behind regional kingpins, Minnesota and N'awlins; and both teams will likely be there at the end spitting and grappling (along with the Philadelphia Eagles) for a wildcard bid. To say that winning this game is important is, yes, hyperbolic, but also damn true and something of an understatement.

Last season the Bears went down to ATL and duked it out with the Dirty Birds for a full 59+ minutes as Kyle Orton orchestrated a brilliant 2-minute drill to put the Bears up 20-19 with 11 seconds left in the game, only to have the Falcons kick the game-winning field goal after a pooched kick gave the Birds a terribly short field to work with. You guys remember, I'm sure:


Redneck language check, NSFW so make sure the headphones are on!

But that was last year and this season, well, this season both squads are very similar to what they were last year. Notably, the Bears have one big difference-maker in the form of Jay-Bot 5000 behind center, but the Bears defense is still the same sans, Urlacher et al, "Et tu, Israel Idonjie?"

For the Falcons, offensively ATL loves to have strong-armed Matt Ryan deliver the pigskin in cruise missile form to a bevy of capable receivers, notably Roddy White and tight end/ noted vegan, Tony Gonzalez. Meanwhile, with Ryan and Co. softening up the secondary Michael "The Burner" Turner is quietly and competently destroying defensive lines and linebacking corps throughout the league with a steady, if not spectacular, 3.5 yards per carry and 5 touchdowns. If this entire game plan seems a little too familiar it's because it's the game plan that the Bears have been winning with this season as well. Namely, let the quarterback [insert Cutler or Ryan] pass to [insert Hester/Olsen or White/Gonzalez] for mid to long completions and let [Forte or Turner] grind out yards against a battered and tired defensive line.

For the Bears this game should strike a nerve, they had a victory stolen from them in Atlanta last season/the Bears desperately need this win to keep up with the Vikings. Additionally, the Falcons division, with the important caveat of: the Saints are really good; is infinitely less-competitive than the Cro-Magnon bashfest that is the NFC North, with the pillowy soft Buccaneers and Panthers drawing inspiration from the amusing, but less than fierce "Kittens Inspired by Kittens." So, yeah, this inter-divisional match up is a big game for the Ursas and with a full day of tailgating amusement and libation in the parking lots the Georgia Dome crowd will surely be liquored up fired up come Sunday night, I hope you are too!

 
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