Bears Best Falcons at Soldier Field on Day of Rememberance

There was emotion in the air when the game started with a passionate rendition of "Taps" that was played from the site of the United 93 crash in Pennsylvania and the moving voice of Jim Cornelison, who sang the Star Spangled Banner beautifully at Soldier Field.

The courage possessed by the those involved in the Sept. 11 attacks may have been an inspiration to the Chicago Bears because they played like a team that was motivated to prove something.

From the opening kickoff the Bears looked like the better team. Two third and long conversions on the first drive to Roy Williams and Matt Forte showed that this Bears offense seems much improved from last year. Although they only got a Robbie Gould field goal out of it, it seemed to set the tone.

The defense was real story, though. After not sacking Matt Ryan in the two previous meetings, he was sacked five times, picked off once and fumbled away a touchdown.

The Atlanta offense never found a rhythm. Ryan was under constant pressure, and when he did get a pass off it was usually to the check down option. In the first quarter, Ryan threw his only interception to a diving Brian Urlacher that set up a 56 yard catch and run by Matt Forte. His most costly mistake, though, came in the third quarter when he tried to avoid another Julius Peppers sack. Ryan lost his balance and the ball when Urlacher picked it up and ran it in for a 12 yard touchdown. This increased the Bears' lead to 30-6 and pretty much squashed any chance of a comeback by the Falcons

Jay Cutler performed like a top tier quarterback, completing 22-of-32 passes for two touchdowns and one interception. As usual, the stats don't tell the real story: the two touchdowns is less than what he should have had. With a minute to go in the first half Kellen Davis dropped a sure touchdown, making the Bears settle for a field goal and a 16-3 halftime lead. One could argue that Cutler's only interception wasn't completely his fault either. With the game out of reach in the fourth quarter Atlanta's Kroy Bierman caught a tipped duck and ran nearly untouched 50 yards to the endzone.

Overall, there was not much to complain about for Bears game in the postgame show. Left tackle J'Marcus Webb looked below average as he gave up three sacks and a holding penalty, and free safety Major Wright had a few bad angles on some tackles. Most Bears fans knew that these players were projects, and are looking for improvement as the season will move to New Orleans next week.