Close but no cigar.
After a mostly unimpressive day, Mike Glennon led the Bears down to the five-yard line in the final moments of Sunday’s 23-17 loss to the visiting Atlanta Falcons, nearly stating his case that he is the man for the job. But Glennon was incomplete with goal to go on three straight snaps before getting sacked on fourth down to effectively end the game.
Glennon, who obviously was without No. 1 wide receiver Cameron Meredith, struggled to establish any consistency in the passing game early. He mostly targeted his running backs, with Tarik Cohen the most-targeted player on the team, and also threw a few tosses to his tight ends. There could be even more questions at the wide receiver position after Kevin White exited Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury.
But then came the Bears’ late drives. He obviously found Cohen for the touchdown after the Bears went down by 10 in the fourth quarter. And he strung some completions together in a do-or-die drive in the final minutes, getting the Bears just five yards away from the goal line before coming up empty.
Those moments aside, Glennon finished with a mostly unimpressive stat line: 26-for-40 for 213 yards and a touchdown. While he didn’t turn the ball over, his game likely doesn’t change the discussion around the position, and you can expect the talk-radio conversation to remain pretty much the same: When’s Mitch Trubisky going to play? Certainly all those fans in the Trubisky jerseys at Soldier Field are wondering.
The Tarik Cohen Show
Bears fans knew the team had something in Cohen during training camp and the preseason, but did they expect him to be this heavily featured in the offense right off the bat?
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Cohen was undoubtedly the Bears’ best offensive player Sunday, showing off his speed and elusiveness and factoring into the offense in huge ways.
A consistent target of Glennon all day long and given his fair share of carries, as well, Cohen made a couple huge plays. First came a highlight-reel 46-yard run in the second quarter in which he reversed field, ran away from several defenders and sprinted down the sideline. That play, coming shortly after the Falcons marched down for a go-ahead touchdown, put the Bears in scoring position, and it was Cohen again factoring into things on the scoring play, when he lined up as a Wildcat quarterback and handed the ball off to Jordan Howard, who scampered around the end and in for a game-tying touchdown.
But he was right in the thick of another answer of a drive in a far more crucial moment in the game. After Matt Ryan hit Austin Hooper for a seemingly game-deciding 88-yard touchdown, Glennon and the Bears marched right back down the field and capped a touchdown drive with a laser of a 19-yard pass to Cohen, who ran the remaining yards to get into the end zone to slice a 10-point gap to a three-point one.
Utilizing the explosive Cohen in a number of ways, as both a pass catcher and a ball carrier, John Fox and Dowell Loggains showed they aren’t shy about using the new guy heavily. And Cohen’s making the most of his opportunity, seeming to be an electric, game-breaking type player and an injection of energy into this offense.
Akiem Hicks celebrates new contract in style
It’s a safe bet that Akiem Hicks is a happy man, new contract in hand. Well, he played like it Sunday, coming up with several big plays at the line of scrimmage and behind it.
Hicks made a big third-down stuff of Devonta Freeman in the first quarter, leading to the Falcons settling for a field goal. He also sacked Matt Ryan twice, including once on a third down to force a punt.
Hicks also got flagged for a costly roughing-the-passer penalty, which allowed the Falcons to keep a drive going that resulted in a field goal. But overall, the Bears’ new long-term addition looked worthy of the deal that will keep him in Chicago for the next four years.