Bears return to scene of nightmare at Georgia Dome

By Larry Watts

For the AJC

Rashied Davis summed it up best.

“If I had made the winning catch, I would have been on the front page of the Chicago Tribune,’’ said the Chicago Bears wide receiver. “Since I didn’t, I was on the back page.’’

With 11 seconds to play, Davis hauled in a 17-yard strike from quarterback Kyle Orton, giving the Bears a 20-19 lead over Atlanta in the Georgia Dome during the sixth game of the 2008 season. It was their first lead of the game and they were ready to depart with a 4-2 record and sole possession of first place in the NFC North.

But those final 11 seconds turned out to be one of the biggest nightmares in Bears history.

Robbie Gould’s squib kick was short, and Harry Douglas came up with a 10-yard return to the Atlanta 44. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who was having a breakout day with his first 300-yard passing performance (22-for-30, 301 yards), then calmly hit Michael Jenkins with a 26-yard pass on the left sideline right in front of Bears safety Mike Brown.

A review confirmed the ball had been caught in bounds and there was one second on the clock. Enter Jason Elam for a 48-yard field goal, tying a personal high of five in one game, as time expired.

“Everything counts, you can take nothing for granted,’’ says Davis, who was also on the kickoff squad. “You have to be focused on the small things. That was supposed to have been a deeper squib, but the guy [Douglas] picked it up and made a good run. You think back now, and if we had let him run five more yards we would have won because time would have run out.’’

The shocked Bears left the field in a three-way tie for the division lead. They would eventually finish the season 9-7, one win short of making the playoffs.

Although they lost three of their first six games by three points or less, many say the 22-20 loss in Atlanta left a lasting impression. Of those three losses, their only rematch is with the Falcons on Sunday night in the Georgia Dome.

Is revenge on their minds? Coming off a bye week, like Atlanta was last year, the Bears have had two weeks to heal injuries, think and prepare.

“It’s about this year; we’re playing a good 2009 Atlanta team and that’s about as far as we go,’’ says Bears coach Lovie Smith. “We’re not talking a whole lot about what happened last year. If you watch Sunday’s San Francisco game [a 45-10 Atlanta victory], that’s enough to think about as far as how good they are. That’s enough to get us motivated right there.’’

“I don’t believe we lost any confidence by losing that game last year,’’ says defensive end Alex Brown. “We lost the game, and it was a rough one to lose. It became a thing where we need to finish games, and when we weren’t able to, everyone in the media referred back to the Atlanta game.

“With 11 seconds to go in the game, I’ll take our chances anytime. I’d love to be in that position each and every time. They made a great play. Tommie [Harris] hit Ryan as soon as he threw the ball, but he [Ryan] made a heckuva throw. The ball was thrown before the receiver made his break, but it was there and he barely caught it in bounds. Brown hit the receiver as soon as he caught the ball. It was a great play, but that play is over and so is the ’08 season.’’

But not everyone in the Bears camp has put the 2008 game behind him.

“Were still talking about those last 11 seconds,’’ says wide receiver/return man Devin Hester. “It was a bitter taste in the back of my throat, and I don’t want to have it again. It’s a big motivating factor.’’