Jay Cutler had all day – and he made the Falcons secondary pay.
The Bears quarterback went 26-for-38 for 381 yards and one touchdown in a 27-13 victory over the Falcons Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
And to think Cutler didn’t attempt a pass on the Bears’ final three drives as they closed out the 14-point victory.
The Bears were 7-for-15 in third down efficiency. Five of the first downs came via the pass and two other via the run, including Matt Forte’s nine-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run that sealed the victory.
“We have to look at everything,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “We have to do a better job at rushing the quarterback. I thought that we moved him some. When he moved, we weren’t good with our rush lanes so the quarterback was able to extend some plays. We had busted coverage. You don’t give up the explosive plays that we have without having the mental errors. We have to be much better. All older players, our younger players have all contributed to this. We have to get this fixed and nothing is off the table in regard to in what we have to do to get better.”
Here’s a look at the third-down completions that Cutler gashed the Falcons for to keep drives alive:
* Third-and-15 at the Chicago 24 with 7:22 left in first quarter: Cutler hits Alshon Jeffery on a 19-yard completion.
* Third-and-6 at the 50 with 7:04 left in second quarter: Cutler finds Brandon Marshall for a 47-yard completion.
* Third-and-7 at the Chicago 49 with 1:18 left in the second quarter: Cutler connects with Marshall on a 15-yard reception.
* Third-and-11 at the Chicago 36 with :06 left in third quarter: Cutler completes a pass to Martellus Bennett for a 25-yard gain.
* Third-and-4 from the Atlanta 33 with 13:42 left in the fourth quarter: Cutler hits Jeffery for a 10-yard gain.
By stark contrast, the Falcons were 4-for-13 in third-down efficiency.
Cutler finished with a 109.6 quarterback rating. He completed passes to five different receivers. Jeffery finished with 136 yards on five receptions for an average of 27.2 yards. Marshall finished with 113 yards on six receptions for an average of 18.8 yards.
“A couple of them we did miscommunicate trying to do too much trying to make a play,” cornerback Desmond Trufant said. “We have to stay disciplined the whole game. I felt the majority of the game we were disciplined but just those few plays we were trying to do too much and it ended up costing us.”
With as much success as the Bears had throwing the ball, it was the big gains on third down that were back breakers. Smith referenced the 47-yard completion to Marshall in particular.
“We just have to executive,” cornerback Robert Alford said. “Like Coach (Mike) Nolan preaches, we hold them to third down and once third down comes we have to get off the field.”
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