CHICAGO -- Despite leading the team in tackles, Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon had a rough outing against the Chicago Bears. He missed a tackle on Chicago running back Matt Forte's 56-yard touchdown run that drew the attention of head coach Mike Smith.
Instead of trying to wrap his arms around Forte and get him to the ground, Weatherspoon, a second-year player and the team’s first-round draft pick last year, tried to knock him over with a high shoulder shot.
Forte bounced off Weatherspoon and kept on skipping down the sidelines. The Falcons didn’t need a kill shot from Weatherspoon; they needed a simple form tackle.
“I had some steam and thought I could just knock him over,” Weatherspoon said. “He’s a good back. That’s where I have to be smarter and wrap him up.”
Weatherspoon caught the wrath of Smith after he went to the sidelines.
“That was tough,” Weatherspoon said. “That’s on my mind right now. That’s something that I can’t do.”
Middle linebacker Curtis Lofton also spoke with Weatherspoon about the play.
“You have to work on the fundamentals,” Lofton said. “Forte is a good back. You just can’t come up and give him a shoulder, you have to wrap him up. That’s what I told [Weatherspoon] on the field. That’s something that he has to learn from.”
Weatherspoon was not the only player who missed tackles against the Bears. His miss was just the most obvious and it came on a touchdown play.
Another poor tackling play came on a screen pass to Devin Hester, who broke loose for 53 yards, which might have caught Philadelphia's attention. The Falcons face the Eagles on Sunday and their head coach, Andy Reid, is one of the great screen users in the league.
“If you give up explosive plays, you don’t tackle and you don’t get off the field on third downs, you get an outcome like this,” said Lofton, who finished with eight tackles.
Smith was not happy with the rash of missed tackles.
“Our leverage was not very good on the long, explosive plays,” Smith said. “Our tackling was not the way it needs to be. You can’t go out there and miss leveraging the football, with the fast speed of offensive players.”
Opener blues
The Falcons are now 2-2 in regular-season openers under Smith.
Last season, they dropped the opener 15-9 to Pittsburgh in overtime and won 12 of their next 13 games.
"We are a good football team," tight end Tony Gonzalez said. "We are not going to lose confidence. We have a long season . . . We won't panic."
Key drive
The Falcons had a promising drive to start the third quarter, driving from their 6 to Chicago’s 7.
But once they got close, they didn’t throw any passes into the end zone and didn’t throw one toward Gonzalez.
“They know what I can do,” Gonzalez said. “I know what I can do. They have plays for me in the redzone, no doubt about it.”
Turner gets loose
Falcons running back Michael Turner, a native of nearby Waukegan, Illinois, had 10 rushes for 100 yards, including a long run of 53 yards. He also caught three passes for 40 yards.
Turner had to get tickets for about 50 family members and friends.
“I’m not looking forward to the trash talking from them,” Turner said.
Turnover central
Quarterback Matt Ryan, who was under pressure most of the game, had two turnovers that led to 14 points. He was sacked five times and hit 11 times.
Turner had a fumble that was recovered by Julius Peppers. The Bears didn't score off Turner's fumble, but it ended a promising drive that started with a 30-yard pass to Gonzalez.
“We can’t throw the ball and have it intercepted when we are moving the ball, like both of the turnovers in the first half,” Smith said.
Field position battle lost
The Bears had five touchbacks on their seven kickoffs; the Falcons had one touchback on four kickoffs.
Also, returner Eric Weems let one punt bounce that ended up rolling to the Falcons' 4-yard line.
“We lost the field-position battle, there is no doubt about that,” Smith said. “We were in a hole, and got out of it a time or two, and ended up having to kick a field goal. That’s the thing. When you move the ball down the field, you’ve got to finish those drives off with touchdowns.”
Etc.
Defensive end John Abraham had two sacks, Lawrence Sidbury and Kroy Biermann each had a sack. Abraham has 51 sacks since joining the Falcons in 2006, and is seven sacks away from tying Patrick Kerney (58.0) for fourth place in franchise history. ... Biermann intercepted a tipped ball and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. ... Cornerback Brent Grimes had three passes defensed. Last season, Grimes set a club-record with 23 pass breakups. ... Rookie wide receiver Julio Jones had five catches for 71 yards, including a 32-yard reception in the third quarter. ... Ray Edwards, the team's major offseason acquistion on defense, had one tackle. ... Recently acquired safety James Sanders played on special teams. Cornerbacks Dominique Franks and Kelvin Hayden did not play. Christopher Owens was the team's nickel back.
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