ATLANTA — The Chicago Bears could have won in Atlanta last year. They could have won Sunday night.
Instead, they went 0-for-2.
Chicago made three huge mistakes in the red zone, and the Falcons held on for a 21-14 victory that will be remembered for one gritty defensive stand after another and all the chances the Bears let slip away.
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler threw an interception at the Atlanta 9. Matt Forte fumbled on two straight runs from the 1, the second of which was recovered by the Falcons. And one last chance with less than a minute to go was botched when Orlando Pace moved before the snap on fourth-and-1 at the 5, leaving the Bears with a more daunting challenge that they couldn’t convert.
“We had a lot of opportunities to win this football game,” Chicago coach Lovie Smith said. “You can’t make those kind of mistakes. When you get the ball in the red zone, you need to get points.”
Michael Turner scored the winning touchdown on an otherwise forgettable night, powering over from 5 yards with 3:06 remaining, but it was the bend-but-don’t-break defense — and Chicago’s miscues — that helped the Falcons (4-1) match the best five- game start in franchise history.
“Our defense, give them some credit,” said Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who had two touchdown passes but also threw two interceptions. “Our guys stepped up and made some plays when we needed them to.”
The teams played a thriller for the second year in a row. Last season, the Bears (3-2) thought they had pulled out an improbable victory on a touchdown pass with 11 seconds remaining, only to blow it by going with a pooch kick and giving up a long completion that set up Jason Elam for a winning field goal on the final play.
This time, the Bears were denied in their comeback bid. Former Broncos quarterback Cutler guided Chicago down the field on a season-high 300-yard passing night, and a disputed pass-interference penalty on Curtis Lofton gave the Bears a first down at the Atlanta 14. Two penalties left Chicago with third-and-25 before Cutler went over the middle to Earl Bennett, who came down with the ball amid three defenders for a 24-yard reception.
That left the Bears needing 3 feet on fourth down. But Pace took off ahead of the snap, leaving Chicago with fourth-and-6.
Cutler’s final pass, going for Desmond Clark over the middle, bounced off the receiver’s arm with Erik Coleman defending to preserve the victory with 29 seconds left.
“I broke on it and kind of stumbled a little bit. Cutler threw it a little high, and we were off the field,” Coleman said.
Greg Olsen appeared to be open in the back of the end zone, but Cutler didn’t see him.
