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Week 17 recap: Chicago Bears blow out the Atlanta Falcons 37-17 behind big days from Justin Fields, DJ Moore and Khalil Herbert
If quarterback Justin Fields is making his closing statement for his case to stay with the Chicago Bears over the last two weeks of the season, he got off to a pretty good start Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons at Soldier Field.
On a blustery day on the lakefront, Fields threw for 268 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 45 yards and another score to fuel a 37-17 victory, the Bears’ fifth straight at home.
It was a solid day for Fields as the Bears (7-9) consider what to do with the No. 1 draft pick they officially secured with the Carolina Panthers’ loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Bears general manager Ryan Poles obtained that pick with his trade of the No. 1 pick last year.
With tight end Colet Kmet sitting out most of the game with a knee injury and wide receiver Darnell Mooney out with a concussion, Fields went to wide receiver DJ Moore early and often.
Moore had nine catches for 159 yards and a touchdown. In his sixth NFL season and first with the Bears, Moore set a career high for receiving yards in a season with 1,300.
Bears running back Khalil Herbert added 18 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, except for a 75-yard touchdown on a screen pass from Taylor Heinicke to Tyler Allgeier, the Bears defense gave up little to the Falcons through three quarters.
The Bears intercepted Heinicke three times and had four picks in all. Linebacker T.J. Edwards came up with his third pick of the season in the second quarter, and Tyrique Stevenson got his third in the third quarter.
Kyler Gordon intercepted Heinicke on a desperation heave on fourth down in the fourth quarter. Stevenson got another interception against backup quarterback Desmond Ridder late in the fourth.
Heinicke did rush for a 24-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to cut the Bears lead to 27-17. Defensive tackle Justin Jones was flagged for unnecessary roughness after a 4-yard Heinicke pass on third-and-7, giving the Falcons new life.
But the Bears defense shut down Heinicke the rest of the way before the Falcons turned to Ridder late. Heinicke completed 10 of 29 passes for 162 yards with a touchdown and the three picks.
Bears kicker Cairo Santos made three second-half field goals: a 22-yarder on the opening drive, a 42-yarder after Stevenson’s interception and a 42-yarder in the fourth quarter to make it 30-17.
Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo made a 38-yard field goal in the second half.
Here’s how the game unfolded.
Inactives announced
Bears tight end Cole Kmet is active for Sunday’s game against the Falcons.
Kmet dealt with a knee injury during the week and was listed as questionable. He never has missed a game in four seasons with the Bears, a streak of 65 straight entering Sunday.
Bears center Lucas Patrick is also active after being listed as questionable with a knee issue. Left guard Teven Jenkins will return after clearing concussion protocol.
Running back D’Onta Foreman, however, is inactive after practicing all week. The Bears will rely on Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson instead.
As the Bears announced Friday, they will be without wide receiver Darnell Mooney, who is in concussion protocol. Linebacker DeMarquis Gates, safety Quindell Johnson, offensive lineman Ja’Tyre Carter and quarterback Nathan Peterman also are inactive. Peterman will serve as the emergency third quarterback.
For the Falcons, tight end John FitzPatrick, defensive linemen Joe Gaziano and Tommy Togiai, offensive linemen Jovaughn Gwyn and John Leglue and quarterback Logan Woodside are inactive.
Halftime: Bears take control with 21-7 lead
Bears quarterback Justin Fields threw for 166 yards to fuel a 21-7 halftime lead against the Falcons on Sunday at Soldier Field.
Fields threw a touchdown pass to DJ Moore and ran for a touchdown as the Bears stayed in control for almost the entire half. Moore had five catches for 82 yards, setting a career high for receiving yards in a season with 1,223.
The Bears went ahead 7-0 on their first drive when Fields hit Moore for a 7-yard pass on third down.
Fields and Moore opened the drive with a 32-yard connection, and it also included a 24-yard pass to Roschon Johnson that got the Bears to the 3-yard line. The Bears lost 4 yards over the next two plays, but Fields hung in the pocket to find Moore in the back left corner of the end zone with 8:47 to play in the first quarter.
Fields made it 14-0 with a 9-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. The drive included a nice 32-yard, over-the-shoulder catch from Moore.
The Falcons needed just one play to cut into the lead. Taylor Heinicke hit Tyler Allgeier with a screen pass that went for a 75-yard touchdown. Allgeier outran five defenders on a well-blocked play to cut the Bears lead in half.
The Bears went up by two touchdowns again on Johnson’s 2-yard run with 4:02 to play in the second quarter.
After Fields gained the needed yard on fourth-and-1 from the 3, Johnson surged up the middle for his second touchdown of the season and the first since the opener against the Green Bay Packers.
Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo missed his first two field-goal attempts in the first quarter, from 50 and 42 yards.
After the Falcons’ first two plays went for 22 and 21 yards, the Bears defense caught a few breaks, including Heinicke’s overthrown pass in the end zone to Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson’s fumble for a loss of 7 yards.
After Heinicke’s third-and-17 pass went for 8 yards, Koo missed a 50-yard field-goal attempt short. His 42-yard attempt after the Bears went up 7-0 hit the left upright.
Bears kicker Cairo Santos was short on a 55-yard attempt at the end of the half, and Dee Alford returned the miss 96 yards to the Bears 13-yard line before Robert Tonyan helped trip him up. Center Lucas Patrick and Santos were also in pursuit, and Patrick came up limping on the play.
The field-goal attempt came after linebacker T.J. Edwards intercepted Heinicke with 1:10 to play to give the Bears the ball at the Atlanta 37-yard line.
Catch up on the rest of our coverage.
‘People put a timeline on whether they can judge guys, but I’m really just at the start’
By most accounts, Justin Fields has made steps toward becoming the type of quarterback the Bears can win with.
Interceptions and sacks are down since he came back from the thumb injury Nov. 19. He has closed out some wins. He has had flashes of improvement in his movement within the pocket and his willingness to pass downfield rather than always tuck and run when the pocket breaks down. And he has continued to show his unique ability — unlike few others in the NFL — to extend plays with his legs.
But is that enough to convince the Bears to bet on him again? Read more here.
How have the Bears fared on New Year’s Eve games?
Fans at Soldier Field on Dec. 31, 1988, settled in to watch a divisional playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles in unexpected comfort.
There was bright sunshine, little wind and temperatures heading for the 40s. Until, a sudden slap in the face.
“A fog that rolled in from the lake late in the first half left the spectators to stare into a gray shroud from which the players would emerge with maddening infrequency,” Tribune reporter Phil Hersh wrote at the time.
Few of the 65,534 spectators were able to see the final moments of the Bears’ 20-12 victory due to the thick haze.
The “Fog Bowl” — which marked the first time the Bears ever played on New Year’s Eve — is now one of the franchise’s most memorable games. Read more here.
Defensive numbers don’t lie
There is a link between the 2023 Bears and past teams, including the division champions in 2018 and 2001 and even the Super Bowl XX champions of 1985.
The run defense this season is every bit as good as it was for the dominant defenses of those successful teams. In fact, with two games remaining, Matt Eberflus’ team has a shot at being the best run defense in Bears history, a remarkable possibility when considering last year’s team ranked 31st in the NFL allowing 157.3 yards per game, the organization’s second-worst season in the Super Bowl era (161.4 yards per game in 2013). Read more here.
