Chicago bearing down

The Chicago Bears took a giant step toward gaining respect around the league Sunday, with a 31-3 romp over the helpless Atlanta Falcons.

The most exciting aspect of the game was watching the Bears play defense, something that has been missing from the Windy City since the late 80's and early 90's.

The Bears, once known as the Monsters of the Midway, dominated defensively and used some timely offensive execution to improve to 2-1 on the year. The win moves them just 1/2 game behind Green Bay for first place in the NFC Central.

Chicago used seven sacks and three interceptions to shut down an Atlanta offense that was playing its first game without starting RB Jamal Anderson who is out for the year. The Bears also forced three fumbles, recovering two of them, to prevent the Falcons from gaining any kind of momentum. LB Brian Urlacher recovered the final fumble and ran 90 yards for a touchdown that made the game laughable at 24-3.

The Bears did take their time in securing the win. The offense continually sputtered in the first half, hampered by dropped passes by Marty Booker and Dez White. Chicago also failed to establish a solid running game, gaining only 79 yards on 24 carries -- an average of 3.3 yards per carry. The only ray of light in the Bears running game was rookie Anthony Thomas. The "A-Train" scampered for 57 yards on 11 carries, including a 32-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

The Bears resorted to a little creativity to finally get in the end zone. Marty Booker caught a lateral from QB Jim Miller and then hurled it 34 yards to Marcus Robinson, who had gotten behind Falcons CB Ray Buchanan. The TD put the Bears up 7-0 with 1:54 left in the first half.

Paul Edinger, who earlier missed a 48-yard field goal, knocked a 42-yarder through to give the Bears a 10-0 lead at halftime.

Falcons' QB Chris Chandler struggled mightily in the first half, throwing all three of the Bears' interceptions before halftime. Chandler was diagnosed with a mysterious mild concussion and did not return for the second half. It's mysterious because he really wasn't hit very hard during that half and did not sit out for a single play. Nonetheless, rookie Michael Vick played the entire second half and spent most of it running for his life.

Harassed by the Chicago defense, Vick was sacked six times and lost the fumble that Urlacher returned. He did however complete 12 of 18 passes for 186 yards, but most of those yards came later in the half when the Bears were comfortably ahead.

The Bears, who haven't really tasted success since 1994 when they were thumped by the San Francisco 49ers 44-13 in the second round of the playoffs, looked a team on a mission Sunday. Although the offense struggled in the first half, the defense stepped up and kept Atlanta from scoring until things got on track.

Once Jim Miller got into a rhythm the Bears became a much more fluid team. More importantly, once Booker stopped dropping passes, the Bears started the moving the ball. Booker, who was joined by Dez White's stone hands, dropped two passes that stalled the Bears first two possessions.

Miller overcame early trouble and finished 17 of 26 for 196 yards, one TD and two interceptions. One interception was a remarkable play by LB Henri Crockett who blitzed Miller, batted the ball straight up into the air, and came down with the interception. However Miller made quality decisions all day, including a 63-yard TD pass to Booker in the third quarter.

If this is how the Bears are going to play all season, they will be an exciting team to watch. The defense's fire was reminiscent of the 1985 team that is regarded as one of the best of all time. No this isn't the same as watching Richard Dent, Steve McMichael, Dan Hampton, and Mike Singletary lead the way every Sunday. What's happening in Chicago is the maturation of young athletes with enormous potential that only want to win.

Led by second year MLB Brian Urlacher, the defense is as solid as any in the NFL. And the average age of their starting defense is only 26.6. The oldest two players are run-stuffing DT's Ted Washington and Keith Traylor. Each has tasted success and are leading by example.

The Bears have surrendered the second fewest points in the league, giving up 30. Only the archrival Green Bay Packers are better at 27 points allowed.

Circle November 11th on your calendar. That's when the Pack comes to Soldier Field for the first of their two annual showdowns. This year should be especially interesting as both teams figure to be battling for control of the NFC Central.

Maybe I'm just a purist, but if I'm going to watch any football game, I want to watch one where there's a defense playing on pure emotion. The Ravens have it, and now the Bears are becoming it.

Are the Monsters of Midway back? Not quite, but they're on the right track.