Bears vs Falcons: Inside the snap counts, stats, and more

The Chicago Bears lost their eighth game yesterday, 27 to 24 against the Atlanta Falcons, but this loss didn't have any of the feel-good buzz surrounding it as in previous weeks. The running game wasn't as explosive, no records were broken, the play-calling was second-guessed, and Justin Fields may have been injured.

The Bears had the edge in most of the team stats, but a kickoff return touchdown from Atlanta's Cordarrelle Patterson, a missed (long) field goal, and a wide disparity in penalties (Bears: 7-56, Falcons: 2-13), were too much for the Bears to overcome.

Chicago had more yards on offense (288 to 280), more first downs (20 to 18), a better time of possession (35:10 to 24:50), and were better on third downs (56.3% to 22.2%).

Now let's take a closer look at the playing time breakdowns for the Bears and also some individual stats.

OFFENSE

Justin Fields was laboring all afternoon with some leg cramping (he needed a post-game i.v.), and he also hurt his left shoulder late in the game (X-ray results yet to come), and it was his worst performance in a month. He ended up 14 of 21 (66.7%) passing for 153 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int, a passer rating of 84.0, while picking up 85 yards on 18 carries and a TD. Head coach Matt Eberflus said they'd give an update on Fields' condition on Wednesday.

David Montgomery ran 17 times for 67 yards with a TD, and he caught 3 for 54 yards.

Trestan Ebner ran for 8 yards on 6 carries.

Cole Kmet caught 3 passes for 35 yards and failed to reach the end zone for the first time since October 24, but he did do this...

Darnell Mooney caught Fields' TD and had 4 receptions for 29 yards.

Chase Claypool caught just 2 for 11 yards, and while the trade isn't looking very good right now, keep in mind that he's only been a Bear for 20 days. And how much can be expected from a passing game when the team struggles in pass protection? I don’t think we’ll truly see his impact until next season, but I would like to see him used more on jets, bubbles, slants, and go routes, i.e. the stuff he can be schemed up for.

The Bears allowed 4 sacks on the afternoon, and the offensive line has missed Teven Jenkins the last two weeks due to a hip injury.

DEFENSE

Jaquan Brisker led the Bears in tackles with 11, he added a tackle for loss, and a forced fumble.

Jack Sanborn had 9 tackles, a QB hit, and a fumble recovery on special teams.

Eddie Jackson had 7 tackles, and Chicago's only pass defended.

Kyler Gordan had 7 tackles and a tackle for loss.

SPECIAL TEAMS*

*The above image has players that only played in the third phase.

Cairo Santos missed a 56-yard field goal but hit one from 41 yards out. He’s now 15 for 16 on FGs this season. He also hit all 3 extra points.

Trenton Gill had 4 punts for a 40-yard average and 1 punt inside the 20.

Velus Jones Jr. had a 55-yard kickoff return.

Josh Blackwell and Ryan Griffin each had 2 special teams tackles, and DeAndre Houston-Carson had 1 tackle and a forced fumble.

To check out the complete Bears vs Falcons box score, I find that ESPN has an easy-to-navigate site.

All statistics and snap counts are taken directly from the NFL's Game Statistic and Information System, as are the accompanying pictures.