Mike Glennon engineered a late drive and received a handful of highlight-reel plays from Tarik Cohen, but a pair of drops in the game’s final seconds and a sack on the final play allowed the Atlanta Falcons squeak past the Chicago Bears with a 23-17 win at Soldier Field.
But if you’re looking for a silver lining, look no further than Glennon’s fourth quarter production.
Playing from behind, Glennon surprisingly played his best. He completed 18 of 24 passes (that’s a nifty 75 percent completion rate) for 163 yards, a touchdown, no interceptions, and a 106.8 passer rating to set up a dramatic final four plays. Unfortunately for Glennon, the Bears couldn’t push the ball into the end zone. Passes intended for Josh Bellamy, Jordan Howard, and Zach Miller fell incomplete, and a fourth-down sack from Brooks Reed after beating right tackle Bobby Massie squashed the drive and sealed a Falcons victory.
That final series of plays brought Glennon’s fourth quarter stats to 18/27, 66.7 percent completions, 163 yards, 1 TD, and a 95.1 rating. That’s still pretty good, and it’s probably one of the reasons head coach John Fox sounded like someone who liked what he saw from his quarterback:
John Fox on the play of QB Mike Glennon: "I thought it was good. We have room for improvement everywhere."
— Rich Campbell (@Rich_Campbell) September 10, 2017
Of course, Glennon doesn’t sound like someone who’s for moral victories:
Glennon: "Definitely disappointed to come up a few yards short but think we can take a lot of positives out of that game."
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 10, 2017
Glennon: "Nothing will replace a win but we already knew that we belonged and are going to be competitive."
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) September 10, 2017
After watching Glennon move the chains efficiently in the fourth quarter, it’s worth asking where was that production for the first three quarters?
It was as if a different Mike Glennon was on the field earlier for the Bears, and that one wasn’t nearly as effective as the one who showed up and nearly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Through the first three quarters, Glennon completed just 8 of 13 passes for 50 yards, and a not-so-nice 69.4 rating. Save for a few highlights from Tarik Cohen, big plays were pretty much non-existent for the Bears offense.
Glennon and the Bears seemed content to sling the ball on short and medium routes and hope for yards after the catch. According to Pro Football Focus, Glennon attempted just four passes that went for 10 yards in the air and only one that traveled more than 20 yards. A thin group of receivers grew thinner when the team suited up just four on their active 46-man roster, and the group suffered more late when Kevin White left the game with a shoulder injury.
In the end, Glennon finished 26/40 for 213 yards, a touchdown, four sacks, and an 86.8 rating. It wasn’t an awful debut from the Bears’ prized free agent signing, but we’d like to see more of what we saw in the fourth quarter and less of what was shown in the first three.