Bears Look Mediocre in Beating Falcons, 13-10 : Chicago Offense Falters Without McMahon, but Defense Picks Up Slack

Once again, the Chicago Bears showed they are almost an average team without Jim McMahon.

Almost, but not quite, because of their dominating defense, which carved out a 13-10 victory Sunday over the Atlanta Falcons.

With McMahon watching from the sidelines with a shoulder injury, backup quarterback Mike Tomczak was unable to get a first down for the first 24 minutes and Atlanta (5-5-1) took a 10-3 halftime lead.

“You teeter on whether to take (Tomczak) out, but that would have been the worst thing to do,” said Coach Mike Ditka, who had Steve Fuller and Doug Flutie in reserve.

“Fortunately, we have a good defense.”

The Bears (9-2) knocked Atlanta quarterback David Archer out of the game and the rest of the season with a separated shoulder, and held the Falcons to two first downs in the second half--when Atlanta didn’t move the ball past its own 35.

Chicago intercepted three passes thrown by Turk Schonert, who replaced Archer. Mike Richardson had two of the interceptions.

“This is why we win,” said Chicago safety Dave Duerson, who had two sacks and intercepted Schonert’s pass to end the Falcons’ last possession. “When one half of the team is letting down, the other half picks it up. Today, we did it.”

In the second half Tomczak and the offense did their part.

Tomczak was one of eight for six yards in the first half and threw two interceptions, one of which was returned 14 yards for a touchdown by Atlanta linebacker Joel Williams.

But Tomczak hit tight end Emery Moorehead on an 85-yard pass play on the second play of the second half, then snuck over from the Atlanta one to tie the score.

On the next series, Tomczak found Willie Gault with a 27-yarder to set up a 44-yard field goal by Kevin Butler for the winning points.

Tomczak also got the Bears close enough for three other field-goal attempts, but Butler missed from 28, 25 and 35 yards after making 18 straight kicks. Chicago lost another chance on a fumble by Walter Payton on the Atlanta 15.

“That’s why they have two halfs in a football game,” Tomczak said. “They won the first half, we won the second and the bottom line was on the scoreboard.”

The Falcons controlled the ball for 24 of the first 27 plays but could only get a 3-0 lead as Ali Haji-Sheikh kicked a 37-yard field goal with 46 seconds left in the first quarter. They might have had more, but Archer was sacked three times in the quarter.

Atlanta got another chance midway through the first quarter when Reggie Wilkes’ interception set up a drive that reached the Chicago 12. Three plays later, the Falcons were back to the 43.

Archer lost six yards on an attempted bootleg and was injured on the play; a holding call on Wayne Radloff nullified a screen pass that carried to the one; Sylvester Stamps lost four yards and Wilber Marshall and Richard Dent sacked Schonert for an 11-yard loss.

On the next series, Tomczak was pressured in the end zone by Mike Pitts and Dennis Harrison, and underthrew Walter Payton. Williams grabbed it and ran 14 yards for a touchdown to make it 10-0.

“I thought we were controlling the first half but unfortunately we didn’t have much to show for it,” Atlanta Coach Dan Henning said.

Chicago then moved for the first time in the game, notching its first four first downs on a 57-yard, 12-play drive that was culminated by Butler’s 32-yard field goal with 50 seconds left in the half.