News Article
Published
Oct 18, 2026 at 06:02 PM EDT
The Atlanta Falcons had a crowd of 72,301 show up to Mercedes-Benz Stadium to watch their Week 6 contest against the Chicago Bears.
The problem: a large number of spectators were cheering for the visiting Bears.
The Bears’ takeover of Mercedes-Benz Stadium led to an awkward moment when the game was stopped momentarily when Falcons linebacker Kendal Daniels suffered an injury. A mistimed chant of "Green Bay sucks" broke out.
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The large contingent of Bears faithful posed another problem for the Falcons. During his postgame news conference, Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski admitted awkwardly that his team had to prepare for more of a road environment on Sunday, with the offense practicing to operate the silent count at home, which they had to use against the Bears.
Stefanski was asked if he was frustrated by the number of Bears fans at the game. Stefanski said he wasn't.
"No. Listen, we love our fans," Stefanski said. "Our fans are so supportive. We knew we likely would have to be on a silent count."
The loss dropped the Falcons to 2-4 overall. More concerning, Atlanta is 0-3 at home after losing to the Bears. The Falcons have lost home games to the Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens this season. In Week 7, Atlanta will host another fan base that travels well, the San Francisco 49ers.
More silent counts could be on the way for that contest.
Of course, the problem for the Falcons wasn't limited to the offense. Theoretically, the home crowd should have been loud when the Bears were on offense, making it hard for quarterback Caleb Williams to run his pre-snap cadence.
That didn't appear to be a problem for Chicago, and Williams diced up the Falcons’ defense, throwing for 305 yards and one touchdown in his first start since he suffered a hamstring strain against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2.
For more on the Falcons and the NFL, head to Newsweek Sports.