The Chicago Bears came away with a 31-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon.
The Bears controlled the tempo for the first 49 minutes before the Falcons caught fire late. Caleb Williams made his triumphant return and immediately reclaimed his status as one of the league's rising stars. He was the best player on the field.
Unfortunately, a few players didn't find nearly as much success against Atlanta. Which players hurt their stock the most in the Week 6 loss?
Roschon Johnson
Roschon Johnson can't seem to get out of his own way. The veteran running back was having one of the best games of his career before coughing up a fumble late in the contest. If the Falcons had pulled off a miraculous comeback, Johnson might've been a surprise cut candidate this week (or as soon as Kyle Monangai can return to the lineup, anyway).
To his credit, Ben Johnson did go right back to him on the final drive to ice the game. He also led the team with 51 yards on the ground. Still, the fumble was costly and, if not for a masterclass by cornerback Kyler Gordon, could've been deadly.
Elijah Hicks
Elijah Hicks got exposed late in the contest. Tight end Kyle Pitts stole the ball from him on a 29-yarder, and he gave up a touchdown a few plays later. He was left on an island on both plays (due to Dennis Allen's blitz-heavy gameplan), and it's not like All-Pro play should be expected from the backup safety, but it was still a rough showing.
The Bears will be relying more heavily on Hicks after cutting ties with Xavier Woods earliet this week. He'll hopefully bounce back with a better performance in Thursday night's matchup against New England.
Ben Johnson's patience level
Penalties, penalties, penalties. The Bears lost more yards due to penalties than the Falcons gained on offense until the Bears pulled many of their defensive starters (who all promptly returned after Johnson put the ball on the ground) at the start of the fourth quarter. They finished the contest with 12 penalties for 133 yards, including a few costly ones that took big plays off the board.
The Bears did a great job limiting penalties over their previous three games after struggling mightily in that department over the first two weeks. They had 13 penalties for 99 yards in Weeks 3-5 combined. A rough bit of regression that Ben Johnson will be eager to iron out.
Jahdae Walker
Jahdae Walker was responsible for two consequential penalties today. The first occurred when he dove to block a punt and ended up roughing Atlanta's punter. That gave the Falcons a new set of downs.
His second was an unnecessary roughness call that led to an ejection from the contest. Today's game will be one to forget for the second-year receiver. He's not in danger of losing his spot on special teams, but another performance like today's could see him losing snaps.
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