QB Ryan takes over in 4th quarter
CHICAGO — All Matt Ryan was trying to do was make something out of a broken play when he saw tight end Austin Hooper wide open near midfield.
Ryan wound up throwing a huge touchdown pass to help Atlanta squeeze out a seasonopening victory.
Ryan connected with Hooper, a Stanford alum, on an 88-yard TD and led two fourth-quarter scoring drives, and the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons held off the Chicago Bears 23-17 on Sunday.
The butt of jokes following their epic Super Bowl collapse against New England, the Falcons survived as the Bears missed several chances to score in the final seconds.
“Can we play better? Absolutely,” Ryan said. “Are we gonna try to work on that? For sure. But we’ll take a win any day.”
The Bears had a first down at the Atlanta 5 in the closing minute. Mike Glennon’s pass to a lunging Josh Bellamy on first down hit off the receiver’s hands, and Jordan Howard then dropped a simple catch at the 1.
After another incompletion on third down, Glennon got sacked by Brooks Reed to end the drive.
Atlanta was clinging to a 13-10 lead early in the fourth when a scrambling Ryan fired to a wideopen Hooper near midfield. The second-year tight end raced up the right side and stiff-armed Quintin Demps on the way to the end zone to make it a 10point game.
Hooper felt like he “lived a lifetime” as the ball approached him.
“I think I blacked out for a part of it. Then I caught it and I felt like it was almost auto-pilot.”
Ryan was nervous, too. “When people are covered, your brain just goes off and you throw it and you cut it loose,” he said. “Sometimes when you’re open, it can be the most difficult.”
The Bears then went 75 yards, with Glennon hitting rookie Tarik Cohen for a 19-yard TD midway through the fourth to cut it to 20-17. Earlier, Cohen had a 46-yard run on a toss that he turned back the opposite direction.
Atlanta’s Matt Bryant answered with a 37-yard field goal, making it 23-17 with 3:24 left.
For the Bears, it was an alltoo-familiar result after going 3-13 and finishing last in the NFC North.
“It burns,” tight end Zach Miller said. “It burns inside because it’s close. We had ample opportunity.”
Coming off an MVP season, Ryan was 21 -for-30 for 321 yards and a touchdown.
Hooper had two catches for 128 yards. Julio Jones added four receptions for 66 yards receiving and Bryant kicked three field goals.
In his Chicago debut, Glennon didn’t silence fans who would rather see No. 2 overall draft pick Mitchell Trubisky. Glennon went 26-for-40 for 213 yards and a TD.
Cohen absorbed several big hits in an impressive debut, finishing with 66 yards rushing and 47 receiving. He reversed field on a 46-yard run, helping set up Howard’s 4-yard touchdown near the end of the half.