As Bill Barnwell noted, the 30-12 final score by which the Atlanta Falcons lost to the Chicago Bears isn't quite as indicative of Chicago's dominance as you'd think. A live ball hit the turf five times, and all five times the Bears recovered. If they'd gotten just three of those bounces, they'd be considered the luckier team -- all five is pretty amazing. 

Which isn't to say they weren't the better team, of course. And it's not to say fumbles don't just appear out of nowhere. Swarming defense led to fumbles by Michael Turner and Matt Ryan. But luck comes into play once we move along to the recovery of said fumble, at which point each team's chance of coming up with the ball is even.

Atlanta's offense moved the ball well enough to win, but couldn't push its way through Chicago's red zone-friendly defense. Watching parts of the game again, you can definitely see positive signs.

Still not ready to talk about the Falcons defense, though.