One way or another, the home opener versus the Atlanta Falcons was going to be the first significant piece of evidence towards answering the many questions which football fans, opponents and national pundits alike have been asking about the Chicago Bears. While Atlanta has been the favorite among many national media to win it all, it was the Chicago Bears who put the rest of the league on notice with their Sunday afternoon beat down of the Falcons at Soldier Field.

If you ask any of the Bears players, I'm sure they would tell you that they were not surprised with their dominating performance versus the Falcons. They would also tell you that they were not trying to intentionally send any “messages”, though messages were still clearly sent as a result of their dismantling of the dirty birds. Whether it was Pro Bowl returner Eric Weems, or Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Ryan, the Bears shut down any attempts the Falcons made towards making Sunday's game competitive.

The Chicago Bears defense definitely set the tone with consistent disruptive pressure on Matt Ryan. The special teams coverage units shut down any hope that the Falcons may have had towards sparking their sputtering offense. The Bears offense out-schemed the Falcons defense resulting in the accumulation of yardage in big chunks, all while leaving 14-21 points on the field, according to Jay Cutler.

The lone glimmer of hope that the Falcons possibly had towards gaining any semblance of momentum came on their opening drive of the second half when Michael Turner broke a 53 yard run on 3rd and 1 from their own 15 yard line. Even that glimmer of hope was doused by an excellent level of hustle displayed by Tim Jennings who tracked down Turner and saved what should have been a momentum building touchdown for the Falcons. Eight plays and 15 yards later, the Chicago Bears stole the momentum back from the Falcons by forcing them to settle for a field goal on what would be the Falcons' best chance at scoring a touchdown for the entire game.

This is not the post where I need to throw statistics or custom grades at you to help you realize how dominant the Bears were in all three phases of the game. Even a casual football fan could clearly see who the better team was on Sunday at Soldier Field. No my friends, this post is simply meant to quickly yet officially recognize by me the fact that by dominating many pundits' Super Bowl pick in week one of the regular season, the Chicago Bears officially served notice to the other so-called contenders in the NFC. Teams better think twice if they think the NFC road to the Super Bowl was merely temporarily detoured through Chicago in 2011.