Both the Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons entered this NFL season seeking redemption, and each team appears well on its way to achieving that goal so far. The two upstarts will attempt to build on their encouraging starts when they square off this Sunday at the Georgia Dome.

The 3-2 Bears presently find themselves sitting atop an NFC North division that was expected to be dominated by Green Bay and Minnesota, and enter this matchup riding a two-game winning streak. The club's surprising ascension has been made possible due to a defense that has regained the ferocious form that carried Chicago into the Super Bowl just two years ago, as well as quarterback Kyle Orton's emergence as a viable downfield threat.

Both elements were on display in the Bears' 34-7 pasting of Detroit last Sunday. Chicago limited the hapless Lions to 185 total yards of offense, while Orton threw for a career-high 334 yards and two touchdowns to help spur the rout.

Atlanta's rise to respectability has been even more startling, considering the franchise won just four times in 2007 and was breaking in a rookie quarterback (Matt Ryan) and head coach (Mike Smith). The Falcons have won three games already under the new regime, and the team furthered its progress with last week's breakthrough road win in Green Bay.

The youthful Falcons, who were outscored by a 48-18 margin during their first two away tests of 2008, showed notable resolve during their 27-24 decision over the defending NFC North champion Packers. Green Bay rallied from a 10- point halftime deficit to tie the contest at 17-17 early in the fourth quarter, but Atlanta responded with a pair of late scoring drives to move ahead to stay.

Last week's triumph was also aided by another outstanding performance from running back Michael Turner, the NFL's current leader in rushing yards. The offseason free-agent pickup amassed 126 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries against the Packers, and has eclipsed the century mark in all three of the Falcons' wins this season.

Atlanta's offense has churned out an average of 180.6 rushing yards per game, which trails only the unbeaten New York Giants for tops in the league, but figures to face a stern challenge from a Chicago stop unit that has yielded the fourth-fewest yards on the ground through the season's first five weeks.

SERIES HISTORY

Chicago has a 12-10 lead in its all-time series with Atlanta, including a 16-3 home victory when the clubs last met, in Week 15 of the 2005 season. The Bears have also won each of their two most recent trips to the Georgia Dome, in 2001 and 2002. The Falcons are 0-3 against the Bears since scoring a 20-13 home triumph in 1998.

The Bears' Lovie Smith is 1-0 against the Falcons as a head coach, while Atlanta's Smith will be meeting both the other Smith and Chicago for the first time as a head man.

WHEN THE BEARS HAVE THE BALL

Even though Orton (1100 passing yards, 7 TD, 4 INT) has stepped up his play as of late, Chicago's offensive game plan is still to control the clock with a persistent rushing attack featuring impressive rookie Matt Forte (383 rushing yards, 2 TD). The Bears are averaging a solid 126.9 yards per game on the ground (9th overall) and rank third in the league in time of possession, with Forte on pace for a 340-carry season. The second-round draft choice has cooled off some after a hot start to his pro career, having averaged a mere 2.8 yards per attempt over the last three games and managing just 36 yards on 15 rushes against Detroit last week. He's still been a big part of the team's short- range passing game, however, as the Tulane product leads Chicago with 22 receptions and has hauled in two of Orton's seven scoring strikes.

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