LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Bears tight ends Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark provided a bright spot in Sunday night’s 21-14 loss to the Falcons in Atlanta, combining to catch eight passes for 89 yards and a touchdown.

Olsen had five receptions for 57 yards, including a 2-yard TD on third-and-goal that tied the score 14-14 with 6:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. Three plays before the touchdown, Olsen snared a 41-yard pass deep down the middle on second-and-20 to give the Bears a first down at the Atlanta 6.

Greg Olsen celebrates his 2-yard touchdown catch in Sunday night's 21-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Clark also did his part to put the Bears in scoring position. With the Bears trailing 14-7 late in the third quarter, he hauled in a 24-yard pass in traffic, resulting in a first down at the Atlanta 11. Three plays later, Clark’s 8-yard reception on third-and-eight gave the Bears first-and-goal at the 1.

“They played really well,” quarterback Jay Cutler said of the veteran tight ends. “I’m happy for those guys, especially Greg. We didn’t call his number probably as much as he would like. But he made some plays when I put the ball up in the air for him.”

That close: Cutler thought the Bears would tie the game with a minute to play when he dropped back on first-and-10 from the Atlanta 14 and rifled a pass to rookie Johnny Knox on a slant pattern. Knox appeared to be open, but the ball was batted down by defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux.

“I felt good about it,” Cutler said. “Johnny beat him pretty good. It was just a tough break.”

Century club: In posting a 79.6 passer rating Sunday night, Jay Cutler fell short of becoming the first Bears quarterback to top 100 in four straight games since Rudy Bukich in 1964.

Prior to Sunday night’s contest in Atlanta, Cutler had registered passer ratings of 104.7, 126.4 and 100.4 in consecutive wins over the Steelers, Seahawks and Lions, respectively.

Since the start of the second half of the Bears’ season opener, Cutler has completed 68 percent of his passes (102 of 150) for 1,074 yards with 10 touchdowns, four interceptions and a 99.7 passer rating.

Moving on up: With his first extra point early in the second quarter, Robbie Gould became the fifth player in Bears history to score 500 points. In five seasons, Gould has 501 points with 116 field goals and 153 extra points. The only Bears players who’ve scored more points are Kevin Butler (1,116), Walter Payton (750), Bob Thomas (629) and George Blanda (541).

Backed up: With three punts inside-the-20 Sunday night against the Falcons, Brad Maynard has now landed 12 of his 22 punts inside-the-20 with no touchbacks this season, including 7 of 8 in his last two games. Maynard’s 12 punts inside-the-20 are the most in the NFL without a touchback. 

Under the lights: In losing to the Falcons, the Bears fell to 12-15 on Sunday Night Football, including 7-5 in Lovie Smith’s six seasons as coach. Chicago is now 8-8 on SNF on the road.

The Bears are scheduled to play three times on Sunday Night Football this season. They lost to the Packers in Green Bay in the season opener and host the Eagles at Soldier Field on Nov. 22.

Series history: With the Bears losing to the Falcons, the all-time series between the teams is now tied 12-12. Chicago has dropped two straight games after winning three in a row from 2001-05 and eight of nine from 1985-2005.