The New Orleans Saints[5-4] defeat the Chicago Bears[2-7] 24-17. Next week, the Saints travel to play the Vikings while the Bears host the Panthers.
1st Quarter: Bears Quarterback Tyson Bagent throws an 18-yard touchdown to Tight End Cole Kmet. Tyson Bagent throws an interception to Saints Cornerback Paulson Adebo who gives New Orleans the ball at the Chicago 45-yard line. Saints Quarterback Derek Carr throws an 8-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver Chris Olave.
2nd Quarter: Tyson Bagent throws a 9-yard touchdown to Cole Kmet. Derek Carr throws a 2-yard touchdown to Taysom Hill. Bears Kicker Cairo Santos misses a 40-yard field goal after it hits the upright. 14-14 tied game at halftime.
3rd Quarter: Paulson Adebo forces Bears Wide Receiver D.J. Moore to fumble the ball and Adebo recovers for the Saints at the Chicago 39-yard line. Saints Kicker Blake Grupe kicks a 55-yard field goal. Cairo Santos kicks a 31-yard field goal.
4th Quarter: Taysom Hill threw a 3-yard touchdown to Tight End Juwan Johnson. Tyson Bagent throws an interception to Saints Safety Marcus Maye who gives the Saints the ball at the Chicago 38-yard line. Tyson Bagent throws another interception to Paulson Adebo who gives the Saints the ball at the Chicago 46-yard line. Blake Grupe’s 47-yard field goal hits the upright and is no good. Tyson Bagent is strip sacked by Saints Linebacker DeMario Davis and Linebacker Pete Werner recovers at the Chicago 18-yard line. The Saints won 24-17.
Saints Notes:
Run Offense-Not great at all. I get it that Taysom Hill will have these dominating games but Alvin Kamara was nonexistent in the run game and Jamaal Williams only got 3 carries. This cannot be sustainable going forward.
Pass Offense-Taysom Hill got involved with a passing touchdown and Derek Carr looked solid. I still want to see more consistency which would come from a better run game. Olave was the best receiver but he did not have a great performance. Michael Thomas was not involved at all. This offense needs to be better than this going forward.
Defense-This was the worst defensive performance of the year. Tyson Bagent of all people was picking apart from this defense early on. No pressure put on anyone. Played off of the receivers all game when everyone knew this secondary could dominate their receiving core. I do not understand why the Bears did not run with D’Onta Foreman more because he was running through big holes all game. Paulson Adebo saved this game with 3 turnovers. I know this defense can be better, which showed late in the game, but against a team like Chicago, this was a poor performance.
Offensive Play Calling-The game plan was giving the ball to Taysom Hill all game long. Whether that was him passing, running, or receiving, this is great if you play the Bears but please open up the game to all the other All-Pro/Pro Bowl players going forward.
Defensive Play Calling-This was the worst defensive game from a play-calling perspective. Everyone on this defense is better than everyone on that Chicago offense. There’s no reason that a soft zone defense with little blitzing should have been the game plan.
Blake Grupe-I know some people want the Saints to consider a new kicker but I think Grupe, as a rookie kicker, has been solid. This should not be the position people should be worrying about when there are a lot of other issues. I have faith in Grupe’s potential.
-Jordan Burden