The Chicago Bears traveled down to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome this past Sunday to play one of the hottest teams in the league in the New Orleans Saints. Coming into this game after off an ugly win against the Carolina Panthers, the Bears were looking to do damage against a New Orleans defense that struggled against tougher competition. While the Bears don’t necessarily have the best weapons in the league they had some players that could create some mismatches. The opportunity to create comfort for young quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was almost too good to be true.
The Bears opened the game trying to establish the running game with Jordan Howard now that he’s taken on a larger workload after recovering from his early season shoulder trouble. The Bears would be forced to punt after their first drive. The defense that received much of the praise this past week would find its toughest challenge of the year with future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees. The Saints marched down the field for an Alvin Kamara touchdown on a bit of misdirection. Running the jet motion to the near side of the field, Brees quick pitched it to Kamara for a touchdown to put New Orleans up 7-0 early in the contest.
Chicago would answer with a field goal drive after a beautiful throw from Mitchell Trubisky to receiver Tre McBride that brought the offense inside the twenty yard line. Despite some of the things done well on the drive the offense would have to settle for a field goal from Connor Barth. The Bears would have an opportunity once again to score after forcing a fumble from Alvin Kamara but could only muster a missed field from Connor Barth.
With that quick turnaround, Brees was hitting quick pass after quick pass with precision to his receivers Michael Thomas and Ted Ginn Jr. for a nice offensive drive. Mark Ingram was also able to contribute as he his physical running inside the the tackles punished the Bears for stretches on the drive. Ingram was able to cap off the drive with a two yard touchdown in the red zone as he heroically leaped over the Bears defensive line.
The Bears would continue to show flashes on offense but like any Bears offense there was a lot that could have been done better. Understanding limitations is expected however Trubisky took a couple of unnecessary sacks in the game that killed a lot of momentum and field position. One of the shining offensive plays for the Bears was the long Jordan Howard run that got them out of the shadow of their own end zone. The over pursuit of linebacker Manti T’eo created a large gap allowing Howard to burst through the line for a 50 yard gain. The Bears would once again settle for a Connor Barth field goal.
Prior to the Bears field goal however, a touchdown catch was called back after great effort by Zach Miller. It was clear in the play that Miller maintained possession of the ball falling to the ground. It must be noted however that Miller’s knee was dislocated on the play and clearly was a part in him letting go of the ball to clutch his knee. It would be noted that he was done for the year after reports from the team were released following the game.
The fourth quarter was a one of opportunity for the Bears to say the least, two Mark Ingram fumbles set up the Bears for a chance to let Trubisky win the game for them however penalties and the young quarterback taking unnecessary sacks played a part in the demise of the Bears effort this week. The offense clearly has plenty of work to do but with a bye week coming this week and Aaron Rodgers out for what looks like the year this could be a chance for the Bears to showcase the ability of Trubisky and his new weapon acquired from San Diego this week, Dontrelle Inman. The Bears fell to 3-5 on the year after faltering to the Saints 20-12 but with the defense playing at the level that they have been and the evident talent from the quarterback, the playoffs are not out of the question.