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The Chicago Bears are back in the postseason as they squeaked their way into the seventh seed, but they had a tough matchup against the second-seeded New Orleans Saints. The Bears came in as heavy underdogs, and they couldn’t pull off the upset as they fell 21-9 to the Saints.
The Saints started the game with the ball and they were slowly moving down the field. They picked up three first downs and got into Bears territory, but the Bears defense was able to force a punt. However, the Bears’ offense didn’t do much work as they settled for a three and out.
Future Hall of Famer Drew Brees took advantage of the quick stand by his defense and was able to start at their 45-yard line. It took one play to get into Bears territory, then the Saints struck first with an 11-yard touchdown from Brees to wide receiver Michael Thomas.
On the Bears’ second possession, they started to get going. On the third play of the drive, Mitchell Trubisky found Javon Wims for a 28-yard gain. Unfortunately, Wims would make a crucial error on the next play. The Bears pulled off a little trickery in the backfield that had Trubisky throwing deep to Wims that would have been a wide-open touchdown, but Wims dropped it.
During the same possession, the Bears were looking at a fourth and four at the Saints 34-yard line. The Bears went for it and it didn’t go the way they hoped. Trubisky rolled out to his right and tried to run for the first down, but it seemed like he was unaware where the first down marker was and he was just short of extending the Bears drive.
It felt like it was going to be one of those games for the Bears where nothing was going to go their way. However, on the Saints’ possession, they ended up missing a 50-yard field goal. Then, after a Bears punt, the Saints utility player, Taysom Hill, was looking to throw deep, but safety Tashaun Gipson was able to knock the ball out of Hill’s hand and it was recovered by former Saints player John Jenkins.
The Bears were able to capitalize on the Saints turnover, but they weren’t able to tie the game. They had to settle for a Cairo Santos 36-yard field goal to cut into the Saints lead, but the Bears trailed 7-3 heading into halftime.
Even though not many people expected the Bears to win this game, they have kept it close. The Bears have kept it to a one possession game and will have the ball to start the second half. However, it was a terrible start. The first possession resulted in a three and out, then Anthony Miller got ejected
The Saints were down messing around with the Bears. On their first possession in the second half, New Orleans started at their 15-yard line and went on a 12-play drive that finished with a six-yard passing touchdown from Brees to Latavius Murray.
Then, it doesn’t help that the Bears offense, once again, goes three and out. At this point, it seems like all hope is gone. The Bears’ offense can’t move the ball, then the Saints kept marching down the field as they extended their lead 21-3 with a three-yard rushing touchdown.
After the Saints touchdowns, it was just déjà vu for the Bears’ offense. They couldn’t get anything going after they suffered another three and out. On the day, the Bears totaled five three and outs, then finished going 1-for-10 on three-down conversions.
The Saints didn’t care that the Bears were struggling on both sides of the ball, because they tried to keep extending their lead. On fourth and goal from the one-yard line, Brees tried to extend his way into the end zone but was rejected by the defense. The Bears had to start at their one-yard line with little time remaining but they saw their season come to an end after a 21-9 loss.
It was a long season for the Bears where they saw peaks and valleys throughout the year, but the season comes to an end in the wild-card round after going 8-8 in the regular season. The offseason will be an interesting one for the Bears as there’s a lot of questions marks circling the quarterback position, the roster, coaching staff, and front office.