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A last-second Jimmy Graham touchdown helped close the gap, but not by much. The Chicago Bears lost to the New Orleans Saints 21-9, sending the Saints to the Divisional Round for a pivotal rematch with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But we’ll get into that in a bit.
The Saints powered to the win off of a great day by their defense. They didn’t allow a Bears third-down conversion until after the two-minute warning, going 58 minutes without yielding a fresh set of downs. That’s as impressive as it gets, even before you consider their performance against the run (Chicago only gained 48 rushing yards) and the pass (the Bears picked up just 199 yards through the air).
They’ll need that strong defensive play to finish a three-game sweep of Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay overcame some early challenges from the Washington Football Team’s defense before pulling away late down the stretch. The Saints must keep up the pressure on Brady — as they’ve done before — while making the most of their opportunities on offense.
We’ll see how it shakes out. But for now, the Saints have a ton to reassess from a game with the Bears that shouldn’t have been as close as it was. There’s plenty of room for them to improve.
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