Tag: Chicago Bears vs. New Orleans Saints

7 takeaways from the Bears’ 2023 schedule

From finishing the season against Green Bay to having historic rest periods. here are our takeaways from the 2023 Bears schedule.

The dust has finally settled on the Chicago Bears 2023 schedule release and the upcoming season has finally come into focus.

The Bears are set to play in four prime-time games, including two on Thursday Night Football. They also have a late bye week for the second year in a row and bookend the season with the Green Bay Packers, facing them in Week 1 and Week 18.

Fans and analysts are already making predictions on how many games the Bears will win this year, but the schedule goes deeper than that. We can already make assumptions about how it might impact the team when the season begins based on the timing of certain matchups. Here are seven takeaways from the Bears’ schedule.

Former Bears QB Mitch Trubisky hilariously recounts winning NVP in playoff loss

Mitch Trubisky recounted the moment he found out he was named the NVP of the Bears’ playoff loss to the Saints – and it’s hilarious.

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The Chicago Bears snuck into the 2020 postseason only to be ousted in the first round by the New Orleans Saints, 21-9. It was a disappointing effort all around, especially on offense.

The wild-card game was being broadcast on CBS and Nickelodeon, which featured a kid-friendly broadcast. And it gave former Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky the perfect sendoff from Chicago.

Despite the loss, Trubisky was voted the NVP — Nickelodeon’s Valuable Player — by those watching the game on Nickelodeon, and it became an instant viral moment with jokes galore.

Trubisky recently appeared on the Pardon My Take podcast, where he hilariously recounted the moment he found out he was named the NVP.

“They just told me and I was like, ‘Oh, cool. Is there like a trophy or something?'” Trubisky explained. “It was tough, because it was emotional, season just ended, we lost the game. It was a rough game, honestly. And they’re like, ‘You won something.’ I thought they were just messing with me. I was like, ‘What? The NVP sounds like MVP. There’s no way. You can’t win a MVP with a game like that.’ ‘No, the NVP… Nickelodeon Valuable Person, I guess.’ And I was like, ‘How do I qualify for that?’ ‘I don’t know, they voted for you.’ ‘Alright, thank you, I guess.'”

Trubisky faced off against his former team last Saturday, where he absolutely balled out, leading the Bills to six consecutive scoring drives — including four touchdowns — in the first half. He finished 20-of-28 for 221 yards, one touchdown and 106.4 passer rating.

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Saints coach Sean Payton admits they stole Bears play in playoffs

Sean Payton didn’t try to hide the fact that the Saints stole Bears’ trick play in postseason.

It’s been over a month since the Chicago Bears lost their wildcard matchup against the New Orleans Saints 21-9 that sent them packing in the first round of the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.

While the game was close for much of the evening, the Bears failed to make enough explosive plays to keep pace with the Saints, most notably the dropped touchdown to wide receiver Javon Wims in the first quarter on a trick play.

Bears fans wound up seeing that exact same play again the next week, when the Saints ran it to perfection against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to score a touchdown. Though things went south for the Saints later in the game, fans were beside themselves seeing Saints quarterback Jameis Winston find wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith for six points.

But did New Orleans actually steal the play from the Bears? Their head coach didn’t try to cover up the theft.

Saints head coach Sean Payton joined ESPN 1000’s Carmen and Jurko show on Thursday morning to set the record straight.

“I had seen the the play, obviously, that they had run and I just took a pencil and erased ‘Matt Nagy’ and then I put my name at the top,” Payton joked.

He then detailed what he thought of the play when he saw it happen in real time.

“Honestly, I had never seen it before,” Payton said. “I remember seeing the play live because when Chicago broke the huddle, [Mitchell] Trubisky was right in front of me on our sideline. He wasn’t just – you know you’re getting a wildcat play, but generally speaking, you’re close to the line of scrimmage and Mitch was about three yards deeper than normal. There was the timing, the snap, the motion, the handoff, and then back to the quarterback. At that moment, you’re like ‘ugh.’ Honestly, it was a magnificent throw.”

Payton continued and talked through whether he wanted to change the play at all against the Buccaneers.

“We started with the idea that maybe we just flip the whole thing around and go the same exact play, but go the other direction,” he said. “We said no, just show our players this picture.”

The former Super Bowl-winning coach did offer his thanks to Nagy and the Bears, however.

“The next day, I text Matt and said ‘I appreciate that play’ and everyone got their credit,” he said. “That had zero to do with us and was Chicago’s design.”

This isn’t the first time a team admitted to copying the Bears playbook. In 2019, the Houston Texans took trick play from former Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains during a 2017 game. 

While the trick play fooled both the Saints and Buccaneers defenses, the team that ran it in both games wound up losing. It might be awhile before either Nagy or Payton picks it up again.

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Twitter reacts to the Saints borrowing trick play from the Bears

If there was something familiar about the Saints’ trick play, it’s because the Bears ran the exact same play against them last week.

With the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers deadlocked in a close divisional battle, Saints head coach Sean Payton pulled out a trick play to give his team the lead in the second quarter.

Running back Alvin Kamara took a direct snap and handed it off to receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who pitched it to quarterback Jameis Winston, who connected with Tre’Quan Smith for a 56-yard touchdown.

If there was something familiar about the play, it’s because the Chicago Bears ran the exact same play against New Orleans last week in the wild-card round. The only difference is, the Saints actually executed it while Javon Wims dropped the ball in the end zone.

They say that the NFL is a copycat league, and it certainly appears so with this play. Take a look at them side-by-side.

Naturally, Twitter had plenty to say about the Saints borrowing from the Bears — and they actually acknowledged that the play came from Chicago, unlike the announcers on FOX.

WATCH: Saints borrowed trick play from Bears, but they actually pulled it off

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery as the Saints borrowed a trick play from the Bears, which failed last week.

The Chicago Bears were dealt an early playoff exit by the New Orleans Saints in the wild-card round of the NFC playoffs with a 21-9 loss. It was a game that the Bears should’ve won, given New Orleans’ struggles opened the door. But Chicago couldn’t help but get in their own way.

The Saints certainly learned from that wild-card victory — and Sean Payton even took a page out of Matt Nagy’s book. In the second quarter of Sunday’s divisional game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Saints ran the exact same play that the Bears nearly executed to perfection last Sunday against them.

The only difference was that the Saints receiver didn’t drop the ball. Literally and figuratively.

When Chicago ran the play, running back David Montgomery took the direct snap and handed it off to running back Cordarrelle Patterson, who then pitched it to quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who launched it nearly 50 yards to receiver Javon Wims for what should’ve been the game-tying touchdown in the first quarter.

Only, as Bears fans know too well, Wims dropped it. It went right through his hands, much like any sort of momentum Chicago might’ve had in that game.

When New Orleans ran the exact same play against Tampa Bay, running back Alvin Kamara took the direct snap and handed it off to receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who pitched it to quarterback Jameis Winston, who connected with Tre’Quan Smith for the 56-yard touchdown.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But the Saints actually pulled the trick play off — which is why they’re still in the playoffs while the Bears aren’t.

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Anthony Miller fined for throwing punch at CJ Gardner-Johnson in wild-card game

Anthony Miller and CJ Gardner-Johnson have been fined for their scuffle in last week’s Bears-Saints wild-card game.

There was plenty of ugly in the Chicago Bears’ wild-card loss to the New Orleans Saints. But perhaps the ugliest was an inexcusable unsportsmanlike penalty on Bears receiver Anthony Miller, who threw a punch at Saints safety CJ Gardner-Johnson.

Both Miller and Gardner-Johnson have been fined for their role in the scuffle — Miller was fined $8,589 for unnecessary roughness and Gardner-Johnson fined $15,000 for unnecessary roughness.

What made it even more inexcusable was the fact that Miller — and the entire team — were warned about Gardner-Johnson’s antics. Matt Nagy took 10-15 minutes to show highlights of Gardner-Johnson instigating things with different players. Bears players were warned, and Miller still reacted.

Miller was ejected from the game, which hurt due to Darnell Mooney’s absence with an ankle injury. It was the second time Gardner-Johnson has gotten a Bears receiver ejected from a game this season. He did the same with Javon Wims, who was suspended for two games.

Not that it’ll come as any surprise, Bears tight end Cole Kmet was not fined for flipping the ball at an official, something he was flagged for as the refs believed he was tossing it at an opposing player.

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Bears-Saints was the most-watched game of wild-card weekend

While the Bears didn’t get the result that they wanted in Sunday’s wild-card game against the Saints, they certainly did draw a crowd.

While the Chicago Bears didn’t get the result that they wanted in Sunday’s wild-card game against the New Orleans Saints, they certainly did draw a crowd.

Sunday’s game between the Bears and Saints was the most-watched game of wild-card weekend, according to CBS Sports. It drew 30.653 million viewers between CBS and Nickelodeon.

Not only that, it was the most-watched Sunday wild-card game on the network in seven years.

The Bears-Saints game was simulcast on Nickelodeon for the first time, which drew rave reviews. It was kid-friendly and teams got slimed when they scored a touchdown — which for the Bears didn’t happen until the final second of the game.

Bears quarterback Mitchel Trubisky was named NVP — Nickelodeon Valuable Player, as voted upon by those watching on the network.

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S Tashaun Gipson was Bears’ highest-graded player vs. Saints

The Bears did a decent job containing the Saints for most of the game, and Tashaun Gipson was the Bears’ highest-graded player by PFF.

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The Chicago Bears couldn’t overcome self-inflicted mistakes to defeat the New Orleans Saints in the wild-card round, and now Chicago is facing a long offseason with important questions left to be answered.

Several of those concern the defense, which actually did a decent job of containing the Saints’ offense for most of the game. One of the players that stood out was safety Tashaun Gipson, who made several plays to keep Chicago in the game.

Gipson was the Bears’ highest-graded player by Pro Football Focus, notching a 87.4 overall grade. He allowed just one catch on four targets in coverage for 11 yards. Gipson was all around the ball, recording two pass breakups and one forced fumble.

The Bears signed Gipson to a one-year deal back in April, and he was a solid safety alongside Eddie Jackson this season. Gipson had two interceptions, which tied with linebacker Roquan Smith for a team-high.

This season, Gipson had 65 total tackles, seven passes defensed and two interceptions. Gipson is set to hit the open market this offseason.

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5 takeaways from Bears’ wild-card playoff loss to the Saints

Before we dive into the Bears’ offseason questions, here are our takeaways from Sunday’s postseason loss vs. Saints.

“I expect nothing, and I’m still let down.”

If there was ever a quote to sum up my feelings regarding the Chicago Bears losing to the New Orleans Saints 21-9 in the playoffs, it would be this gem said by Dewey from the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle.

The Bears came into their wildcard matchup with the Saints as double-digit underdogs and were clearly hobbled as many key players, such as linebacker Roquan Smith, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and wide receiver Darnell Mooney, were out due to injuries. But instead of rolling over immediately, they actually made a game of it and kept the score close for the entire first half.

Thanks to their solid defense, fans began to believe the Bears had a chance to pull off one of the biggest playoff upsets in recent memory. All of that vanished in the third quarter, however, as they unraveled thanks to untimely penalties, undisciplined players, poor tackling and questionable coaching.

The loss, while expected, still hurt because of how a few missed opportunities might have changed a game that was close for much of the afternoon. Now, the offseason officially begins with the Bears seemingly finding themselves at a fork in the road. But before we dive into those questions, here are my takeaways from Sunday’s postseason loss.

13 crazy stats from Bears’ 21-9 loss vs. Saints in wild-card round

Here are 13 crazy stats from the Bears’ 21-9 loss against the Saints in the wild-card playoffs.

The Chicago Bears suffered another early exit from the NFL postseason with a 21-9 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Perhaps most frustrating is that this game was a winnable one, and Chicago did what it does best: beat itself.

Here are 13 crazy stats from the Bears’ 21-9 loss against the Saints in the wild-card playoffs.