The New Orleans Saints (5-2) may have just won their fifth straight on Sunday afternoon, but it was far from easy against the Chicago Bears (3-5) in the Mercedes Benz Superdome.
The Saints were looking to put the final nail in the Bears coffin as they were driving down the field and made it to Chicago’s 25 yard line before Mark Ingram fumbled the ball which was recovered by Christian Jones. The Saints defense got burnt for big yardage on third down thanks to a big run from Mitchell Trubisky to get the Bears in Saints territory. Tarik Cohen cut the deficit to five points with a dive over the endzone. However, Trubisky was unable to make it a three-point game after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
The Saints next drive started out strong after Brees found Ted Ginn on a 53-yard pass to get to the Chicago 26. Two plays later Chicago’s defense was able to recover another fumble from Ingram to get the ball right back. However, the Saints defense came up huge with a fourth down stop. That turned into three points off the foot of Wil Lutz on a 49-yarder to make it 20-12.
After a big kick return and a horse collar penalty on Lutz, the Bears had stellar field position with 1:28 left on the clock. However, the Saints were able to come up with another late interception, this time from rookie Marshon Lattimore to seal the win.
The Saints will stay inside the friendly confines of the Superdome to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-5) with kickoff set for 12 pm.
-Clint Domingue