Bears beat Saints in OT

This pass Thursday night, all eyes were on the Chicago Bears playing host to the New Orleans Saints. The Bears (8-6) escaped with a 27-24 overtime victory over the Saints (7-7). The entire game wasn’t as close as the score indicates. The momentum clearly jumped to the side of the Bears early with Danieal Manning’s 83-yard opening kickoff touchdown return—the only score in the first quarter.

The Saints finally got on the scoreboard in the second quarter following a fumbled snap between Kyle Orton and Olin Kreutz on their own one-yard line. Two plays later, Drew Brees found Pierre Thomas in the flat for a two-yard touchdown pass. On Chicago’s ensuing possession, the Saints was flagged for a crucial pass interference call which set up rookie Matt Forte’s one-yard touchdown run. Late in the half, Orton scrambled for a six-yard touchdown to give the Bears a 21-7 halftime lead—only to allow New Orleans to score 17 unanswered points in the second half. The Bears’ offense finally awakened from their temporary slumber and drove down the field to set up Robbie Gould for the game-tying 28-yard field goal. And in overtime, things were still falling in Chicago’s favor with winning the overtime coin toss, and once again marching down the field for Gould’s game-winning 35-yard field goal.

Offensively, the Bears only garnered 226 yard of total offense. Orton was 24 out of 40 for 172 yards and threw no touchdowns and two interceptions. Greg Olsen snagged a game-high eight receptions for 45 yards, while Devin Hester had a team-high 46 receiving yards—in addition to luring the Saints’ defense to commit two pass interference calls on deep routes. Forte was slowed by a toe injury on his first carry of the game and only gained 63 total yards from scrimmage on 16 touches.

The Bears’ defense did manage to get one sack from Alex Brown, and pick off Brees twice in the first half—once by Mike Brown and once by Adewale Ogunleye. But once again, Chicago softened, allowing Thomas to gain 146 total yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns, along with Marques Colston’s 84 receiving yards and touchdown.

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Even though the Chicago Bears have won their last two games, their playoff hopes are slowly dwindling due to the fact that the NFC North leading Minnesota Vikings won this week—meaning that the Bears have to win their last two games and the Vikings have to lose their last two games in order for Chicago to win the division. As for the chance at a wildcard spot, only a rocket scientist can explain those scenarios. But on a positive side, the Bears’ final two opponents, the Green Bay Packers and the Houston Texans, don’t have records above .500; and the Vikings’ remaining opponents, the Atlanta Falcons and the New York Giants, are solid playoff contenders. Chicago can only hope and pray that everything falls in place for them over the next two weeks, assuming that they take care of everything on their end.

By Clyde A. Speller
ProFootball-fans.com Chicago Bears Correspondent