Saints edge Bears to win fifth game in a row, 20-12: Recap

The New Orleans Saints defeated the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon in Week 8, 20-12. Here are all the highlights, the game recap and the final score.

The New Orleans Saints might be on fire. They have now won five games in a row, as they outlasted the feisty Chicago Bears 20-12 on Sunday afternoon in The Big Easy. Bears rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky had Chicago with a puncher’s chance in this one, but a late pick sealed the deal for the Saints.

New Orleans improves to 5-2 on the year and stays atop the NFC South standings after both the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers won on Sunday afternoon. Chicago falls to 3-5, but this team is still playing very hard in the middle of the 2017 NFL season.

Drew Brees continues to rack up yards as one of the best passers in NFL history. He threw for a shade under 300 against a solid Bears defense. The problem was he didn’t throw a touchdown in this game, which is what probably kept the Bears around in this game more than anything.

Trubisky completed 10 more passes than he did last week. The only issue with that is 14 completed passes weren’t enough to keep pace with a red-hot Saints team on the turf of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

This was not a complete game by the Saints by any means. They had miscommunications throughout the contest. New Orleans actually lost the turnover battle 2-1 to the visiting Bears. However, the defense did bail the Saints out late.

Presumed Defensive Rookie of the Year favorite in cornerback Marshon Lattimore had that game sealing pick of Trubisky. New Orleans would hold the Bears offense to just over 300 total yards on the day. The Saints don’t have a great defense, but a decent enough one to help them win games when they aren’t playing their best ball.

For a game that many thought would be unwatchable at the start of the year, it was cool to see the Bears and Saints go down to the wire. At the halfway point, the Saints would be a division winner. While the Bears aren’t a playoff team, they have the pieces in place to be one next season.

Highlights

https://twitter.com/ChicagoBears/status/924725697171554304

Three Stars

1. Mark Ingram: Ingram had 18 carries for 75 yards, a touchdown and two costly fumbles. He also had six receptions out of the backfield for 24 yards.
2. Jordan Howard: Howard had 23 carries for 102 yards. He also had three catches for 19 yards.
3. Drew Brees: Brees completed 23 of 28 passes for 299 yards.

Next Game

Chicago will be on its bye in Week 9. The Bears’ next game will be against their NFC North division rival in the Green Bay Packers in Week 10 on Nov. 12. Kickoff from Solider Field in Chicago will be at 1:00 p.m. ET. FOX will have the early afternoon telecast.

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The Saints will get to stay put in New Orleans in Week 9. They will host a familiar foe in their NFC South division rival in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Kickoff from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome will be at 1:00 p.m. ET on Nov. 5. FOX will have the early afternoon telecast.