Our offense vs. their defense: Chicago Bears

The New Orleans Saints offense seems to be finding their footing at the perfect time. After starting out 3-4 with the offense looking bad, the Saints offense is seemingly coming together after scoring 38 points against the Colts this past Sunday.

This week, the Saints draw the Chicago Bears. To put it lightly, the Bears have been bad this season. They’re currently 2-6 with wins over the Raiders and Commanders. Their defense has looked week since their opening game, and this is the perfect time for the Saints offense to stay hot.

Now, I’m not going to get too excited because we saw what happened a few weeks ago after the Saints blew out the Patriots 35-0 and looked amazing. If the Saints offense can put together another 30-piece, I’ll start to feel a little bit better.

Through eight weeks, the Bears have allowed their opponents to score an average of 27.3 PPG which ranks 27th in the NFL. The Bears dropped a bag on linebacker Tremaine Edmunds this offseason, and in return, he’s given them 63 tackles and an interception so far. They also signed linebacker T.J. Edwards to a three-year deal, and he’s their leading tackler with 85 tackles and two sacks through eight weeks.

Their big free agent signings have been playing well for them so far this season, but it’s everyone else that has been failing them. Jaylon Johnson is having a good year, allowing just 120 yards and a touchdown on 42% completion percentage, but the rest of their secondary is struggling. Kyler Gordon is allowing 85% of passes thrown at him to be caught while Tyrique Stevenson has allowed 449 yards and six touchdowns this year. This is an area the Saints offense will have to attack on Sunday. Chris Olave is still in a slump, so if he can’t get right, look for big days from Michael Thomas and Rashid Shaheed.

Surprisingly, the Bears are third in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game, giving up just over 75 yards per game. The Saints have been struggling to find their rushing attack, though they did have a good week against the Colts. I don’t expect the Saints to get their run game moving too much on Sunday but expect to see some more short passes to Kamara and Miller on plays that are essentially runs (screens, flat routes, dump offs, etc.).

The Saints offense is converting 3rd downs at a 35% clip. That’s not going to get it done in the NFL. Last week, however, we saw the Saints convert six of their 12 third down attempts, which would rank 1st in the NFL if they could keep that number up. The Bears are 31st in the NFL in stopping teams on third down, allowing opponents to move the sticks nearly 49% of the time. This is an area the Saints are going to have to exploit to keep the offense moving this weekend.

Funny enough, the Saints and Bears rank 31st and 32nd in sacks per game this season. The Bears pass rush has been abysmal, but so has the Saints offensive line. It seems the Saints o-line has been improving, especially after they allowed just one sack against the Colts. If the Saints can keep Carr upright for the second straight week, it won’t just help them to a win, it’ll help them gain confidence for the rest of the season.

Again, I’m not going to get too excited, but the Saints offense should be able to find success against this Bears defense. If they can put together another big week offensively, it’ll give the fan base a newfound confidence in this Saints squad moving forward.

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