The good, the bad, and the ugly from the Saints’ win over the Bears

The Good: Paulson Adebo

The New Orleans Saints 3rd year corner had easily the best game of his career on Sunday. He picked off two passes and also forced a fumble, all of which were very much needed as the Saints just managed to hold on for a victory thanks to the defense causing turnovers. Adebo had struggled at times in years prior but this year he has been very good, proving to be one of the better CB2’s in the NFL.

The Bad: Defense

The Saints lets undrafted Division II backup quarterback Tyson Bagent run all over them like he was Michael Vick on Sunday. When the secondary was unable to force a turnover, the defense could not stop the Chicago Bears from moving the ball. Bagent seemingly gained yards any time he rolled out, finishing with 70 yards on 8 attempts. Running back D’Onta Foreman finished with 83 yards on 20 carries. The secondary played terrible in the first half, and the Bears consistently picked up third and longs all afternoon. If it weren’t for the Saints turning Bagent over four times this game would have gone very differently.

Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

The Ugly: Coaching decisions

Dennis Allen made a number of questionable decisions on Sunday. One such was accepting a holding call in the first quarter that made it 3rd and 12 rather than a 4th and 2 if he had declined it. The Bears promptly picked up the 3rd down and later scored a touchdown. Electing to punt from the Bears 39-yard line in the waning moments of the third quarter of a tie game was also a highly questionable choice, especially when you consider how poorly the defense had played up until that point. Lucky for the Saints this one worked out as they were able to pin the Bears inside the 10 and force a 3-and-out. Another odd choice was having Derek Carr take a QB sneak on a 4th and 1 rather than Taysom Hill. The Saints also could have attempted a short field goal to make it a two-score game, but instead Carr was of course stopped short, and the Bears took over with a chance to tie the game with a TD. Luckily again the defense bailed them out with an interception. There’s no logical explanation for any of these decisions by the coaching staff, and if they had cost the Saints then we would have some serious problems.

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