Click here to see all recaps on a single page
| Other Week 15 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUF at NYJ | CLE at PHI | DEN at CAR | DET at IND | GB at JAX | MIN at ARI | NE at OAK | NO at CHI |
| NYG at DAL | PIT at BAL | SD at KC | SEA at STL | SF at MIA | TB at ATL | TEN at HOU | WAS at CIN |
Week 15 Game Recap: New Orleans Saints 24, Chicago Bears 27
What you need to know
| New Orleans Saints |
QB Drew Brees did not play his best game and did not put up the gaudy yardage numbers he has for most of the season. He made a couple of untimely interceptions in the game and just wasn't as sharp as he usually is. He did have two touchdown passes, a two yard throw to RB Pierre Thomas early in the game, and an 11 yard pass to WR Marques Colston late in the game. Brees really got off to sluggish start in this game but, looked more like the MVP candidate as the game progressed. Unfortunately, for him and Saints they never got the ball in overtime and never had an opportunity to win the game.
RB Pierre Thomas had a great game and scored two touchdowns, one receiving and one rushing. He ran the ball hard and got the majority of touches in the game. He had a two yard touchdown reception in the first half and a long 42 yard touchdown run in the second half. Thomas finished the game with 146 total yards in the game. RB Reggie Bush reinjured his knee midway through the second quarter, but he did return to the game in the third quarter to try and play, but he only got one carry before leaving the game for good.
WR Marques Colston was targeted often in the first half but, had trouble getting separation against CB Charles Tillman and started very slow. Colston made some big catches late in the game, including an 11 yard touchdown reception that put the Saints ahead late in the game. WR Lance Moore did very little in this game, accumulating only 27 yards receiving.
| Chicago Bears |
QB Kyle Orton had a kind of shaky game turning the ball over three times but, did run in a touchdown late in the first half and moved the ball down the field late in the game and in overtime to help the Bears win. He almost connected for a big play with WR Devin Hester in overtime but, it did draw a pass interference penalty that lead to the Bears game winning field goal in overtime.
RB Matt Forte was injured on his first carry of the game when Saints DE Will Smith rolled over his foot. It was reported that he injured his toe but, he did return to the game midway through the second quarter. He returned back just in time to cash in on a one touchdown run for the Bears. Forte didn't seem hindered after the injury but, only had 34 yards rushing. He did add 29 yards receiving on five receptions.
Even though WR Devin Hester didn't have a big game statistically, he had only four catches for 46 yards, and he drew a couple of big pass interference penalties. He also caused fits for the Saints secondary all game as he beat double coverage on number of occasions. Hester got behind the defense on a play that would have been a long touchdown in the second half but, QB Kyle Orton overthrew him.
FS Danieal Manning took the opening kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown and he helped set up another Chicago score with a 52 yard return in the second quarter.
What you ought to know
| QB Drew Brees, Pass: 24 - 43 - 232 - 2 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0 |
Brees had a poor first half to his standards even though he threw for a touchdown. He threw an interception and he completed only ten of 24 attempts for 93 yards. Brees threw a two yard touchdown pass to RB Pierre Thomas out in the flat after a Chicago turnover in the first half. He also threw an interception to S Mike Brown in that that half and had a couple of other passes that probably should been intercepted. Chicago got good pressure on Brees in the first half and forced him into some bad passes. Brees had another big interception in the second half when it looked like the Saints were driving for a score, when he threw the ball to DE Adewale Ogunleye. Brees did drive the Saints late in the game and hooked up with WR Marques Colston on an 11 yard touchdown pass for his second score of the game. Brees looked much sharper late in the game but, he did not get an opportunity to win the game in overtime as the Bears scored on their first possession.
| RB Pierre Thomas, Rush: 22 - 87 - 1, Rec: 7 - 59 - 1 (8 targets) |
Thomas started the game for New Orleans and was splitting carries with RB Reggie Bush early in the contest. He got off to a good start by catching a two yard touchdown pass for a touchdown in the second quarter. He got the bulk of the work in the first half after Bush left the game midway through the second quarter. He had eight carries for 24 yards in the first half. In the second half, Thomas got almost all of the carries as Bush spent most the second half on the bench. Things got even better for Thomas when he broke off a long 42 yard touchdown run down the left sideline. He was also targeted often out of the back as he caught seven passes for 59 yards in the game. Thomas did not look like a backup in this game; he looked more like a legitimate starting running back who put impressive numbers against a good run defense.
| RB Reggie Bush, Rush: 6 - 30 - 0, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (2 targets) |
Bush looked good early in this game with his normal burst and quickness but, didn't get that many touches as he split carries with RB Pierre Thomas. Bush seemed to have trouble with his footing on the turf at Soldier Field when he tried to break runs to the outside. On one of those outside runs midway through the second quarter, Bush seemed to tweak his injured knee. He sat out the rest of the half. Bush finished the half with 30 yards rushing and 16 yards receiving. Bush returned back to the game in the third quarter but only got one more carry in the game and spent the rest of the game on the sidelines.
| RB Deuce McAllister |
McAllister was inactive for this game, it was reported that he had swelling in his knee.
| WR Marques Colston, Rec: 6 - 84 - 1 (12 targets) |
Colston had a lot passes thrown his way in the first half but, had trouble getting separation from CB Charles Tillman in man to man coverage. His biggest play of the first half was a 24 yard catch over the middle of the field on a third and long play. He only caught two passes for 33 yards in the first half. He had a pretty quiet second half until catching a huge 22 yard pass on a critical third down play late in the game. That play helped set up an 11 yard touchdown pass for Colston on a quick crossing route.
| WR Lance Moore, Rec: 5 - 27 - 0 (7 targets) |
Moore only had two catches for 12 yards in the first half. He added four more passes for 15 yards in the second half. All his completions came on very short routes underneath the coverage. He was not much of factor in this game.
| WR Devery Henderson (2 targets) |
Henderson had no catches in the first half but, did have a couple of dropped passes.
| WR David Patten |
Patten was inactive for this game.
| TE Billy Miller, Rec: 3 - 35 - 0 (3 targets) |
Miller was the more reliable tight end in this game for QB Drew Brees as he caught every pass sent his way for 35 yards.
| TE Jeremy Shockey, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (5 targets) |
Shockey did not have a very good game as he dropped a couple of easy passes and caught only one ball for 11 yards.
| PK Garrett Hartley 1 - 1 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 6 points |
Hartley made a 30 yard field goal in the third quarter.
| NO Rush Defense |
The Saints did an exceptional job stopping the run holding the Bears' running backs to only 49 yards rushing.
| NO Pass Defense |
The pass defense was solid for most of the game holding QB Kyle Orton 172 yards passing and zero passing touchdowns. They also intercepted Orton twice but, the pass defense faulted down the stretch and up some big drives late in the game.
| QB Kyle Orton, Pass: 24 - 40 - 172 - 0 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 4 - 6 - 1 |
Orton didn't do much in the first half until he scored a rushing touchdown with less then a minute left in the first half, bad ankle and all. Orton was 11 for 17 for 76 in the half as the Bears dinked and dunked their way down the field. He did have a costly fumble that help set up the Saints only touchdown in the half. Orton and the offense did little in the second half and struggled to get a first down, forcing the Bears defense to be on the field most of the half. He did move Chicago down into scoring range at the end of the game to kick a game tying field goal. He also led them down the field in overtime for the game winning kick. But Orton was ineffective most the game and did not make many plays with his arm until late in the game.
| RB Matt Forte, Rush: 11 - 34 - 1, Rec: 5 - 29 - 0 (5 targets) |
Forte got injured on his first carry of the game and had to go to the sidelines to get looked at by the Bears training staff. It looked like DE Will Smith fell on his right foot on the play. It was reported later that he had a toe injury. He did return to the game midway through the second quarter, and was able to score on a one yard touchdown run shorter there after. It was only his third carry of the game to that point. He had only four carries for eight yards in the first half. Forte did not seem hindered by his injury but, he did not do much in the second half. He only had 26 yards rushing in the half and was more effective as a pass catcher, making five receptions for 29 yards.
| RB Adrian Peterson, Rush: 5 - 15 - 0, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
Peterson got some carries as RB Matt Forte missed about a quarter due to a toe injury. Peterson only got one more carry after Forte returned to the game.
| WR Devin Hester, Rec: 4 - 46 - 0 (8 targets) |
Early in the game Hester got wide open deep down the field but, QB Kyle Orton overthrew him on what could have been a big play and a touchdown. Hester seemed to be able to get open but, Orton struggled hitting him at times in the firs half. He had two catches for 17 yards in the first half. He only had 29 yards receiving in the second half but, did draw a huge pass interference penalty in overtime. Hester was clearly the Bears best receiver even though his numbers were not overly impressive, as he burned double coverage several times. He opened up the field for Chicago and drew a couple of big pass interference penalties in critical situations.
| WR Brandon Lloyd, Rec: 2 - 21 - 0 (4 targets) |
Lloyd had one catch for 15 yards in the first half. He only had one catch for six yards as Hester and TEs Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark were QB Kyle Orton's main targets throughout the game.
| WR Marty Booker |
Booker did not play in this game because of rib injury.
| TE Greg Olsen, Rec: 8 - 45 - 0 (8 targets) |
Olsen caught eight passes in this game and most of them were short dump passes in the flat or over the middle as he only racked up only 45 yards receiving.
| TE Desmond Clark, Rec: 3 - 11 - 0 (6 targets) |
Clark bobbled an easy touchdown catch late in the first half. He had two catches for seven yards in the first half and only one catch for four yards.
| PK Robbie Gould 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points |
Gould hit a 28 yard field goal with two seconds left to send the game into overtime.
| CHI Rush Defense |
The Bears struggled stopping the Saints rushing attack and seemed to wear down as the game went on. They gave a big 42 yard run in the second half.
| CHI Pass Defense |
DE Adewale Ogunleye and S Mike Brown both had interceptions in the game. DE Alex Brown got the team's only sack of the game. The defense did a pretty good job of containing the league's number one pass offense by holding them well below their per game average. The Saints only had 232 yards passing.