Bears and Saints Who Wins and Why
Comparing the positional group battles between the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears in Sunday's game at the Superdome with a final call on the outcome.
Transcript
00:00 Well, we'll pretend like Bears quarterback Tyson Bajan is starting this Sunday even though
00:15 coach Matt Iverflug says that Justin Fields' stum is much better now.
00:21 Either way, the Bears are going to the Superdome where they once won a Super Bowl and haven't
00:25 won a single time since 1991.
00:29 It's the Bears and the Saints Sunday at noon.
00:32 Here's who wins and why.
00:33 Well, the teams are pretty even in coaching.
00:35 Dennis Allen has a winning percentage close to Matt Iverflug's for his career.
00:40 He is 11 or 14 with the Saints but 22 and 51 for his career because of the Raiders years.
00:46 Iverflug has lost his running backs coach this week.
00:49 That's not quite like losing a defensive coordinator so it shouldn't be a big problem.
00:54 The Bears do have an advantage with their running game.
00:56 Their running game struggled last week but should benefit from Braxton Jones' return
01:01 at left tackle.
01:02 They're also sixth overall running the ball going against the 15th ranked run defense.
01:08 More importantly, the Saints are 23rd in yards allowed per carry at 4.3 yards.
01:14 Also the Bears run defense should have the edge on the Saints running game.
01:17 Andrew Billings got his contract extension.
01:20 He and TJ Edwards have helped lead the Bears to third against a run, first in yards allowed
01:25 per carry.
01:27 The Saints, despite having Alvin Kamara, are 27th in rushing.
01:30 None of their backs averaged more than 3.7 yards a carry.
01:35 The Saints, though, do have an edge with their pass defense against the Bears passing game,
01:39 obviously.
01:40 Marshawn Lattimore, Paulson DeDebo, they make it tough to throw.
01:45 Although Cameron Jordan seems to be fading, Carl Granderson has picked up the pace in
01:49 the pass rush.
01:51 Tyson Bajent made rookie mistakes last week.
01:53 It's not going to be easy to avoid against this defense.
01:59 The Saints passing game has had problems as Derek Carr's 87.6 passer rating suggests.
02:05 You want targets like Chris Olave, Michael Thomas, Rashid Shahid, and Kamara.
02:10 They are more than a match for the Bears.
02:14 The injury plagued secondary could be struggling again, even if adding Montez Sweat makes a
02:19 difference for their edge rush.
02:22 Shahid is averaging 20.8 yards a catch.
02:26 And because of Shahid, the Saints also get the special teams edge this week.
02:30 He leads the NFL in punt returns with a sparkling 16.2 yard average.
02:36 The Bears are 28th stopping punt returns at 13 yards a return.
02:41 Finally, the Saints get that intangible edge, of course, because of the Superdome noise.
02:46 Tyson Bajent never heard anything like that at Shepard University.
02:50 This all considered, we've got a final score of 26-17 and the Bears must regroup for a
02:56 Thursday night game with Justin Fields as a possible starter.
02:59 [MUSIC]