Bears vs. Saints: Pregame Report

The Saints are hopeful this postseason and looking to make a deep run of things. It all gets started against the Bears on Sunday in Wild Card Weekend at the Superdome.

John Hendrix | Jan 10, 2021

The Saints (12-4) march into the postseason as the NFC's 2nd seed, hosting the Bears (8-8) on Sunday afternoon in the second-to-last game of Wild Card weekend. Here's how to keep up with all the action, as kickoff is slated for 3:40 p.m. CT.

Where to Watch: CBS - Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, and Tracy Wolfson (field reporter)

Where to Stream: Saints App (free), CBS Sports, NFL Mobile, Hulu + Live TV, fuboTV, Sling TV, YouTube TV

Where to Listen: National Radio (Westwood One) with Kevin Kugler and James Lofton; WWL Radio locally (105.3FM) with Zach Strief, Deuce McAllister, and Steve Geller (sideline reporter); SIRIUS: 82 (CHI), 83 (CHI) | XM: 226 (CHI), 225 (NO), 88 (National)

Jersey Combo: Black jerseys, Black pants

Referee: Alex Kemp

Current Lines: Over/Under (47.5), Saints -10

Last 5 Matchups

11/1/20 - Saints 26, Bears 23 (OT)
10/20/19 - Saints 36, Bears 25
10/29/17 - Saints 20, Bears 12
12/15/14 - Saints 31, Bears 15
10/6/13 - Saints 26, Bears 18

All-Time Series: Saints lead 17-15, which have included winning the past six matchups and two postseason losses (2006 and 1990 seasons).

The Saints and Bears previously met in Week 8 of the regular season to kick off the month of November. The two had met the previous year, which saw New Orleans come out on top in a dominating performance. This matchup went differently, as it was Nick Foles at the helm for Chicago. The Saints had overcame a 1-2 start to win three straight, and found themselves down early against the Bears 13-3.

Drew Brees hooked up with Jared Cook right before halftime to make it a three-point game, and managed a couple of field goal drives in the third quarter to take a lead. It looked like the Saints were going to close things out after increasing their lead to 23-13 after Brees hit Taysom Hill for a 20-yard touchdown. However, Chicago battled back and ended up tying things up with 13 seconds left in the game.

Heading into overtime, both teams had an opportunity with the football in the extra frame, as New Orleans had the first crack. The Saints defense came up big to force a Bears punt, and Brees had key hookups to Tre'Quan Smith and a big run by Alvin Kamara to set up the eventual game-winning 35-yard Wil Lutz field goal.

Things to watch: How New Orleans comes out to start this game is very important. The big trio is reunited for the Saints, as Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, and Drew Brees will all be on the same field for the first time in a long time. This team is as close to 100 percent as humanly possible, and it should show up in a big way. As long as they don't come out flat and let the Bears capture early momentum, this should be a game the Saints win convincingly. Of course, we've seen this team be in the same situation before and fail to deliver.

Catch up on some of our Bears-Saints coverage from the week...

Published Jan 10, 2021

JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net