The New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears meet Sunday in week 8 NFL action at Soldier Field in matchup of NFC playoff contenders.
The New Orleans Saints look for their second road win to improve on their three-game winning streak. The New Orleans Saints have won eight of their last nine road games. Drew Brees is completing 72.6 percent of his passes for 1,618 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. Brees has two or more touchdown passes in 11 of his last 15 games. Alvin Kamara and Emmanuel Sanders have combined for 764 receiving yards and five touchdowns while Tre’Quan Smith has 20 receptions. The New Orleans Saints ground game is averaging 118.8 yards per contest, and Kamara leads the way with 364 yards and four touchdowns. Defensively, New Orleans is allowing 29 points and 328.3 yards per game. Demario Davis leads the New Orleans Saints with 38 tackles, Trey Hendrickson has 4.5 sacks and Marcus Williams has one interception.
The Chicago Bears look for a statement win here after splitting their last four games. The Chicago Bears have won five of their last seven home games. Nick Foles is completing 64.1 percent of his passes for 1,139 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions. Foles and Mitchell Trubisky have combined for 12 touchdown passes and nine interceptions this season. Allen Robinson II and Darnell Mooney have combined for 780 receiving yards and three touchdowns while Jimmy Graham has 27 receptions. The Chicago Bears ground game is averaging 294.5 yards per contest, and David Montgomery leads the way with 353 yards and one touchdown. Defensively, Chicago is allowing 20 points and 342 yards per game. Roquan Smith leads the Chicago Bears with 60 tackles, Khalil Mack has 5.5 sacks and Tashaun Gipson Sr. has two interceptions.
The Saints are 36-17 ATS in their last 53 road games, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Bears are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games in November and 6-13 ATS in their last 19 games overall. The over is 6-0 in Saints last 6 games overall. The under is 20-8 in Bears last 28 games overall. The Saints are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 meetings in Chicago and 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 meetings.
I’m always hesitant in backing Brees outdoors, especially against aggressive defenses that can pressure him into mistakes. There’s a opening for the Bears to get the victory here. However, Foles doesn’t look good and the Bears offense doesn’t move the ball without the running game. The issue here is the Saints defense is fourth best at stopping the run, which means the Bears will have to have success through the air to win. I don’t see it. The Bears have scored 20 or less points in four of their last six games and Foles has more interactions than touchdown passes in his last four games. If the Bears had even a decent quarterback option this would be a different story…
I have to lay the small chalk with the Saints.