Canal Street Chronicles
The New Orleans Saints were back on the road when they visited the Chicago Bears on Sunday. Here’s a look at all that went down as the black and gold sought to find their first road win of the season.
The Bears were forced into a three-and-out on the game’s first possession, but Spencer Rattler fumbled on the Saints’ second offensive play as Montez Sweat forced the ball out to give Chicago the ball back and a very short field.
Despite a 14-yard run from Kyle Monangai, the Bears couldn’t find the end zone, and Jake Moody’s 27-yard field goal put the hosts on the board.
The Saints were then forced into a three-and-out of their own, punting back to Chicago. Williams connected with Cole Kmet for 16 yards to get the drive started, but he soon threw an interception to Quincy Riley.
Starting near midfield, New Orleans looked to find their feet offensively after a shaky start. Rattler did that with a few throws to Chris Olave, but a third down incompletion meant a field goal attempt. Blake Grupe’s kick was no good from 53 yards, and the Bears remained on top.
Williams found Rome Odunze for 20 yards as the Bears began to drive into Saints territory, still leading 3-0.
The Bears were soon made to settle for a field goal again, and Moody was good from 39 yards to make it 6-0.
A defensive pass interference got the Saints offense near midfield as they looked to respond, although Rattler was then sacked twice before throwing an interception. Nahshon Wright ran it back all the way to the Saints’ 30-yard line to give the Bears another short field.
D’Andre Swift did most of the damage from there, finished off by running in an 11-yard touchdown to put Chicago on top 13-0.
It was then another three-and-out for the Saints as their poor start continued.
Williams would then return to do more damage on the ensuing drive, connecting with DJ Moore for 26 yards on the biggest play of an 8-play, 55-yard possession ending with a 1-yard touchdown ran in by Swift. Moody’s extra point made it 20-0.
The Saints were quickly faced with 4th-and-1 near midfield as they got the ball back, and elected to go for it. But Alvin Kamara failed to find the yard to gain, with a turnover on downs giving possession to the Bears.
The Saints defense managed a quick three-and-out, leaving Rattler just over a minute to find some sort of momentum to carry into the half. And he instantly delivered, finding Olave for 57 yards, and then again on a 21-yard touchdown pass.
An underwhelming half ended on a high, and Grupe’s extra point meant the Saints trailed just 20-7.
The Saints offense was finally able to find some rhythm as the second half got underway. Consecutive throws from Rattler to Juwan Johnson for 11 and 28 yards were the highlight of an...
