Saints March Over Bears 31-15 In Another Embarrassment
By Benjy Lipsman in News on Dec 16, 2014 4:00PM
Photo credit: Brian Kersey/Getty Images
The NFL's two worst scoring defenses heading into Week 15 met when the 5-8 Bears hosted the 5-8 New Orleans Saints on "Monday Night Football." One of the teams didn't get the memo, however. The Bears offense was unable to get on track until the game was out of hand once again, on the way to an embarrassing 31-15 loss at the hands of the Saints.
The Good:
Drew Brees - Bears fans got to see what a real quarterback looks like Monday night, in case they've been repressing those memories of Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Drew Brees racked up a 137.8 QB rating by completing 29 of 36 passes for 375 yards and three touchdowns. He spread the ball around, with four different receivers catching five passes. Jimmy Graham lead the group with 87 yards though the air, while Marques Colston caught a TD—the 65th for combo of Brees to Colston—to go along with 65 receiving yards. Tight end Josh Hill caught two Brees passes; both were touchdowns.
Pat O'Donnell - The only Bear who had a decent game? The punter! O'Donnell punted six times with a 49.8 yards per punt average, and putt half of them inside the 20.
Injuries - No Bears starter appeared to suffer a season-ending injury on Monday Night, so they've got that going for them.
Photo credit: Brian Kersey/Getty Images
The Bad:
Jay Cutler - While we agree that quarterback Jay Cutler has taken an inordinate amount of the criticism for the team's failures, he was awful on Monday night. His numbers were once again padded by a flurry of fourth quarter offense, and they were still horrible. He finished the game having completed 17 of 31 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns. He also added to his league leading interceptions numbers by throwing three more. His mop-up time inflated QB rating for the night still only reached 55.9, and was a miniscule 14.9 in the first half based on completing just 6 of 14 passes for 56 yards, zero touchdowns, and two picks. No wonder then, that the Bears were down 14-0 at halftime.
The Rest of the Offense - Heading into the night, the Saints defense was nearly as inept as the Bears'. But they sure didn't look the part when defending the Bears offense. The line offered Cutler minimal protection, allowing a season-high seven sacks. Cutler threw three interceptions, one each on a bobbled ball, a missed route, and a bad throw. Penalties also killed the Bears, with Jordan Mills flagged for his 12th false start of the season, and not one but two false start penalties called on wide outs!
The Defense - While Brock Vereen forced a fumble recovered by Jared Allen to negate Jay Cutler's first interception early in the game, the defense did little to slow the Saints after that. New Orleans found the end zone twice in the second quarter increased their lead to 24-0 before the Bears scored a point. New Orleans compiled 443 yards of offense to go along with their 31 points—the Bears' seventh opponent to hit 30 points in a game this year.
The Ugly:
Soldier Field - Between the Bears God-awful play this year and the cool, rainy weather, the number of no-shows at Soldier Field was in the five figures! Despite more than 10,000 empty seats, those in attendance booed the Bears loud enough for a full house. And deservedly so, as the team looked listless from the opening kick-off.
Now sporting an ugly 5-9 mark, there are still two more games to endure before the Bears can call it a wrap. Next Sunday, they host the Detroit Lions. The Bears close out the season a week later in Minnesota against the Vikings. After that, we can only hope that Bears management dump Marc Trestman and the rest of his staff. If we're lucky, Phil emery goes as well. And we can all hope that the Bears decide it's a wise investment to cut Cutler, as well. guaranteed money be damned!