Deuce McAllister & Reggie Bush gave the Saints a great running game.  McAllister rushed for over 1,000 yards this season for the 4th time in his career.  McAllister played in 15 games this season and he carried the ball 244 times for 1,057 yards (4.3 avg) with 10 TD runs.  He also grabbed 30 passes for 198 yards (6.6 avg).  For his career, McAllister has carried the football 1,298 times for 5,586 yards (4.3 ypc) with 44 TD runs.  He also has caught 212 passes for 1,577 yards (7.4 avg) with 4 TD grabs.

Reggie Bush has an electric presence in the Saints backfield as a rookie.  He played in all 16 games for the Saints and carried the ball 155 times for 565 yards (3.6 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He also caught 88 passes for 742 yards (8.4 avg) with 2 TD catches.

Fullback Mike Karney did a great job blocking for the halfbacks.  Karney played in 15 games and carried the ball 11 times for 33 yards (3.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 15 passes for 96 yards (6.4 avg) with 2 TD catches.  For his career, Karney has played in 47 games (29 starts) and he has carried the ball 20 times for 52 yards (2.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also has caught 31 passes for 199 yards (6.4 avg) with 2 TD catches.

Rookie Jamal Branch only played in the season finale and carried the ball 10 times for 29 yards (2.9 ypc).  He also caught 5 passes for 14 yards (2.8 avg) and caught a TD pass.

Fred McAfee didn’t play much as he played in only 4 games and carried the ball 3 times for 12 yards (4.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  For his career, McAfee has played in 194 games (6 starts) and he has carried the football 304 times for 1,273 yards (4.2 ypc) with 8 TD runs.  He also has caught 35 passes for 211 yards (6.0 avg).

Aaron Stecker played in 12 games and he carried the ball only 4 times for 11 yards (2.8 ypc).  He also caught 19 passes for 190 yards (10.0 avg).  For his career, Stecker has played in 98 games (10 starts) and he’s carried the ball 258 times for 1,020 yards (4.0 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He has also caught 116 passes for 878 yards (7.6 avg) with 2 TD catches.

The Saints lost 3 fumbles and threw an interception and that did them in today.  The Saints offense couldn’t sustain drives and turned the ball over alot setting up short fields for the Bears offense.  Drew Brees was the main culprit as he was responsible for three of the turnovers.  His numbers looked solid throwing the ball as he completed 27 of 49 passes for 354 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception.  Brees had problems all day long with the pressure that the Bears defense was putting on him as he fumbled twice (losing 1 of them).  The Saints never got their running game going as Reggie Bush (4 carries, 19 yards) and Deuce McAllister (6 carries, 18 yards) didn’t get much of a chance against the Bears defense.  Marques Colston had a decent game with 5 catches for 63 yards and a TD, but he also lost a fumble that led to a FG by the Bears.  Reggie Bush was the real hero in the passing game as he caught 7 passes for 132 yards with 1 TD grab.  The TD grab was an electric 88 yard TD pass that was all Reggie Bush!

The defense played a decent game for awhile, but the offense couldn’t control the clock (24:45 time of possession) so the defense was on the field too long.  Another problem was the Bears were often set up with short fields because of the offense or special teams putting the ball on the ground.  Linebacker Scott Fujita (10 tackles) and safety Jay Bellamy (9 tackles) led the way on the defense for the Saints.  The Saints just couldn’t stop the Bears running game as they carried the football 46 times for 196 yards (4.3 ypc).  The Saints did do a good job on pass defense except on one drive.  With the score 18-14, Rex Grossman hit all 4 of his pass attempts for 78 yards on a TD drive!  On the final play of the drive, CB Fred Thomas was torched yet again (he should be checked into a burn unit) for a TD catch by Bernard Berrian.  For the game the Bears just completed 11 of 26 passes for 144 net yards passing.

The Saints had a great season but this was quite a harsh way for it to end as they looked like they didn’t belong on the same field with the Chicago Bears.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270121003

To me, the most encouraging thing about the Saints’ chances today involves the fact that Drew Brees’ ability to get rid of the football quickly is going to neutralize the Bears’ pass rush. He doesn’t just stand back there and hold on to the ball, and so Chicago may not even be putting a lot of blitzes into the game plan.

 And even though the Saints have, as a team, averaged less than four yards a carry on offense, you know that McAllister and Reggie Bush have the ability to take the ball a long way.

I don’t see the Bears’ defense as such a force anymore. Going back to the game with the Rams, when they were bailed out by a couple of Devin Hester punt returns, the Bears have surrendered 26 points a game. Clearly the absence of a couple of star players has had a lot to do with it. To me, the Bears have not been overly impressive for quite some time,  so they’re a little different team than they were earlier in the season. They haven’t taken a nose dive a la Denver, but at the same time they’ve got a QB who can literally give the game away with fumbles or INT’s, while the Saints don’t have such a guy under center.

 

Bears QB Rex Grossman always gets nervous when he gets hit early in a game and that will be Charles Grant and Will Smith’s job on Sunday.  The linebackers of the Saints are not good blitzers, so it will be up to Grant and Smith to put the heat on Grossman.  Smith had a fine season as he finished with 49 tackles and 10.5 sacks.  Charles Grant also had a good season with 64 tackles and 6 sacks.  These two guys have to play big on Sunday if the Saints are to win in snowy Chicago.