The New Orleans Saints travel to Chicago, IL Sunday afternoon to face the Bears in Week 8 of the 2020 season. The Saints are 4-2 coming into this week after defeating the Carolina Panthers 27-24 last week. The Saints lead the all-time series, 16-13, and have won the last five meetings. The Bears enter Week 8 with a 5-2 record following their loss to the Los Angeles Rams last week. New Orleans has put more total yards on the books with 394.8 compared to 326.9 total yards for Chicago and they also have allowed fewer yards, 344.7 to 356.1. The Bears will have stop Drew Brees and Alvin Kamara to secure their sixth victory of the season, and the Saints will have to stifle Nick Foles and his offensive line, particularly in the passing game, and the Bears will have to provide better Foles with better pass protection.
New Orleans Saints
Offense
In last week’s victory over the Panthers, Brees passed for 287 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions for a 118.4 rating in addition to putting his 25th-career rushing touchdown on the records. In his last four games against Chicago, Brees is 4-0 with 1.232 passing yards, eight touchdowns, and no interceptions for a 124 rating and is seeking his third game in a row versus Chicago with two or more touchdown passes and a 110 or greater rating.
Kamara leads the team in both receiving and rushing yards. He posted eight receptions for 65 receiving yards and put 83 rushing yards up as well. Kamara has 32 career games with five or more catches and leads running backs with 46 receptions as well as holding the lead in the league with 824 scrimmage yards. In his only career game against Chicago, Kamara put a rushing touchdown and 76 scrimmage yards on the books.
Latavius Murray is aiming for his fifth game in a row with 50-plus scrimmage yards and scored two rushing touchdowns in the last meeting between the teams. Michael Callaway led the team last week with eight receptions for 75 yards, and Jared Cook put a receiving touchdown on the board in Week 7. Emmanuel Sanders is going for his third game in a row with 90-plus receiving yards and has the second most receptions behind Kamara.
Defense
Demario Davis leads the Saints with 38 total tackles so far this season and he has also recorded two sacks, four and a half tackles for loss, and one pass deflection. Malcolm Jenkins is right behind Davis with 34 tackles as well as one sack and four passes deflected.
Trey Hendrickson has four and a half sacks, which is the team-high, and also has five and a half tackles for loss. Hendrickson will have his third game in a row on the road with at least one sack if he can take down Foles.
Marcus Davenport had his first sack of the season last week and Cameron Jordan has 12 and a half sacks in his last eight games on the road, including two in the last meeting.
Chicago Bears
Offense
Foles passed for a 70 percent completion rate last week against Los Angeles, but that was the only positive stat to come from the loss to the Rams. Foles was sacked four times, threw two interceptions, and had a meager rating of 37.7. He is looking for his third start at home with 240-plus pass yards. In his nine career games against an NFC-South opponent, Foles has put 14 touchdowns and five interceptions on the books.
David Montgomery put 69 scrimmage yards up in Week 7, 48 rushing yards, and 21 receiving yards and he is one of three NFC running backs with 50 or more scrimmage yards in each of the first seven games this season. (Ezekiel Elliott, Todd Gurley) Montgomery has scored a touchdown in the last two of three home games and hopes for his sixth game a row at home with 50-plus scrimmage yards.
Allen Robinson put four receptions and the team-high 70 receiving yards up last week and in the last meeting, he had 10 catches for 87 yards, including a touchdown, and Darnell Mooney ranks fourth among NFC rookie wide receivers with 236 receiving yards.
Jimmy Graham, facing his former team, put five catches on the books last week, and in his five seasons with New Orleans (2010-14), he recorded 386 receptions for 4.752 receiving yards and five touchdowns.
Defense
Khalil Mack had a sack and forced fumble in Week 7 and is going for his third game in a row versus New Orleans with seven or more tackles. Mack is one of two linebackers with 65 or more sacks and 20 ore more forced fumbles. (Chandler Jones) As of Friday night, Mack was listed as questionable on the injury reports.
Fellow linebacker, Robert Quinn, had his second forced fumble of the season last week and leads the NFL with 25 forced fumbles. Quinn has seven sacks, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery in five career games against New Orleans, including the years he played for Dallas.
Eddie Jackson had his third career interception-touchdown last week against the Rams and has six defensive touchdowns since 2017, which is the most in the NFL.
Roquan Smith leads his team with 60 tackles on the season and also has one forced fumble and seven tackles for loss. Jackson is second behind Smith with 41 tackles and he also has one forced fumble and a fumble recovery this season.
Game Info
Date: November 1, 2020
Time: 3:25 P.M. CST
Location: Chicago, IL
Venue: Soldiers Field
TV: Fox
Betting Odds Sponsored By Jazz Sportsbook
Point Spread: NO -5 (-110) | CHI +5 (-110)
Moneyline: NO -240 | CHI +195
Over/Under: Over 42.5 (-110) | Under 42.5 (-110)
This should be a fairly high scoring event with each team putting up at least two touchdowns. New Orleans will probably own the field on both sides of the ball and could easily put 42 up by themselves if the Chicago defense is lax. The winning bet from this game should come placing your money on the over.
Prediction
Securing a victory over the Saints will be a monumental task for the Bears this week, their main advantage is playing at home. It’s always less daunting to face the Saints outside of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Both teams are ranked second in their respective conferences so a win for either team would solidify their standings. The Bears’ defense will have to stop Brees and Kamara and their offense will have to protect Foles against a myriad of players who have numerous sacks this season. The Saints will dominate the Bears on offense if not both sides of the ball and should get the coveted sixth win of the season.
Final Score: New Orleans 38, Chicago 20
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