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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CHICAGO (AP) -- The New Orleans Saints made it look easy.
Jeff Blake ran freely out of the pocket, passed when possible,
or just handed off to Ricky Williams, who ran for more than 100
yards for the third straight game.
|  | | Saints QB Jeff Blake, left, ran for 66 yards along with his three TD passes. |
The Saints' top-rated defense came up big, too.
Led by La'Roi Glover, the Saints sacked frustrated Cade McNown
five times and intercepted three of his passes, beating the Chicago
Bears 31-10 on Sunday in boo-filled Soldier Field.
"Whatever we did, it worked," said Glover, who had three
sacks. "I think we can keep this steamrolling and open some
eyes."
New Orleans (2-3) had the ball nearly 17 minutes longer than the
Bears (1-5). While the offense kept the ball, the defense made
things miserable for McNown.
With his favorite receiver Marcus Robinson sidelined by a
sprained ankle, McNown struggled.
He threw an apparent touchdown pass to Dez White in the fourth
quarter but that was overruled because the quarterback crossed the
line of scrimmage.
Minutes later, after McNown's pass was intercepted by Darrin
Smith, TV replays showed the quarterback stopping just short of
slapping the Saints' Joe Johnson in the helmet. Johnson had
attempted to block McNown after the interception.
"He caught himself," Johnson said. "I knew he was frustrated.
Anybody in that situation would be when you get pressure on you all
day, when you get hit almost every play and you can't mount a
steady drive."
The fans booed throughout and called for backup Jim Miller to
replace McNown. It didn't happen, even though the Bears couldn't
muster an offensive touchdown.
"We have to get in the end zone and then we'll give them
something to cheer about," McNown said. He completed 18-of-37
passes for 202 yards.
"If I looked out there and thought obviously the quarterback
spot was the issue, particularly in this game, we would so
something and do it like any other position," Bears coach Dick
Jauron said. He said it wasn't just McNown's fault because Bears
managed just 72 yards rushing and receivers dropped several passes.
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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The Saints have been waiting for quarterback Jeff Blake to become a consistent peformer, and this game may have been the start. Blake ran and passed effectively, Ricky Williams ran for over 100 yards for the third straight game, and the Saints' defense was dominating (five sacks, three interceptions).
The Saints came into the game as the league's top-ranked defense. They did not give up an offensive touchdown (the Bears' only touchdown was on an interception return).
The Bears went into the game without their leading receiver, Marcus Robinson, and they struggled in their passing game. Cade McNown threw three costly interceptions
Another key to the game was the Saints controlling the time of possession. But the real story of this game was Blake. It was by far his best performance of the season.
For the Saints to get back in the playoff race, they have to get back to .500. Because they dug themselves into a hole, they have to take it one step at a time.
Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers' director of football operations.
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Blake used his quickness to run out of the pocket and elude the
reach of defenders, rushing for 66 yards and throwing touchdown
passes of 4 and 47 yards to Joe Horn and 29 yards to Andrew Glover.
Williams got stronger as the game progressed, finishing with 128
yards on 30 carries. He capped a 76-yard drive late in the third
quarter with a 2-yard TD run to put the Saints ahead 24-7.
The Saints, rested from a week off, closed the win when Blake
hit Glover with a short fourth-down pass and he ran through the
defense to complete the 29-yard play and make it 31-10 with less
than eight minutes to play.
"We had two weeks to watch a lot of film and saw that once the
play fake was out there, they just turn and run. They were going to
give us 8 to 10 yards every time. We knew we could move the ball on
them," Blake said.
The Soldier Field turf, the site of a soccer playoff game two
days earlier, was in bad shape with clumpy bald spots and divots
near the 20-yard lines of both ends.
Bears cornerback Walt Harris tripped over one of the rough areas
and allowed Horn to get behind him for a 47-yard TD pass from
Blake, giving the Saints a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.
Blake's biggest mistake came early in the game when he tried to
throw a crossing route to Horn and Chicago rookie Mike Brown cut
right in front for the interception, returning 35 yards for a
touchdown and a 7-0 Chicago lead.
After another Chicago rookie, Paul Edinger, missed a 30-yard
field goal as his kick hit the right upright, New Orleans moved 80
yards as Blake turned runner.
He gained 49 yards on six carries during the drive, including an
8-yard carry on a fourth-and-2, before faking a run and flipping a
4-yard scoring pass to Horn.
"We went in thinking we needed to get Jeff out of the pocket
some and give him the option to run or pass," Saints coach Jim
Haslett said.
"He made some very good decisions. He made a bad one with the
interception, then after that for the most part they were pretty
good."
Game notes
There were 12,467 no-shows. ... New Orleans' Jake Reed left
in the second quarter because of an ankle and knee sprain after
catching a pass. ... Tight end John Allred left in the third
quarter with an apparent rupture of ligaments in his right knee
after a hard tackle by Fred Weary. Allred, who's also been use as a
blocking back while Curtis Enis recovers from a shoulder injury,
will have an MRI exam Monday.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
New Orleans Clubhouse
Chicago Clubhouse
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