The playoffs come to the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints beat up the Carolina Panthers 33-7 in Week 17 but it didn’t matter because the Green Bay Packers also won so they did not clinch the top seed in the NFC Conference. The Bears lost against the Packers but still managed to get a spot in the Wild Card as the Arizona Cardinals lost. It should be an exciting match in the Superdome.
I am looking for in this game how the run game will play. These two team’s defenses are spectacular. The Bears have two fantastic linebackers Roquan Smith and Khalil Mack. Roquan Smith is injured so that is really disappointing news for the Bears but they have the Pro Bowler Khalil Mack. They are up against Alvin Kamara who tallied 6 touchdowns and 172 yards in the Saints blowout win against the Vikings in Week 16. They are in for a game where they will have to work very hard to close down the quick and athletic Kamara. On the other side, the Saints have to stop David Montgomery. You might have not heard of him but he has been playing his best this season. He has totaled more than 100 yards per game in most of his last few games and has playing much better than usual. The Saints defense has great defensive ends and don’t miss tackles. They are beasts and that is what makes their defense so scary to play. The run is against two very strong defenses so let’s see if both Montgomery and Kamara will be able to get their motor running. If they can, it will make the game a lot easier for the QB’s.
The Bears come into this game as huge underdogs against the Saints. They got lucky and earned a playoff berth which took them to New Orleans. Mitchell Trubisky the Bears quarterback needs quick throws because the Saints will get to him pretty quickly. He has Allen Robinson who is their best receiver and will be a huge target for him. Another really disheartening injury for them is that they won’t have wide receiver Darnell Mooney. He had 11 catches for 93 yards last week against the Packers and was very helpful to Trubisky in the short passes. That is really terrible news and made it a step harder for them to beat the Saints. The run game really needs to get going to make it simpler for the passing game and Trubisky. It will be a very hard game for the Chicago Bears and even harder without those two players.
The Saints have great news as they activated Alvin Kamara from the COVID-19 Reserve list and activated their superstar receiver Michael Thomas from the injured reserve. After a long time Brees finally gets to play alongside his top target Thomas. He will probably be a big factor to the game and help Drew Brees a lot. It must be exciting for him to have one of his star teammates back after a while because there were holes in the offense that Michael Thomas could patch them up. This game could be dream-game for them as they have Kamara and Thomas back on the lineup. Brees won’t have to worry about Roquan Smith, just Khalil Mack. He has the players which can win the game but his performance also matters. The Bears have some good cornerbacks and Brees has thrown a few picks in the last 3 games so he has to be on target. The Saints are home and can advance to the divisional rounds. It should be a fairly easy win for them in the Superdome.
I think the Saints will win this Wild Card game by 34-24. They score high points and it is hard for them to score low. In every game of the season they have scored 20+ points so this game should be no different. They also beat the Bears earlier in the season 26-23 in overtime and can win again to advance. The Bears are missing important players and the Saints received great players from the reserve. The Bears are facing a tough defense which is hard to get by with so many amazing players and their offense will crumble in the Wild Card. It should be an exciting and high scoring game in New Orleans and the outcome of this game could be very one sided or a close upset.
The Bears have to deal with some breaking injuries as the Saints get ready to attack with their full lineup. Can the Chicago Bears pull of a stunner as the Wild Card Weekend wraps up or will the New Orleans Saints dominate the game with Michael Thomas? We will soon find this Sunday afternoon in the Mercedes Benz Superdome.
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