CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO/AP) — Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints kept their cool in another tight spot and again came away with a narrow victory.
Brees threw two touchdown passes to regain the NFL’s career lead from Tom Brady, Wil Lutz nailed a 35-yard field goal in overtime and New Orleans beat Chicago 26-23 on Sunday.
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The Bears’ Cairo Santos made a 51-yard field goal at the end of regulation to force the extra period.
The Saints (5-2) led 23-13 early in the fourth quarter after scoring 20 consecutive points, only to have Chicago rally in the closing minutes of regulation. But the three-time defending NFC South champions pulled out their fourth straight win when Lutz connected on their second possession of OT.
The victory was the Saints' third in a row by three points. Their only double-digit victory was when they beat Tampa Bay 34-23 in the opener.
The Saints had a first down at the 16 with 1:40 remaining when coach Sean Payton called on Lutz rather than run the clock down. He came through with his fourth field goal on a windy day, sending the Bears (5-3) to their second straight loss. New Orleans tied Tampa Bay for the division lead, with Brady and the Buccaneers meeting the struggling New York Giants on Monday night.
Chicago receiver Javon Wims got ejected for punching New Orleans safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson in the third quarter. Marshon Lattimore then intercepted Nick Foles, leading to a tiebreaking field goal by Lutz.
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Brees added a 20-yard touchdown to Taysom Hill to make it 23-13 early in the fourth period. The Bears (5-3) pulled within three with 3:32 remaining on Foles’ 3-yard pass to Darnell Mooney.
After the Saints went three-and-out, Chicago tied it with 13 seconds left on Santos’ field goal into the wind. But coach Matt Nagy was clearly frustrated after the game.
“I want it so bad for these guys, I want it for the city, I want it for the organization," he said. “I care a lot about all of that that I just said, so it’s emotional at the end of a game when you fight like this and you’re playing against a good football team and a Hall of Fame quarterback.”
WBBM Newsradio's Josh Liss and Pat Cassidy spoke with Bears coach Matt Nagy following their loss on Sunday to the New Orleans Saints.
Liss: You just about knocked off a legend, Drew Brees, whose 14 overtime wins at 560 touchdown passes for the most all-time. What parts of the game might have kept you up late or might still be swirling through your mind this morning?
"Just the fact that we got ourselves into the position there, to get the overtime and we get that stop, and now offensively all we have to do is worse case is go down and kick a field goal, but we weren't able to do that. So I think I was proud of our guys for being able to fight back down 10 against that team, and then for Cairo to make that field goal, but then we have to finish it in overtime and we didn't do that," Nagy said.
Cassidy: Your team's fight to the very end, tough loss, could have been a win. But one of the headlines as you know, Javon Wims, the Bears player who punches a New Orleans player twice, got kicked out of the game. Last night you said you haven't seen the video. Assuming you have seen it now, what do you think? Do you think that contributed to the Bears losing the game?
"Well, I will say this: it didn't lose the game for us," Nagy said. "But I will say it was completely senseless, stupid, it was selfish - every word you could possibly think of. What he did is unacceptable. I know that is not how we do things here. He is a representation of this organization and that does not represent this organization, so he is going to have to deal with that. That's not good for this game, that's not good for kids who watch the sport of football, and we are not going to deal with that."
Liss: When it comes to competition, you don't want to be seen as a team that is physically weak, let alone mentally weak; so to see Javon's outburst must really burn you up on top of it all. What was his excuse for it? Is it in the NFL's hands first? How do you expect he will be punished?
"I have no idea in regards to that with the NFL. I am sure they will look into it and go from there," Nagy said. "He was apologetic to us afterwards, but again, it is just not meant for this game and that is not how we do things here, so there will be consequences."
Liss: We know the kicking game is one less thing to worry about, and the defense only allowed two touchdowns, but man that offense remains a concern. It sure clicked more than it did Monday night in LA, but what is most unsatisfying about yesterday's offense performance?
"Here's what I thought from watching the tape and going back and seeing the film, was just like you said, it was definitely better when you watch it. What happened yesterday though was unfortunate timing with whether it is a false start, whether it's a penalty, a delay of game, and so we are moving the ball, we are taking shots. We actually made plays on fourth downs and the third and goal to score a touchdown there at the end. For situational football, I thought the guys did well there. It is the ones that set you back - so when it is all of a sudden second and five, and now its third and nine or it's second and 10 and now it's third and 15, those hurt and you can't do that versus a good team, and we did that. So those are the ones to me that sting more than anything, and they are really self-inflicted," Nagy said.
Liss: You would probably feeling alright reaching the halfway point of the season at 5-3, if it wasn't for back-to-back losses. How are you sizing up this club right now?
"It's just that, and I think that's - when you play this game, you go through, you play eight games and you say, okay you are 5-3 right now, and when you are in it, like we are, it feels a lot worse. You look at a team like we are playing this week, like the Tennessee Titans - a really hot team that has also lost two games in a row, so what we have to do is be resilient. We have to stay positive, and as hard as it is sometimes for all of us to do, that's what we need to do. That's our job, and we have another half of the season to go here," Nagy said. "Again, you'd rather this to happen and be peaking at the right time than have it the other way and that's what we are focused on."
You can hear more from Matt Nagy on the Bears Coaches Show on Mondays at 7 p.m.
The Chicago Bears travel to Tennessee to take on the Titans on Sunday at noon for Game 9.