Chicago Bears: Storylines to follow in Week 9 matchup vs New Orleans Saints
It seems like so long ago that the Chicago Bears embarrassed themselves on primetime television in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Since that time, however, there has been a furor over a possible smear campaign against quarterback Justin Fields, cornerback Jaylon Johnson requesting a trade ahead of the NFL trade deadline, and a trade for a very good pass rusher.
That is certainly one way to make people forget how bad you looked in a game.
After all the drama, it is now time to focus on the upcoming game. The Bears stay on the road and face the New Orleans Saints. After their latest loss, they are now 2-6. They hope to have a better showing against the Saints. New Orleans is 4-4 this season. They have consistently been a .500 team. They won their first two games, and lost their next two. Then won one, lost two, and won their last game.
The Saints are still in the thick of things, tied for first place in the NFC South. They hope to get on a winning streak to strengthen their chances of winning the division. Beating a weak Chicago Bears team can help them do that.
The Bears are still dealing with injuries. Fields is still out due to the thumb dislocation, though this time head coach Matt Eberflus ruled him out quicker than he did in the previous two weeks. There is a chance that left tackle Braxton Jones will return, however. That would give the offensive line a nice boost.
There are a number of storylines to follow in the Chicago Bears' game against the New Orleans Saints. We will take a look at a few.
It still is not known if the newest acquisition, edge rusher Montez Sweat, will make his debut this week. He likely won't play as he tries to learn the defensive system as much as he can. Also, as of this writing, he still had to pass a physical. We all know how physicals have been bad for the Bears in the past. If he does play, though, He gives the Bears a stronger pass rush.
We will see if the Bears play more of a complete game, like they did in Week 7 against the Las Vegas Raiders, or have a repeat performance of the failures in all three phases of the game like in Week 8. We have seen a lot more of the latter than the former. Let's hope that is not the case this week.