New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Article Priority No. 1 vs. Bears: Protect the ball

METAIRIE, La. -- Every week, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton likes to come up with a point of emphasis that he drills into his team. It’s not hard to guess what his message will be this week as the 4-0 Saints travel to face the 3-1 Chicago Bears: Protect the ball.

The Bears lead the NFL again this year with 14 takeaways after leading the league with a whopping 44 of them last year. They even led the league with 14 takeaways in the preseason. It’s something the Bears have always done well, even while switching coaches and personnel.

“In the last however many years you want to go back, they’ve taken the ball away better than anyone,” Saints coach Sean Payton said Tuesday. “It’s kind of one of those things that become somewhat tradition or become somewhat expected of a group. And that’s a credit to the players, it’s a credit to (new coach Marc Trestman) and his staff, those guys on defense. They feed off of that. And it’s been a formula for them. They’ve been exceptional.

“And then you’ve got guys like (cornerback Charles) Tillman who have an unusual, or a very high amount of forced fumbles. There’s a skill set involved in that, and then there’s also just a simple effort involved in that and kind of a ‘want to.’ It’s something that doesn’t happen by accident. To have the numbers that they have, it’s obviously emphasized and worked on.”

Read more: Priority No. 1 vs. Bears: Protect the ball - New Orleans Saints Blog - ESPN