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The story of Payton’s Saints tenure can’t be told without presenting Soldier Field as an obstacle his team ultimately didn’t surmount in its formative years. In their first three seasons under Payton, the Saints met the Bears in Chicago once in each of those campaigns, and New Orleans lost all of those encounters by a combined score of 99-63.

The first loss eliminated the Saints from the playoffs during their first-ever NFC title-game appearance. Both in the month of December, the second and third losses knocked the Saints out of contention for a berth to the 2007 and ’08 postseasons, before they won their lone Super Bowl championship after the 2009 season.

As things tend to be years after the fact, the circumstances heading into Monday night’s game aren’t identical to what they once were for the Saints (5-8). A late-season loss to the Bears (5-8) wouldn’t kill the Saints’ playoff hopes this time.

But it would definitely complicate them significantly. The Saints would qualify for the playoffs without depending on the outcomes of games they aren’t involved in if they win at Chicago, vs. Atlanta at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome next Sunday and at Tampa Bay on Dec. 28...

Still, a loss would take matters out of the Saints’ hands. Carolina was in first place as of Sunday night by percentage points, and losing in Chicago would require New Orleans to win its last two games and the Panthers to drop one of their last two, vs. Cleveland (7-7) and at Atlanta.

Read the entire article at The Advocate

Rugby Saint II

Motivate 'em Sean!

hagan714

play PT as much as possible. he has been a Bear killer at soldier feild

Danno

You can't spell sucks ass without Chicago Bears.

Ok, you can if you add a few letters.

You get my point.

QBREES9

Got it.