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It’s mostly a coincidence that the New Orleans Saints' ground game has taken flight since they traded away Adrian Peterson two weeks ago.

“We’ve just been committing to the run. And the offensive line’s been doing a great job. And we’ve been scheming up well, and we’ve been executing,” said Mark Ingram, who had his first back-to-back 100-yard rushing games since 2014 in wins over Detroit and Green Bay -- and could make it three in a row if the Saints try to stay conservative Sunday against a Chicago Bears defense that has been feasting on turnovers.



And more than anything, the Saints (4-2) have been winning. It’s much easier to stick with the run game when they don’t fall behind early like they did in Weeks 1 and 2. Peterson probably would have feasted, too, when the Saints were running all over the Lions while building a 35-point lead two weeks ago.

But the performance of Ingram and rookie Alvin Kamara has further emphasized why the Saints deemed one of the NFL’s all-time great rushers expendable. Not only are Ingram and Kamara playing great football, they are also both versatile and unpredictable.

Ingram has 389 rushing yards this year and 166 receiving yards. Kamara has 215 rushing and 209 receiving. Last week, both of them went over 100 yards from scrimmage on a cold, wet day in Green Bay.

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