Bear with Us: Bears-Saints

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I have run afoul of no governors, as far as I'm aware, anyway. However, many readers have demanded my firing for such egregious crimes as posting an opinion that they don't share. I guess that's the same reason Blagojevich wanted editorial board members fired. So congratulations, readers who've demanded my firing, you share a character trait with Rod Blagojevich.

Welcome to the third consecutive season of the Bears and Saints facing off in a frigid Soldier Field. The last two went very well for the Bears. Remember the whole Super Bowl XLI thing? That came at the expense of a Saints team that everyone in Bristol, Conn., except John Clayton picked to win that year. What makes it better, a Bristol employee based out of Washington had a little revisionist history today.

Quoth Michael Wilbon on "Pardon the Interruption" this afternoon: "[The Saints] played the Bears pretty darn close in the NFC Championship game."

It was a 39-14 final, right? The Bears did shut the Saints out after Reggie Bush's taunting touchdown, right? That was very early on in the third quarter, after which the Bears pretty much took control, right? Right. So yeah, not pretty darn close.

But back to today. Jay Mariotti was the only person on "Around the Horn" who picked the Bears to win, and the three guys who picked the Saints (Kevin Blackistone, Tim Cowlishaw and Woody Paige) all did it for the same reasons everyone picked the Saints to travel to Super Bowl XLI. I'll hold off from taunting them until after the game, lest I be made to eat a certain dark-colored scavenger bird. Just not the less-than-racially-sensitive variety.

As has been reported a whole bunch, it's cold outside. Winds are a-whippin', making it even colder. Saints tackle Jammal Brown is out, while Marty Booker, Jason McKie and Garrett Wolfe are out. Oh, and the three StarCaps guys on the Saints are going to play, as a judge has extended their injunction. Unfortuantely for Bears fans, that means the Williams Wall will also continue playing for Minnesota. However, Tarvaris Jackson might be their quarterback for another week, so that helps the Bears and their fans.

Message board is below, and we have figured out the problem. We can't fix it yet, and no word on whether bankruptcy has anything to do with that. (As has been pointed out by others funnier than I, we go to 11.) Anyway, the problem is, we switched our server over a few weeks ago, and for some bizarre reason it doesn't read the first time you post. So if you want your first post to get across, post it twice. After that, it reads your posts just fine, so the double post is only needed once. (Or you can all just post "test" the first time and then start posting for real and we'll be able to read 'em.) They can't make a permanent fix to it until mid-January (hey, we're seeking the help of Peter Francis Geraci, what do you want out of us?), and we'll all be good and shocked if the Bears are still playing by then. Anyway, you can also e-mail me at rstrohl@tribune.com. Classic Thursday matchup starts soon.

Okay, I would blame this on the bankruptcy, but what I'm about to tell you has been an inexplicable problem at the Tribune Tower since before I got here in August 2003. Our house cable is extremely limited. Only three or four TVs in the entire building get a full satellite package, despite a giant dish on top of the building. The rest get ESPN, TBS, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, CNN and Headline News, CSPAN, CLTV and every free TV station except WPWR-Ch. 50. Oh yeah, we also get the CW stations in New York, L.A. and Denver. That's right, we don't get TNT or ESPN2, which is never a problem when covering sports, right? But by Jordan, we can watch "Gossip Girl" at three different times.

Anyway, the NFL Network isn't included, which is no big deal, because hardly any cable package gets it. But WPWR-Ch. 50 is the local station that has permission to broadcast the game, so we needed to get it specially routed to an empty channel (of which there are plenty). Successfully done, but now they've given us a feed that automatically gives us closed captioning in the upper left-hand corner. I hope that doesn't become an issue.

Too bad NFL Network didn't stick with Bryant Gumbel as their play-by-play man (it's Bob Papa), otherwise the Bears could have had the Gumbel sweep in back-to-back weeks. That's the taste of beach justice! Cris Collinsworth is your color commentator.

FIRST QUARTER

Okay Tribune Co., I denigrated you unnecessarily, it sounds like everyone's getting closed captioning automatically. Stupid NFL. Meanwhile, the sideline reporter (Adam Schefter, I think) said that a judge has upheld the "restraining order" on the suspensions of the 5 StarCaps players. I think the word is "injunction." The suspensions aren't commanded to stay 500 feet away from the players. Danieal Manning fields the short kick at the 18, cuts to the middle, finds a crease, jukes the kicker and lifts his arm in celebration at midfield. He continues running the next 50 yards and Robbie Gould nails the PAT.

Bears 7, Saints 0, 14:48 left in the 1st quarter

We are told that that was the first opening kickoff returned for a touchdown by the Bears since the 1970s. They might have specified "in the regular season." I'm pretty sure Devin Hester did that in the Super Bowl. And it took him two more seconds to do it! Slacker. Short kick taken by the upback, Mike Carney, and he returns it to the 28. Check that, a fair catch was signaled, so they have it at the 17. Former Illini star Pierre Thomas takes it a yard into the left side of the line for a yard, then Drew Brees hits Marques Colston on the right hash mark just shy of the sticks, and Colston gets across them for the first down to the 27. Thomas goes off right tackle, bounces outside and gets another first down. Bubble screen right to Reggie Bush and it works for the Saints, as he gets a first down to midfield. Thomas off right tackle again, and this gets four to the Bears' 46. Brees tries to hit Colston fading to the right sideline but overthrows him, 3rd and 6 and the crowd makes some noise. Alex Brown shoves his tackle back into the backfield, then tosses him aside before sacking Brees, but Corey Graham was holding tight end Billy Miller, so 1st and 10 from the Bears' 40. Devery Henderson drops a pass, then a Brees checkdown is batted down by Marcus Harrison. Urlacher slammed Brees and Collinsworth thinks he got away with a late hit. Pass over the middle, Briggs tries to bat it but can't, but it's picked off by Mike Brown and he returns it to the Bears' 40, but they rule him down by contact inside the 30.

Make it inside the 25, at the 23, from where Matt Forte runs a stretch play left for a yard. Three-step drop and Orton hits Hester on the right side for seven and we see Forte limping off the field to the injury cart. Adrian Peterson gets a run that warrants a measurement, and the Bears didn't get it. Reggie Bush fields the punt at the 15 and slips to the ground, Rashied Davis covers him up and the replay shows Matt Forte got his knee pretty well wrenched by Will Smith. Doesn't look good, folks.

Thomas up the middle for three. Make it four, and he gets a pair off left tackle to the 21 to set up 3rd and 4. Bush in motion, Brees goes deep downfield to a double-covered Colston and overthrows him, Saints will punt. Devin Hester tries to go left to right, then decides to run 180 degrees in the wrong direction for a 10-yard loss on the return back inside the 20.

Make it inside the 10 at the 9, which I find out just after we see Matt Forte hobbling to the locker room. Yikes. Hester runs a double move and is wide open but Orton overthrows him by about two yards and Hester can't make the diving catch. Forte has a toe injury, quoth the Bears, return is questionable. Peterson gets 9½ up the middle and Orton sneaks it for the first down across the 20. Orton has time, Brandon Lloyd is open on a square-out route on the left side, makes a nice lunging catch with the requisite toe-drag at the 36. Orton sails a double-covered Greg Olsen on a fade route left. Peterson gets stuffed for a gain of one into the right side of the line, 3rd and 9. Orton changes it up and the Beras are whistled for a false start. Bears set up a screen to Peterson, Olin Kreutz whiffs on a block and Peterson is tripped up at the 40. That could have been a first down if Kreutz blocked that guy. Punt goes to the right side and short, it hits one of the Bears coverage guys at the 30, so it's a 30-yard punt with no return.

Reggie Bush breaks through the left side of the line, stutter-steps after eight yards and that springs him for five more, first down. Play fake and Brees tries to force one through Urlacher and Briggs to Colston, they deflect it and just enough for Colston not to recover and make the catch. Screen to Thomas a to the right as the Bears blitz left, and Thomas has no one ahead of him and gets into Bears' territory to their 45 for another first down. Pitch left to Bush gets five. Make it four, and an inside handoff to Bush gets a pair. Bush tried to cut and bounce outside right but he slipped. On 3rd and 4, Brees gets lit up by Tommie Harris and his pass is batted down by a lunging Corey Graham. Punt is a touchback.

Peterson up the middle for one, maybe two. Nope, one, and Orton hits Olsen on the right hash mark for five and that's the quarter, which ends with Matt Forte jogging gingerly back onto the field to an ovation. We shall see if he lines up to start the second.

Bears 7, Saints 0

SECOND QUARTER

To Mike on the message board, it says "Bobby Hall" because we have to trust non-sports people to do some of our video. Caldarelli is seeing if he can change it now, but it might be something WGN only can do. Orton's pass is batted down at the line, Bush fields the punt at the 35, returns to the 40, but this is coming back for a block in the back.

From the 24, Thomas tries to bounce off left tackle and gets lit up by Nick Roach. Delay up the middle to Bush and he gets seven. Forte did not line up for that one play at the beginning of the quarter, but he looks like he's ready to come in if the Bears get a stop here. We'll have to wait a bit longer, as Brees hits Lance Moore in the right flat for a first down to the 36. Brees hits Robert Meachem on the left hash marks for about eight, but Meachem drops it. Alex Brown abuses Jammal Brown's replacement again and sacks Brees, and this one won't be negated, 3rd and 16. Unfortunately, Brees has all day on this down because they double up on Brown, Colston is wide open at the sticks, then takes it eight more yards into Bears territory. Brees rolls left out of pressure, fires in the direction of Jeremy Shockey and Mike Brown drops his second interception of the day. Swing right to Moore and he gets six to the 40. Brees again overthrows Colston on the fade route right. Colston shoved himself away from Manning, no flag, but the Bears would have declined it. Hester doesn't field the punt inside the 10 (he's learning!) and the Saints' gunner makes a great play to grab it at the 1 and tiptoe just outside the goal line, and that's where the Bears will start.

Orton fumbles the snap and the Saints recover at the 1. That's the second time in as many weeks that Olin Kreutz has snapped the ball early. The replay shows everyone on the Bears sitting still as he snapped.

Hey, the Bears aren't the only team that runs the fullback dive on short yardage, and the Saints lose a yard. But then Brees swings it to Thomas, who shakes Adewale Ogunleye and leaps into the end zone. PAT is good.

Bears 7, Saints 7, 9:52 left in the half

It may be time for the grumpy Hawaiian to hang 'em up. Manning fields it inside the 10 on the right side, breaks to the middle, shakes another guy and turns the corner on the left side and isn't dragged down until the Saints' 41. Forte gets a pair, then Orton, under intense pressure, makes an ill-advised Favrian flip to Matt Forte that gets dropped back at the 44. He broke out of some pressure and had an opportunity to throw it away but didn't. Orton then goes deep for Devin Hester, who abused Jason David, and it would have been a touchdown if David hadn't lunged at Hester's waist and interfered. Ball spotted on the 5 for reasons beyond comprehension, but Orton hits Desmond Clark on a slant right to the 1 and Forte takes care of business. PAT good.

Bears 14, Saints 7, 7:42 left in the half

By the bye, the Saints coverage guy who pinned the punt at the 1 is named Usama Young. Do with that what you will. Line drive kick to the 6, Thomas takes it from the middle to the right, tries to cut it back to the middle, slips and is covered up just across the 30. Thomas gets nothing. Pitch right to Bush gets four. Collinsworth points out that if he had lowered his shoulder rather than trying to stiff-arm, he would have gotten a couple extra yards. Israel Idonije breaks free, flushes Brees left, trips him up, but as he's falling, Brees flips it to Bush, who's quickly covered up for a yard gain. Short punt downed at the 27.

As Papa, the play-by-play guy, pointed out, outside of a failed stand on 1st and goal from the 1 about 10 seconds after they forced a punt, the Bears' defense has dominated the Saints' offense. You know, so far. Orton tries to check down to Jason Davis but throws it two yards behind Davis and Jonathan Vilma drops a sure pick return for a touchdown. Forte gets five into the left side of the line. Orton has some time, fires on the right side to Lloyd for the first down, but the replay shows he dropped it and Sean Payton throws the red flag. Incomplete, and the Bears will punt. Lance Moore in for Reggie Bush, who tweaked his knee back on that stiff-arm a while back (even though he lined up on the next play), and he tries to do the horizontal return and only gets a couple to the 14.

The Saints start falsely, then Charles Tillman bats away a pass to Colston squaring in from the right side to the middle. Thomas runs a stretch right and only gets three, and Brian Urlacher implores noise from the fans. The Saints start falsely, 3rd and 17 from the 7. Brees has plenty of time and Lance Moore open a couple yards past the sticks, but Brees skips the pass for no particular reason. Hester takes it at the 47, tries to find a crease, then tries to break it to the left side but is shoestringed before he can get there at the 42. At least it was a positive gain.

Danieal Manning's opening return garnered more yards than the Bears have on offense, and his second return comes close. Orton hits Clark on a short out left for three yards, and the Saints call timeout with 2:59 left. Orton gets blitzed on the blindside, but he turns and fires in the face of that blitz to Hester, who has a cushion for a first down on a hitch route on the left side because the Saints are playing off him. The Saints call their second timeout with 2:39 left. I guess they want the Bears to score with enough time for them to respond with a drive of their own. Pressure comes up the middle and Orton checks down to Forte over the middle, and he carries a couple guys for a gain of eight. The Saints won't call a timeout here and both benches, plus 60-plus thousand fans and all of you and we are warned that only two minutes remain in the half. Orton checks down to Jason Davis for a first down, Davis bulls over a would-be tackler, bounces off another and spins inside the 10 for 1st and goal from the 9, and the Saints call their final timeout with 1:42 left. Greg Olsen starts falsely, 1st and goal from the 14. Orton from the shotgun, checks down to Forte over the middle, he shakes a linebacker at the 10 and lunges to the 6. Orton throws off his back foot to Desmond Clark in the back of the end zone and Clark juggles it and is hit by Josh Bullocks to ensure no touchdown. Orton is then flushed from the pocket, rolls left and shoots through a lane and dives forward for the touchdown. PAT is good.

Bears 21, Saints 7, :49 in the half

Amanda's play-by-play of that scramble: "Oh geez. Oh geez. Oh geez." Me: "ORTON!" Amanda: "That had 'head injury' written all over it." Move over, Joniak and Thayer. Pierre Thomas returns it across the 30 to the 32, then takes a couple of dump-off passes for 12 and then 6 get to midfield, then Brees spikes the ball with :07 left. Brees heaves it to the end zone, Urlacher, who lined up not far from the goal line, bats it down and we're at the half.

Halftime: Bears 21, Saints 7

Halftime thoughts: Oh, so first, I have to tell you about Orton's "spike" after his touchdown "run." He raises the ball above his head, and as brings his arm down, the ball slips out behind him. Excellent. KPO'M decides to take the "half empty" tack, saying the Bears are up on a "last place" team rather than pointing out the Bears have held the best offense in the NFL to one gift touchdown. The first half indicates what I suspected strongly: After starting his career in San Diego and moving to New Orleans, Drew Brees has forgotten his Purdue days and just cannot play well in cold weather. (He's from Texas, after all.) He's sailed Marques Colston a couple of times, skipped an easy first down pass to Lance Moore and generally looked uncomfortable, just like he did in January and December 2007. The Bears, meanwhile, Olin Kreutz aside, look right at home. This should be a victory.

THIRD QUARTER

Pierre Thomas bounces off a tackle at the 25 and heads to the 30 and there's a flag. Troy Evans committed both a block in the back and a face mask on that return, so the Bears take the face mask. Oh wait,, the face mask was on Jamar Williams, so the penalties offset and the Saints will start at the 29. Thomas gets four up the middle. We now get a montage of Drew Brees and Kyle Orton at Purdue. They both went there! Crazy! Joe Tiller is in a luxury box at this game. Thomas up the middle again and gets four again and Reggie Bush is back in the game. Brees under pressure, rolls left and finds an open Lance Moore for the first down at the 43. Thomas gets wrapped up in the backfield, but runs out of both arm tackles and heads forward for five yards. Thomas tries to sweep right but is met by Marcus Harrison and about three other guys for a loss of one, then Brees fires over the middle in the face of pressure by Ogunleye and hits Shockey at the Bears' 41. Brees rolls right, has time and hits tight end Billy Miller after pump-faking Briggs off of him. Briggs gets shoved out of bounds at the 19. Brees tries to side-arm a pass in the teeth of a rush but Matt Toeaina bats it down. According to Mr. Sideline, Lovie Smith told him there will be no limitations on Forte, and that the X-rays on his toe were negative. I guess you get more information when the network owned by the league is broadcasting. Bush tries to bounce out right and is driven down by Urlacher for no gain. Sure, you hold no grudges, Brian. Saints need a timeout with 9:36 left to talk it over. Okay, not so much that but as to prevent a delay of game penalty. Brees checks down short to Thomas, Corey Graham and Danieal Manning close on him, it's a race to the corner and the refs say he didn't get the first down. Sean Payton challenges and both announcers and I think it will be overturned. To KPO'M on the board, note that I said this should be a victory. Not will. See how I equivocated there? Mike Carey: "After review, we'll re-spot the ball and measure to see if it's a first down." They're still short, by like an inch. Because it wasn't a first down, the Saints lose a timeout, so with 9:14 left in the third quarter, they only have one timeout left and no challenges. They're going for it on 4th and inches and the Bears defenders are jumping up and down and the crowd is responding. Brees sneaks for the first down. Really, a fumbled snap was the only way not to get that one. Play fake rollout right, Ogunleye gives chase, Brees tries to throw back across his body, and Ogunleye bats it down into his own belly, clutches the ball and falls at the 17, where the Bears will take over.

That was one of the longer drives, paragraph-wise. And make it the 16. To SDFan, those are much better hands Ogunleye displayed than Rashied Davis has of late. Forte stuttersteps through a hole on the right side of the line for four yards. Orton then hits Olsen on the right hash mark for five, and Forte goes over the top for the first down, then Orton hits Forte, split out wide right, in the right flat, and he cuts back inside of the cornerback to the 40 for another first down. That's a Bears rookie receiving record, 57 catches surpassing Da Coach. Orton hits Greg Olsen to midfield for another first, then Forte is stuffed up the middle. The Saints are 1-12 when Brees throws two or more interceptions. So the numbers looking good right now. Orton hit as he throws and the ball wobbles incomplete to no one in particular. Will Smith just abused John St. Clair on that. Orton has time, fires over the middle to Rashied Davis for a first down—no wait, he misses the ball, it pops off his back shoulder and into the waiting arms of Josh Bullocks, who returns it back into Bears' territory to the 45.

That had better be the last straw with Davis. Earl Bennett must be dropping absolutely everything in practice not to have gotten a look yet. Thomas shoots off left tackle for four. Delay to Thomas and he goes up the middle, cuts back left for the first down and makes one more cut off of a great downfield block by a receiver and he's sprung for the touchdown. PAT good.

Bears 21, Saints 14, 3:44 left in the 3rd quarter

To Ohio Joe, it was a little behind Davis, but no NFL receiver should fail to catch that pass. Just like if a quarterback needs good protection or else he falls apart (Rex Grossman), if a receiver needs a perfect pass to catch the ball, he doesn't belong. Manning takes the kick across the 30 to the 33. Play fake to Forte and Orton passes to Forte in the left flat, but he drops it. If he had caught it, he would have been dropped right there, so it's a wash. Forte sweeps left and gets smacked by Jonathan Vilma after a gain of two. Orton spots a blitz, the Saints check out of it, Orton swings right to Olsen and he's met four yards shy of the first down. Maynard's punt hits at the 40 (yikes) but rolls to the 25 (okay…) and it's downed there.

I love this ad because it is so silly. Collinsworth says that despite Brees' season, the Saints should stick to the run. The Saints don't listen, running a play action, Brees steps away from an Ogunleye rush and throws it away. Sweep left to Thomas and he gets a pair. No rush, Brees hits Billy Miller over the middle at the 39 for a first , then Brees hits Colston on a hitch on the right side for nine. That's the quarter.

Bears 21, Saints 14

FOURTH QUARTER

Fullback run gets the first down at midfield. Roach shows blitz, checks out of it, Brees checks down to Colston a couple yards beyond the line of scrimmage and has some space in front of him, gaining nine. Thomas gets a pair on the right side for the first and Collinsworth notes that it's odd for the normally gambling Sean Payton not to go for a deep shot on consecutive 2nd and 1 situations. Brees hits Moore coming back on the right sideline for nine. Thomas gets stuffed, but not before he got just enough for the first down. Check down to Thomas over the middle and he streaks forward for 14 and another first inside the 15. Brees checks down to Billy Miller in the right flat and Graham makes a nice low hit to hold him to a yard. Thomas goes into the right side of the line and is stuffed by Tommie Harris. They'll give him a yard, 3rd and a long 8 from the 12. The Bears bring everyone, Brees tries a jump-pass over the rush to Moore setting up a screen on the right, but the Saints didn't have enough time to set it up and Tillman wraps it up for no gain. The 30-yard field goal is good.

Bears 21, Saints 17, 9:07 left in the game

Squib kick taken by Kellen Davis and he returns it to the 41. Orton hits Desmond Clark on a short square-out on the right side for four. Forte gets a pair up the middle. Peterson spells Forte, Orton checks a blitz and tries to hit Peterson with a touch pass but puts a little too much on it and Peterson can't haul it in with one hand. The punt is a fake, Maynard hits Peterson over the middle with a beautiful touch pass, Peterson comes down with it and the ball pops out, the refs rule it incomplete. Replay shows that Peterson was down by contact and Lovie had better challenge this, especially with a TV timeout to look at it. It appears that Mr. Smith will, indeed, challenge this. Collinsworth seems to think Peterson needed both feet down, but it looked like he had control as he was being brought to the ground, and the ball came loose when his elbow hit the ground. Meh, I don't know. They say he did not have control of the ball when he hit the ground. The fans disagree. Collinsworth and Papa agree. The Saints take over at the Bears' 47.

Draw to Thomas gets five. Make it four, play fake and a dump-off to Thomas, who fights off a Roach tackle to lunge for the first down. Check that, he's inches shy of the first. The measurement allowed Thomas time to get his shoe tied, and he would have missed this play if not for the measurement. Ron Turner quickly steps into the Saints' playcalling booth and they run the fullback dive, and the Bears stuff it for a loss. Brees is talking it over with Payton and they'll go for it. Anthony Adams on the stop there. Annnnnnnnnnd the Saints pitch right to Thomas, and he's tackled by just about every blue jersey, including a couple of guys running in from the stands for a loss of five. Seriously, Ron Turner take over up there?

From their 43, the Bears take over and Jason Davis drops a checkdown in the right flat. Orton has some time and tries to force it through a pair of Saints defenders, one of whom (Scott Fujita) picks it off and returns it to the 35, maybe the 30.

The 31, from where Shockey drops a checkdown in the right flat. He had at least 10 yards of green in front of him. Matt Forte tackled Fujita on that pick, in case you wanted to love him more than you do. Thomas takes a handoff and then takes a whuppin' from Alex Brown immediately after that. But no matter, as Brees has time on 3rd down and hits Colston down at the 14 past a lunging Kevin Payne. Thomas gets three into the right side. The clock rolls under 3:30, and the Saints only have one timeout, so if the Bears can hold 'em to a field goal here… Brees sails Shockey in the back of the end zone, 3rd and 7 from the Bears' 11 with 3:10 left. Defensive backs are playing off and Brees hits Marques Colston over the middle in the front of the end zone to give the Saints their first lead of the game. PAT is good.

Saints 24, Bears 21, 3:05 left in the game

Way to flippin' go, offense. Devin Hester is back for the kickoff, Manning the upback. It's short, Manning muffs it and falls on it at the 30 with 3:03 left in the game. Orton's pass is tipped at the line and falls incomplete. Orton has Hester open in a cushion on the left side for a first down, and Hester gets 10 more to midfield. Blitz comes and Orton steps to his right and throws it away. Orton steps up in the pocket and checks down to Forte, who gets five. Hester runs a hitch on the right side and Orton hits him on the timing route, Hester turns forward and dives for a few extra to the 36, and that's the 1:57 warning. Robbie Gould told Cris Collinsworth before the game that in this direction, he feels his range is 52 yards, and the Bears are currently at a 54-yarder. Orton with some time and checks down to Olsen over the middle for five. Orton hits Olsen for the first down on the left side and the clock will roll under 1:00 before the Bears snap it again. Orton hits Brandon Lloyd on a slant right. orton was almost picked off by Usama Young, who tipped it up and Lloyd made a diving catch for six yards. Orton then hits Olsen just shy of the first down and the Bears call timeout with :19 left and on the 15 (33-yard field goal). They measure it and give the Bears the first down, and then the booth will check the spot. Either way, the Bears have the ball near the 15 with :19 left and one timeout. So it's one shot at the end zone and a field goal attempt by Gould. It's 3rd and less than a yard from the 15½ after the review. Orton hits Olsen in the right flat and he gets to the sideline and the Bears have 1st and goal just inside the 10 with :12 left. Orton goes to Olsen on the left side of the end zone, Olsen gets tackled by Jason David and the refs, much to the dismay of Orton and Olsen and everyone else at Soldier Field, decide it isn't pass interference. The Bears run one more, Orton is dropped for no gain on a scramble and calls timeout immediately with :02 left. They replayed David's mugging of Olsen and seriously, what a disaster. He had his left arm across Olsen's front and his right around the back and on Olsen's waist. Gould splits the uprights.

End of regulation: Bears 24, Saints 24

OVERTIME

Bears win the toss and will receive. Referee Mike Carey made sure everyone knew that if no one scores in the 15-minute period, the game will end in a tie. Manning takes the kick at the 10 to his left, takes it up the middle to the 30 and that's where Orton will take over. I-formation, Forte gets six off left guard. Forte into the left side of the line now, gets across the line of scrimmage, cuts back up the middle and gets the first down to the 44, from where Peterson spells him and gets a couple. Make it three. Bears pick up the blitz but Orton throws it between Hester and Clark, 3rd and 7. From the shotgun, Orton has time and goes deep downfield to Hester, who goes for the jump ball, doesn't get it and the flags fly because Roman Harper jumped into Hester and gave him a forearm to the belly, Bears have it at the 15. Orton calls timeout with 13:03 left. I'm predicting a couple of runs to center the ball (it's on the left hash) and Robbie Gould trying to end it from between 30 and 35. Harper thinks he did not interfere. Orton runs back to the middle of the field and takes a knee at the 18, so it will be a 36-yarder. Collinsworth jinxes Gould: "Robbie Gould, from 30-40 yards, is 8-for-8 on the season." Sean Payton did the stupid stand-next-to-the-ref thing. Robbie Gould was laughing as he came off the field. He better make it after that. He may have been laughing because he was expecting it. Okay, here we go. Splits 'em again.

Final: Bears 27, Saints 24

Final thoughts: Escaped with that one. The Bears finally realized that going deep to Hester repeatedly will result in good things. The defense played very well, and only struggled toward the end because the offense had its standard bout of 3rd-quarter ineptitude. But Kyle Orton came through when it counted—twice. Joe Tiller has hugs and tears with his two former quarterbacks at midfield. Join me in nearly two weeks when the Bears face the Packers on Monday Night Football on Dec. 22. The Vikings will play twice between now and then, and if Tarvaris Jackson is their quarterback for both of them, they should lose them both.

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