The Saints missed a bunch of scoring opportunities and lost to the patient Bears. The poor field conditions (the result of a Saturday night college game played in the rain at Soldier Field) seemed to adversely affect Morten Andersen, who had perhaps his worst game ever. Four Saint drives into FG range netted zero points instead of the expected 12. Steve Walsh played well against against his former team and was aided by a lack of pressure from the Saint D. Things started well for the Saints, as two 3rd down completions in a row to Michael Haynes helped move the ball into Chicago territory. Mora elected to try to pick up a 4th & 2 instead of kick a 44 yard FG, but an open Haynes slipped and the ball fell incomplete. Neither team could gain a first down on the next two possessions, and a good roll after Tommy Barnhardt's punt put Chicago at their own 13. The Bears' drive began with two runs by Tillman to set up a 3rd & 3. An 18 yard reception by Graham moved the sticks. A catch over the middle by Tillman and a run by Harris gave the Bears another first down at midfield. A good hit by Sean Lumpkin on Conway prevented a catch, but a screen to and a run by Tillman produced another Chicago 1st. After three running plays set up a 4th & 2 from the 27, the Bears also passed up a FG attempt. Wayne Martin batted the ball at the line of scrimmage to end the threat. The Saint O again failed to get a first down, as Haynes dropped a 3rd down pass on a crossing pattern that would've provided the necessary yardage. The Bears moved from their 40 to the NO 39 with a run by Harris and two by Tillman, but a two yard loss by Tillman and an incomplete pass forced a punt. The Saint offense finally got in gear and drove for the team's only score of the day. Starting at the NO 16, Lorenzo Neal ran twice to pick up a 1st. A bootleg by Jim Everett and another Neal run gave the Saints a new set of downs. A pass in the flat to Irv Smith and another Neal run was good for ten more yards. On 3rd & 6, Everett scrambled past the first down marker to the Chicago 31. The Saints earned one more successful 3rd down conversion with a 6 yard toss to Smith. At this point, I apparently caught a psychic wave from offensive coordinator Carl Smith, because I knew what would happen on the next play. It just kind of clicked- "we haven't gone to Quinn Early all game, it's 1st & 10 from about twenty yards out, we're going to him in the endzone." Sure enough, Everett connected with Early for an 18 yard score with 3:37 remaining before halftime. Morten Andersen made the PAT, which kept his consecutive- games-with-scoring streak alive. Andersen's kickoff made it only to about the 15 yardline, and the Bears returned the ball to the 33. After an incompletion, Tillman caught a short pass and ran to the 44. One play later, Walsh & Graham connected on a pretty sideline touch pass down to the NO 34. The defense stiffened, as Harris was held to 1 yard on 1st, pressure from Martin caused an intentional grounding penalty on 2nd, and Jimmy Spencer dropped a potential intercetption on 3rd after baiting Walsh into making a poor decision. A punt into the endzone gave the Saints the ball at the 20 with 1:16 left on the clock and two timeouts remaining. A Derek Brown draw and a crossing pattern to Haynes moved the ball to the 37. Early caught a pass at the Chicago 46, but three plays later the team faced a 4th & 8 with a few ticks left on the clock. Everett threw 12 yards to Haynes, who got out of bounds with five seconds to go. However, Andersen's 50 yard FG attempt on the last play of the half didn't make it past the line. The Saints got a huge break on the 2nd half kickoff. Andersen's kick reached only the 25 yard line, but the receiver bobbled the ball, which was recovered by Derrell Mitchell. Three plays netted only 7 yards, though, and Morten's 36 yard FG attempt was blocked high into the air. At this point, the NO special teams seemed to give up on the play. The ball was still live, however, and Chicago returned it all the way to the NO 34 before Wesley Walls made a tackle. Tillman ran for 5 on 1st down, and Spencer prevented a TD on 2nd by knocking away an endzone pass at the last minute. On third down, Tyrone Legette read a slant-in pass but couldn't hold onto it. Butler made a 46 yard FG to put the Bears on the board. Tyrone Hughes returned the ensuing kickoff 25 yards to the 35 to set up the O's next chance. Walls caught a ball at the Chicago 47 on 3rd & 3 to get things moving. After a blitz nearly caused Everett to be sacked and produced a throw-away incompletion, the Saints were ready for the pressure and Brown took a swing pass for 10 yards. Facing a 4th & 4 from the 30, Mora again decided not to try a FG, but Everett's pass was incomplete (and nearly intercepted). Chicago started their drive with a 15 yard pass to Gedney. Three plays later they faced a 4th & 1 from the NO 46, but another throw to Gedney gave them a ten yard gain. Tillman followed with a 19 yard run up the middle on the next play. One play later Walsh threaded the needle to Graham in the endzone for a 22 yard TD with 2:24 left in the 3rd quarter. The O tried to respond with a 13 yard pass to Smith on the first play of the next possession. A crossing pattern to Haynes two plays later was enough for a first down, but he fumbled after being hit, and Chicago returned the ball to the NO 41. A third down pass in the flat to Harris gave the Bears a 1st at the 29, but Sam Mills tackled Tillman for no gain on 3rd & 1 two plays later. The Bears failed to convert the turnover into points when Butler missed a 36 yard FG. Everett and the guys tried to march downfield once more, and had some success. Haynes caught a pass for 10, Neal ran for 3, Haynes caught another for 5, and Smith caught one for 9 more. Neal made a good cut for a 7 yard gain, but a bat at the line and a bad throw to Walls brought up 4th & 3 from the Chicago 37. I was disappointed to see the punt team take the field, but the Saints had no intention of punting- a fake had been called. One wonders whether Lumpkin realized this, because Barnhardt's pass to him hit him on the top of the helmet (Lumpkin was not looking for it). It turned out the Saints were holding on the play anyway (so the play wouldn't have counted), which made the team look even more foolish. Chicago drove for a backbreaking TD with a 63 yard drive that lasted nearly 6 minutes. Two runs by Tillman set up 3rd & 1, but Harris took a pass to midfield to pick up the 1st. After a no-gain by Tillman and a false start, Chicago moved the sticks with a pass to Cook at the 38. Another Walsh throw allowed the Bears to convert on 3rd & 3. On the next play, Tillman broke through the middle and ran 25 yards for a TD with 2:31 left to go. After Hughes' return to the 29, Brown took a pass 17 yards down the sideline on the second play of the drive. The Saints' last chance ended two plays later, though, when pressure forced Everett to throw an interception to Gayle. Chicago ran the remaining time off the clock, and the game was over. The offense moved the ball well at times, but the failure to get points out of the drives was fatal. Chicago was playing without Hoge & Waddle, plus their LBs were banged up. The Saints really should've won this one. A tough Charger squad is visiting the Dome next week, and a better-than-expected Rams team shows up after that. Put up the stats, Moltar. Everett: 22-39-209, TD, INT Neal: 14-63 rushing Brown: 8-25 rushing; 4-34 receiving Haynes: 8-84 Smith: 4-32 Early: 3-44, TD Walls: 3-15 ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu