Five big takeaways from Chicago Bears’ disjointed loss against New Orleans Saints

NEW ORLEANS – The turnovers were the story of the Bears’ loss, 24-17, to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome. The Bears were minus-five in turnover margin.

Quarterback Tyson Bagent turned the ball over four times, three interceptions and a fumble. Still, the Bears gave themselves several chances to tie up the game in the fourth quarter, they simply couldn’t execute in crunch time.

The turnovers were a huge blow, but this game was there for the taking. Here are the five big takeaways from Sunday’s loss, which dropped the Bears to 2-7.

1. Tale of two Bagents

For the first two quarters, Bagent was on track for arguably his best game yet. Making his third start since Justin Fields injured his thumb, Bagent led two 75-yard touchdown drives, both capped by touchdown passes to tight end Cole Kmet.

In the first half, Bagent was taking what the defense gave him, which often meant he was scrambling from the pocket and taking off. Bagent finished the afternoon with 70 rushing yards. Yes, he threw one interception in the first half, but he also threw for 148 yards before halftime. The game was tied, 14-14, at the break.

As has been the case in his previous starts, Bagent was really good in the short area. He completed 15-of-19 passes that went 10 yards or fewer beyond the line of scrimmage, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Those passes went for 176 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The second half was a much different story. Bagent blamed the turnovers on himself – and they were mistakes by the QB – but there were also ways his receivers could’ve helped him out.

“It was good on their part, bad on my part,” Bagent said of the Saints’ defense. “Tight coverage and they made a couple really good plays. Once again, I’ve got to probably just go somewhere else with the ball. So that’s on me.”

It was good on their part, bad on my part. Tight coverage and they made a couple really good plays. Once again, I’ve got to probably just go somewhere else with the ball. So that’s on me.”

—  Tyson Bagent, Bears quarterback

2. Hard to blame the defense

The Saints started all five of their fourth-quarter possession in Bears’ territory, and they started six of their eight second-half possessions in Bears territory.

The fact that they scored only 10 second-half points is kind of remarkable.

The Saints’ plan of attack looked much different than what they showed in previous games. Saints QB Derek Carr had been one of the more aggressive quarterbacks. He entered the week with the seventh-highest average intended depth of target. But that wasn’t the game plan Sunday.

Sunday’s game plan revolved around taking care of the football and keeping the passes short. The Bears defense did not have a single turnover.

“It’s hard when you’re not getting the ball thrown down field as much,” Bears safety Eddie Jackson said. “You’ve just got to continue to punch on the ball, break on the ball. It’s tough. You look at the film of them playing in previous weeks, they’re airing it out. They throwing the ball. We come here, it’s not as much as that.”

Do-it-all Saints tight end Taysom Hill had a touchdown pass and a receiving touchdown. The Saints used him in their jumbo package with several extra linemen.

“People get worried when they see him,” defensive tackle Andrew Billings said. “The challenge is doing your job and not worrying about what he’s about to do.”

3. Montez Sweat’s debut

New Bears pass rusher Montez Sweat had a quiet afternoon in his Bears debut. He finished the day with two tackles and a pass defended. He disrupted Carr once, but was not credited with any quarterback hits.

“It wasn’t enough,” Sweat said. “I’ve got to get there more. I’ve got to get more production.”

The Bears traded a second-round pick for Sweat on Tuesday. He was suiting up for practice by Thursday. He’s still learning the playbook, and probably still learning some of his new teammates’ names. This will continue to be a work in progress.

It could, also, be challenging coming to an organization that doesn’t have the great defensive linemen that Sweat played with in Washington. The Bears, who entered Week 9 with a league-worst 10 sacks, did not record a sack on Sunday.

“Three days to go out there and play, that’s not easy to do, for anybody,” Billings said. “I think he stepped up and did it the best he could. I think he played hard, I think he didn’t worry about making mistakes.”

The Bears signed Sweat to a four-year, $98 million contract extension on Saturday. The deal keeps him under contract through 2027. It’s the biggest contract that Bears general manager Ryan Poles has handed out in his year and a half running the team.

“It gives me that sense of security for me to go out there and, if I get injured, then I know I’m protected,” Sweat said. “But it’s not really what I’m worried about. I’m worried about getting Ws and getting production.”

4. Have a day, Cole Kmet

For the second time this season, Kmet caught two touchdown passes. The first one came on the Bears’ first possession of the game, and it was among the best catches of Kmet’s career.

Bagent saw Kmet in a one-on-one situation against Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu and let it loose. At the time Bagent threw the football, it looked as if Mathieu had pretty good position to potentially make an interception. Kmet, however, made an acrobatic catch to steal the ball right out of Mathieu’s fingertips. It went for an 18-yard touchdown.

“Mathieu came running over the top in a man look,” Kmet said. “Tyson just threw it up. Gave me a chance. So that was cool to see.”

Kmet caught his second touchdown on a 9-yard toss from Bagent in the second quarter. He finished his day with six catches for 55 yards and two scores.

Kmet previously scored two touchdowns during an Oct. 1 matchup with the Denver Broncos. He now has five touchdown receptions on the season. Sunday was his fourth career multi-touchdown game.

Receiver Darnell Mooney also had a nice day with five catches for 82 yards. DJ Moore caught three balls for 44 yards, but fumbled once.

5. Offensive line penalties prove costly

Left tackle Braxton Jones made his return to action after missing six games with a neck injury. He rotated with backup Larry Borom at left tackle, easing his way back into action. Presumably, Jones will take over all the left tackle reps in the near future.

The pass protection was pretty good Sunday. The Bears allowed only two sacks and Bagent proved slippery as a runner. The line blocked well in the run game, too. Running back D’Onta Foreman rushed for 83 yards on 20 carries.

But it was penalties that hurt the offensive line the most. Six of the Bears’ eight penalties in the game were against offensive linemen.

“You go back and look at those,” head coach Matt Eberflus said. “The false starts are the false starts, we’ve got to clean those up. But the holdings, you’ve got to look at them. Sometimes that happens when you extend plays on the perimeter and you’re extending plays as a quarterback.”

Overall, the offensive line is close to full strength with Jones back. Nate Davis, who is nursing an ankle injury, is the only starter who’s currently out.