Saints vs. Bears | NFC Wild Card Matchup

After wrapping up the 2020 regular season Sunday with a 33-7 win over the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium., the New Orleans Saints (12-4) host the Chicago Bears in an NFC Wild Card Playoff matchup, squaring off with a spot in the NFC Divisional Round on the line.

The game will mark the third time that the Saints and Bears will meet in the playoffs, the first two a 1990 Chicago Wild Card win and a 2006 Bears NFC Championship victory, both at Soldier Field. The Saints lead the regular season series 17-13 and captured the last meeting between the clubs, a 26-23 win on November 1 at Soldier Field.

The Saints enter the 2020 playoffs coming off one of the best regular seasons in franchise history. In capturing their fourth consecutive NFC South division title, becoming only the third team in the conference since 2002 realignment to win four straight division titles. With Sunday's win over Carolina, the 2020 Saints became the first NFC South team since the division's establishment to finish 6-0 in division play.

New Orleans enters the postseason well-positioned as a balanced team with the ability to run the ball and stop the run. The Black and Gold finished ranked sixth in the NFL in rushing yards per game (141.6) and finished the regular season with a franchise-record 30 rushing touchdowns, tied for the sixth-highest total in league history. Defensively, New Orleans finished fourth in the league in opponent net yards per game (310.9), fourth against the run and fifth against the pass. Scoring 30.1 points, per game, the Saints ranked fifth in the league, while only surrendering 21.0 points per game, also tied for fifth. Five Saints were selected to the Pro Bowl.

Saints vs. Bears | NFC Wild Card Broadcast Information

SUNDAY, JANUARY 10, 2021 – 3:40 P.M. (CST)
MERCEDES-BENZ STADIUM – NEW ORLEANS, LA

• TV: CBS (WWL 4 locally); AMAZON PRIME; NICKELODEON (specialized broadcast for children)
  CBS Announcers: Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Tony Romo (color analyst) and Tracy Wolfson (sideline)
  Amazon Prime Announcers: Hannah Storm (play-by-play), Andrea Kremer (color analyst)
  Nickelodeon Announcers: Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Nate Burleson (color analyst) and Lex Lumpkin (sideline)

• LOCAL RADIO: WWL-870 AM and 105.3 FM
  Announcers: Zach Strief (play-by-play), Deuce McAllister (color analyst) and Steve Geller (sideline)

• NATIONAL RADIO: Westwood One
  Announcers: Kevin Kugler (play-by-play) and James Lofton (color analyst)

• SPANISH LANGUAGE RADIO: KGLA 830 AM and 105.7 FM
  Announcers: Mario Jerez (play-by-play), Juan Carlos Ramos (color analyst) and Victor Quinonez (sideline)

Chicago Bears | Top Stats in Week 17

• Mitchell Trubisky: 33/42 for 252 yards, 0 TD and 1 INT
• David Montgomery: 22 carries for 69 yards and 1 TD + 9 receptions for 63 yards
• Darnell Mooney: 11 catches for 93 yards

Full Box Score

New Orleans Saints | Top Stats in Week 17

• Drew Brees: 22/32 for 201 yards and 3 TD
• Ty Montgomery: 18 carries for 105 yards
• Emmanuel Sanders: 9 catches for 63 yards and 1 TD

Full Box Score

Chicago Bears | Week 17 Recap vs. Green Bay Packers

from chicagobears.com

Despite losing Sunday's season finale to the Packers 35-16 at Soldier Field, the Bears secured the third and final wild card berth in the NFC playoffs by virtue of the Cardinals' 18-7 loss to the Rams in Los Angeles.

As the seventh seed, the Bears (8-8) will open the postseason next Sunday against the NFC South champion Saints (12-4) in New Orleans, with kickoff scheduled for 3:40 p.m. (CT) on CBS, Nickelodeon and Amazon Prime.

View the full recap on ChicagoBears.com

Saints vs Bears | Series History

New Orleans leads the Saints-Bears regular season series 17-13, one of ten clubs they have a winning record against. The Saints have dropped both playoff contests against Chicago, both of them played at Soldier Field. They will also be looking to extend the overall series win streak to seven games. New Orleans has taken the last six meetings, including a 26-23 overtime win on November 1, 2020, at Soldier Field. Of the 30 regular season contests in the all-time series, 15 have been decided by eight points or less, including seven of the last ten matchups. New Orleans has posted a 6-2 record against the Bears in contests played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Saints vs Bears | Statistical Comparison from 2020

Saints vs Bears | Connections

New Orleans Head Coach Sean Payton is a Naperville, Illinois native and played QB at Naperville Central High School. He earned a communications degree from Eastern Illinois, posting 10,665 passing yards as a three-time Associated Press All-American. Payton played in the Arena Football League with the Chicago Bruisers and briefly with the Bears in 1987. He was inducted into the Eastern Illinois Hall of Fame and has his number retired. He also tutored quarterbacks for a year at the University of Illinois Payton has a sister and niece who live in Skokie.

Chicago TE Jimmy Graham was a third-round draft pick of New Orleans in 2010 and played five seasons for the team, ranking fifth in club record books in receiving, most at his position with 386 receptions for 5,512 yards and 32 touchdowns.

Chicago General Manager Ryan Pace served in several capacities in the New Orleans front office before being tabbed to lead the Bears football operation in 2015, most recently as Director of Player Personnel from 2013-15. Bears Director of Football Administration Joey Laine, Director of Player Personnel Josh Lucas and Director of College Scouting Mark Sadowski all worked in the New Orleans front office.

Saints Senior Offensive Assistant/Wide Receivers Curtis Johnson served as wide receivers coach in Chicago in 2016. Johnson and Bears Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano served on the same University of Miami staff from 1996-2000.

New Orleans Pass Rush Specialist Brian Young and Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends Dan Campbell played with Chicago Wide Receivers Coach Mike Furrey in St. Louis and Detroit respectively.

Saints Senior Defensive Assistant Peter Giunta and Chicago Tight Ends Coach Kevin M. Gilbride served on the same New York Giants staff from 2010-14.

Bears DT Akiem Hicks was a third-round draft pick of the Saints in 2012 and played for the club from 2012-15.

New Orleans Defensive Assistant Michael Hodges served on the coaching staff at Eastern Illinois from 2014-16, coaching linebackers from 2014-15 and serving as co-defensive coordinator his final season in Charleston.

New Orleans Assistant Offensive Line Coach Brendan Nugent served on the Bears coaching staff from 2013-14.

New Orleans radio play-by-play voice Zach Strief played at Northwestern from 2002-05.

Saints Offensive Line Coach Dan Roushar was a two-year letterman at quarterback at Northern Illinois and later had two stints on their coaching staff in 1984 and from 1997-2002.

Saints DB Justin Hardee played at Illinois.

New Orleans WR Austin Carr played at Northwestern.

Bears WR Ted GInn Jr. played for New Orleans from 2017-19 and his father, Ted Ginn Sr. coached Hardee and Saints CB Marshon Lattimore at Glenville High School in Cleveland.

New Orleans Combine Scout Matt Phillips is the son of Chicago President & CEO Matt Phillips.

Bears Offensive Line Coach Juan Castillo served on the same coaching staff in Philadelphia with Payton from 1997-98.

Saints Secondary Coach Aaron Glenn and Bears Special Teams Coordinator Chris Tabor served on the same staff in Cleveland from 2014-15.

Chicago DL Mario Edwards Jr. played for New Orleans in 2019.

New Orleans Assistant General Manager/College Scouting Director Jeff Ireland is the grandson of former longtime Bears personnel executive Jim Parmer

.New Orleans Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen and Bears Defensive Line Coach Jay Rodgers served on the same Denver staff in 2011. Brees and Rodgers, who made his coaching debut as a graduate assistant at LSU from 2001-02, were high school teammates at Austin (Texas) Westlake HS. Brees and Bears QB Nick Foles both prepped at Austin Westlake as they and Peyton and Eli Manning (Newman HS) are the only two duos of Super Bowl winning quarterbacks hailing from the same high school. Foles also played with CB Patrick Robinson and S Malcolm Jenkins in Philadelphia where they were Super Bowl winning teammates.

Saints RB Latavius Murray and Bears OLB Khalil Mack were teammates in Oakland from 2004-16, where Allen served as Mack's head coach for the start of his NFL career.

Bears T Bobby Massie played at the University of Mississippi.

New Orleans QB Jameis Winston played with Chicago K Cairo Santos in Tampa Bay in 2019. Santos is a former Tulane standout.

Chicago LB Barkevious Mingo prepped at West Monroe HS and played for Cleveland with Saints LB Craig Robertson from 2013-15...Saints WR Eric Kumerow prepped at South Elgin (Ill.) HS and started his college career at Illinois.

Saints vs Bears | Series Fast Facts

Saints' Largest Margin of Victory: 22 points, Saints won 28-6 on 9/13/92 at Louisiana Superdome.

Bears' Largest Margin of Victory: 25 points, Bears won 42-17 on 12/21/75 at Louisiana Superdome.

Current Series Streak: Saints won last six contests, 9/18/11-present.

Saints' Longest Win Streak: Six games, 9/18/11-present.

Bears' Longest Win Streak: Three games, 12/1/68–10/10/71.

Most Points by Saints in a Game: 42 points, Saints won 42-24 on 10/2/77 at Soldier Field

Most Points by Bears in a Game: 42 points, Bears won 42-17 on 12/21/75 at Louisiana Superdome.

Most Combined Points (Both Teams): 66 points, Saints won 42-24 on 10/2/77 at Soldier Field

Fewest Points by Saints in a Game: Three points (two times), Bears won 22-3 on 9/14/80 at Soldier Field and 24-

3 on 12/20/70 at Tulane Stadium.

Fewest Points by Bears in a Game: Zero points. Saints won 10-0 on 9/19/82 at Soldier Field.

Fewest Combined Points (Both Teams): 10