NFL Monday Night Football: New Orleans Saints 31, Chicago Bears 15

The New Orleans Saints gained leadership in the NFC South after beating the Chicago Bears, 31-15 on NFL Monday Night Football. Star quarterback Drew Brees threw for 375 yards on 29-of-36 completions with three touchdowns while running back Mark Ingram had 59 yards on 17 carries with 1 score for New Orleans which improved to 6-8 for the year good for no. 1 in the weakest division in football.

Five players had 40-plus receiving yards on 4-plus catches for the Saints, which led 14-0 at halftime and 24-0 before the start of the fourth quarter. Jimmy Graham had 87 yards while Pierre Thomas had 83 yards both on 5 catches each. The Bears, which are already out of playoff contention, struggled all game long especially QB Jay Cutler who was intercepted three times and sacked seven times. He finished with 194 passing yards on 17-of-31 passes with 2 TDs.

"The tendency after success is to relax, and it's not time to relax," Brees, who continued his good run on NFL MNF with a total of 35 TD passes with only 6 interceptions with 10 of 12 wins in games scheduled on that day, said via ESPN. New Orleans is now half a game ahead of the Carolina Panthers (5-8-1) with remaining games versus the Atlanta Falcons (5-9) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-12), two teams that combine for just 7 wins this regular season.

"I think there's a sense of urgency that we need to create each week, and we need to be mindful of how important that edge is to play well,” Saints head coach Sean Payton said in the same article.

The Panthers take on the Cleveland Browns (7-7) and Falcons and must win those games and hope for one Saints’ loss for a chance at a postseason slot. Chicago dropped to 5-9 and 2-5 at home for the year. They still have the Detroit Lions (10-4) and Minnesota Vikings (6-8) in their remaining schedule.