Paulson Adebo had two interceptions and a fumble recovery and the host New Orleans Saints defeated the Chicago Bears 24-17 on Sunday afternoon.
Adebo’s takeaways led to 10 points for the Saints (5-4), who finished with five takeaways and no turnovers. That enabled them to hold off the Bears (2-7) as Derek Carr passed for 211 yards and two touchdowns.
Rookie Tyson Bagent, making his third consecutive start in place of injured Justin Fields, passed for 220 yards and two touchdowns, but he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble.
On the Bears’ first possession of the third quarter, Adebo took the ball away from DJ Moore, giving it to New Orleans at the Chicago 39.
That led to Blake Grupe’s 55-yard field goal and the Saints’ first lead at 17-14. On the ensuing possession Cairo Santos kicked a 31-yard field goal and the score was 17-17 through three quarters.
Taysom Hill threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson to give New Orleans a 24-17 lead with 11:05 remaining.
On the second play after the ensuing kickoff Marcus Maye intercepted Bagent at the Chicago 38, but the Bears got the ball back when they stopped Carr for no gain on fourth-and-1 at the 17.
New Orleans had another chance to extend the lead, but Grupe’s 47-yard field goal hit the left upright and caromed wide with 2:26 remaining.
But the Saints got the ball back moments later when Bagent fumbled while being sacked by Demario Davis, and Pete Werner recovered.
The Bears received the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards on nine plays, capped by Bagent’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Cole Kmet.
Their next possession ended when Adebo intercepted a Bagent pass and set up New Orleans at the Chicago 45. Ten plays later, Carr threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Chris Olave to tie the score at seven at the end of the first quarter.
Bagent and Kmet combined on a 9-yard touchdown pass to break the tie, before Carr threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Hill to even at the score 14.
–Field Level Media