Chicago Bears: How Nagy, Foles can shock Brees and the Saints
By Ryan Heckman
3. Take away the few weapons
This couldn’t be more obvious. The Bears won’t see arguably the best receiver in the game. they won’t even see three of the Saints’ top five wideouts. What they will see, though, is a whole lot of Alvin Kamara and likely plenty of Latavius Murray.
Sean Payton is a wise coach. He will make the most of both Kamara and Murray without those wide receivers. Brees already doesn’t like to throw the ball very far, and the Saints have the third-fewest 20-plus yard pass plays in the NFL with just 15.
Where do you think the Ball is going to go? It’s going to Kamara and Murray, and they’ll likely be catching the ball either out of the backfield or close to the line of scrimmage.
That means, the Bears have to get strong efforts out of Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan, along with the rest of those inside linebackers who spell those guys. Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Robert Quinn and the pass rush have all been pretty aggressive as the season has gone on. They’ve looked more comfortable and continue to pressure the quarterback.
Brees isn’t sacked often, but he will feel the pressure — even more reason to believe he will be getting rid of the ball early, like we hope to see from Foles.
If the Bears can get to Brees and make him feel the pressure, then it will be on those inside linebackers, for the most part, to keep the running backs in check.