Saints allowed fewest yards, first downs, and points in team playoff history vs. Bears

What a day it was for the New Orleans Saints defense. They yielded the fewest total yards (239), first downs (11), and points (9) in the team’s playoff history during their Wild-Card Round win over the Chicago Bears, setting a high bar for themselves in the postseason tournament.

Their previous-bests included 250 total yards and 14 points allowed to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019, and just 14 first downs to the Seattle Seahawks in 2014. The Saints offense came through with a win over the Eagles that year, while the Seahawks managed to stay ahead.

Several standout performances paved the way for New Orleans against Chicago, like a team-leading 8 combined tackles (6 solo) from safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and several quarterback pressures by defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, whose third quarter sack of Mitchell Trubisky pushed the Bears out of field goal range while down 7-3.

But consistency is key for the Saints defense, and they proved that again by squashing the Chicago run game and forcing Trubisky into more pass attempts than Bears fans are probably comfortable watching. Let’s see if they can keep up the pressure next week with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.