You know, the 2020 NFC season seems to be full of teams who have no business being in the playoffs. They keep saying whoever wins the NFC East is least deserving, but honestly, the team who least deserves to be in the playoffs? The Chicago Bears. Where do I start? The Bears' 5-1 start was immensely fraudulent, as one win was a comeback victory over the Lions, and another was one of the Falcons' trademark chokes. Only one of the five wins was against a playoff team. Out of the six straight losses that followed, four of them came against playoff teams, and the other two? Minnesota and Detroit--both at home. The Bears later won three straight against nobodies, and got trounced at home by the Packers in Week 17. So how did the Bears make the playoffs at 8-8? Because the Cardinals had their free fall at the wrong time.
Now here's where it gets tricky. The Bears will face the New Orleans Saints, who are a real team and beat the Bears this season. However, the Saints' postseason history following their Super Bowl XLIV win has been marked with embarrassing losses, the most recent one taking place last year, where they--at 13-3--were eliminated at home in OT by the Vikings. The Saints started 1-2 after back-to-back losses to the Raiders and Packers, but they went on a nine-game winning streak after that, even with Drew Brees out. However, their losses to the Eagles and Chiefs pretty much knocked them out of top seed consideration, but they still ended up ruling the NFC South and finished at 12-4.
2020 Statistics
New Orleans Saints
Total Offense: 6,023 yds; 376.4 ypg (12th) Passing Offense: 3,758 yds; 234.9 ypg (19th) Rushing Offense: 2,265 yds; 141.6 ypg (6th) Total Defense: 4,974 yds; 310.9 ypg (4th) Passing Defense: 3,472 yds; 217 ypg (5th) Rushing Defense: 1,502 yds; 93.9 ypg (4th)
Chicago Bears
Total Offense: 5,302 yds; 331.4 ypg (26th) Passing Offense: 3,655 yds; 228.4 ypg (22nd) Rushing Offense: 1,647 yds; 102.9 ypg (25th) Total Defense: 5,519 yds; 334.9 ypg (11th) Passing Defense: 3,705 yds; 231.6 ypg (12th) Rushing Defense: 1,814 yds; 113.4 ypg (15th)
The Saints should feast off the Bears "offense"; top 5 in all defensive categories. In addition, the Bears have the lowest turnover ratio (-4) out of all 14 playoff teams, while the Saints' 26 takeaways put them in a tie for 3rd in the league (T-2nd among playoff teams, only the Steelers have more). With that said, Saints should take this one.
Prediction: Saints by 14
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