New Orleans Saints dominate Chicago Bears, advance to divisional round

Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The New Orleans Saints earned a 21-9 wild-card win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to reach the NFC divisional round.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees completed 28 of 39 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns to set up a showdown against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional round next weekend.

Alvin Kamara, who sat out New Orleans' regular-season finale and missed practice this past week due to COVID-19 protocols, rushed for 99 yards and added a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to clinch the victory for the Saints (13-4).

The Bears (8-9) kept the game close in the first half, but the Saints started to pull away in the third quarter with methodical drives that consumed large portions of the clock. Brees capped the Saints' first drive of the second half -- which lasted almost eight minutes -- with a 6-yard touchdown pass to tailback Latavius Murray.

After a three-and-out by the Bears, the Saints went on another long drive that spanned nearly nine minutes and ended with Kamara's 3-yard rushing score. The touchdown gave the Saints a 21-3 lead with under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter and put the game out of reach.

Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was 19 of 29 passing for 199 yards and one touchdown. He connected with veteran tight end Jimmy Graham for a 19-yard touchdown as time expired.

The Saints' matchup against the Buccaneers next weekend will be the teams' third meeting this season. New Orleans won each game by double digits.