Saints-Bears playoff game - Football Outsiders analysis (1 Viewer)

[Cincy Saint]

LINK

A very good read. Here are a few highlights.

The team's [Chicago's] uneven schedule overstates the improvement Trubisky represented over midseason starter Nick Foles. Foles faced top-seven DVOA defenses in the Colts, Bucs, Rams, and Saints in his six games as starter while Trubisky faced three bottom-three defenses in the Lions, Texans, and Jaguars and no defense better than the Packers at 17th to close the season.

The Saints have a defensive answer for everything the Bears want to do offensively, and their own offense could be better this weekend than its already excellent regular-season standard with Michael Thomas poised to return from his ankle injury. The Saints may not win the Super Bowl, but they seem unlikely to lose the first weekend playing in the dome in New Orleans, where their conservative and precise passing game will make takeaways difficult for the Bears defense to come by.

 

[Chocolate Mousse]

Brady led the NFL with 820 DYAR on deep passes. He also led the NFL with a mind-blowing 23 defensive pass interference flags, setting a new all-time record with four more than the previous high mark.