Chris King saw a Bears defender get tackled on third down there and no flag for holding. I was looking out of the corner of my eye, so I didn't catch it. And oddly enough, neither did Joe Buck. No complaining about a no-call there, yet he complains about the offensive pass interference? Interesting. Benson looks like he has a hole, but Scott Shanle closes it and lights up Benson for only a yard. Grossman then has a little time and throws a beautiful seam pass to Clark for 30 yards to the 19. Benson picked up a delayed blitz, beautifully as well, on that play. Benson gets seven and the crowd is abuzz. Benson steps over fallen Saints bodies and gets the first down plus one to the 8. Benson gets stood up and pushes the pile inside the 6. Jones on, lines up as a slot receiver and Grossman throws just a little behind Jones and Jones can't handle it. That was actually a good play by Grossman, throwing away from the coverage. If he leads Jones there, it's a pick. Grossman has nothing, then throws out of the back of the end zone and Gould nails the chip shot.

Bears 9, Saints 0, 8:52 left in the half

Chris just said that as long as the defense doesn't allow any kind of major momentum play, field goals should be just fine. And the way the D is playing right now, hey, 21-0 Bears on seven Robbie Gould field goals. The Bears must have seen a weakness in the Saints or a strength in themselves on kickoffs to the left side of the field, because Gould has aimed most of his kicks there. Lewis lets this one roll, thinking it will go out of bounds, but it rolls into the end zone and he picks it up and kneels. From the 20, McAllister gets five. Swing pass to McAllister and he can't handle it. Looked like he was concerned with an impending hit. Aaron Stecker, the third and rarely-mentioned Saints running back, in on third down, but it's Brees who ends up running, scrambling for eight yards and the first. Brees with some time has nothing, dumps off to Bush and Urlacher wraps him up right there, gain of two. Another dump-off, this time to McAllister, Hillenmeyer and Urlacher drop it for a gain of five, 3rd and 3. All I heard this week was how good Reggie Bush is in space, and no one mentioned, you know, the best linebacker in the NFL. Tillman makes a great play, almost picks of a pass to Colston, and the Saints' punt is downed at the 31.

Jones up the middle for 14. He juked a defender about five yards out that allowed him to get to the second level. Jones gets a couple more. Jones cuts in the backfield and has all sorts of space to the right side. He stiff-arms Josh Bullocks, the guy he juked two plays earlier, and isn't run out of bounds until he's at the 20. Jones for eight more. Back to that 33-yard run, McKie had a great lead block, then Jones saw Clark sealing off the outside and bounced there. Great vision, great blocking. One for Jones, then two, and it's 1st and goal from the 9. Buck said, "For all we've heard about the two-headed monster of the Saints, how about Cedric Benson and Thomas Jones?" Imagine that, the Bears got overlooked. Maybe there was something to the whole "we don't get no respect" dealie. Jones goes left, has nothing, reverses field and gets run down by Jay Bellamy at the 2, and that's the warning. HB, you make a good point about Briggs helping Urlacher, but it works both ways. Each guy makes the other better. I think Hunter Hillenmeyer is better than any linebacker on the Saints, and he's substantially the third best linebacker on the Bears. Where was this in the lead-up to this game? And Nuances of Investing & Golf, great handle. Don't get it, but I like it. Jones gets two and six, yards and points, respectively. Gould hits it.

Bears 16, Saints 0, 1:56 left in the half

That drive was 8 plays, 69 yards, all carries for Thomas Jones. Michael Lewis takes it from the 10 to the 26, gets lit up by Peterson and the crowd loves it. Peterson feeds off of the crowd. Love. That. Guy. Brees has a little time, steps up and hits Colston for eight, but Colston can't hang on, 2nd and 10. Tank Johnson breaks free, Brees rolls out and throws it away, Alex Brown, on the sideline for that play, catches it. Brees hits Colston over the coverage of Urlacher down the middle of the field to the Bears' 45, then the Brees hits Devery Henderson inside the 30 for another first down and the Saints call their final timeout. Not sure when they called their other two, I'm sorry for that lack of reporting. From the 27, Brees hits Colston on the left sideline for five. False start, 2nd and 10 from the 27, 1:02 left in the half. Henderson finds a hole in the zone but Brees can't hit him. Nowhere near Henderson. Mark Anderson comes off the edge and Brees steps up, hits Copper on the left sideline at the 13, Vasher just got beat. Then Brees hits Colston past Tillman for the touchdown. Tillman slipped trying to jam Colston. Carney hits the PAT.

Bears 16, Saints 7, :46 left in the half

Hester bounces outside but stumbles, so he only gets to the 34. Jones gets a couple around the end and the Bears will run one more play. Grossman throws it away with :12 left. There was some miscommunication, Grossman thought they were going to run the half out, then told Grossman to get back out there. Rather than risk a pick, Grossman just chucked it away. Then he takes a knee and the fans aren't happy. I don't understand that, they could have gone downfield at least once, they had both of their timeouts.

Halftime: Bears 16, Saints 7

Halftime thoughts: Check out our live streaming halftime show with Dan Hampton and Glen Kozlowski. I'll check in a little later with halftime thoughts and the Web cam. Barrington Bear, good call on the Saints timeouts, thanks for the heads-up. I am, um, NOT going to provide play-by-play of Fall Out Boy's halftime show. I fixed the link, folks. On second thought, since you've got Danimal and Koz, I'll leave my Web cam thoughts until game's end and just write my halftime thoughts like the old days (i.e., the regular season). The Bears' touchdown drive was all runs, and all Thomas Jones. They'll probably keep it on the ground. The Fox halftime guys said Grossman will need the handcuffs removed if the Bears are gonna win, but judging by eight runs for 69 yards, I don't think so.

THIRD QUARTER

Hester tries to bounce it outside, slips a little and protects the ball, Bears have it at the 23. Grossman has time and hits Berrian at the 40. Grossman then airs it out for Berrian, whose feet get tangled up with the defender, refs say it was incidental, no flag. Jones gets a couple up the middle. Grossman goes downfield, but he and Muhammad weren't on the same page and the Bears will punt from their 42. Reggie Bush has been fired, at least for this kick, as Michael Lewis fields the kick inside the 10 and returns it up the sideline past the 40, but a flag is down for block in the back or holding or something and the Saints will be stuck inside the 10.

It was a block in the back that wasn't even near the play, stupid penalty for the Saints. Play action and Brees hits Copper for five yards to the 12. Reggie Bush gets behind the defensive backs somehow and Brees puts it right in his bread basket and he's off to the races. Can't catch him and it's a one-score game. Bush taunted Urlacher at the end of that run. Might not want to poke a Bear like that, Reggie. PAT good.

Bears 16, Saints 14, 12:20 left in the 3rd quarter

Kick goes out of bounds. Cue Nelson Muntz. Will Smith drops Jones for a loss of a couple. This is a story all about how Thomas Jones got flipped, turned upside-down. Grossman dumps off to Jones and he drops it, 3rd and 12. Grossman overthrows Moose by about two inches and Maynard will punt. Bush fields it at the 19 and returns it to the 17.

Going back to Bush's touchdown, he came out of the backfield and Chris Harris was coming over to defend him but got picked by the receiver. Okay, they're giving him progress to the 18. McAllister gets five. Brees pump fakes to Bush split out wide left, then comes back over the middle and almost gets picked off by Tillman. Urlacher was covering Bush too tightly for Brees' liking. Brees hits Mike Karney out of the backfield just before getting lit up by Ogunleye and Karney gets to the 33 for the first. Brees passing again, dumping off to tight end Mark Campbell for four. Dump-off to McAllister and he has some space, gets into Bears territory to the 47. Another dump-off to McAllister gets seven. Inside handoff to Karney has the Bears surprised and Karney gets down to the 29. Brees gets flushed, Urlacher tips a pass and it falls in a cushion in the Bears' defense, incomplete. Saints pick up a Bears blitz but coverage is good, Brees sails Copper. Brees sails Henderson and Billy Cundiff, not John Carney, does not have the leg to make a 49-yard field goal. Gee, did I say this game would come down to the kickers?

From the 37, Grossman airs it out to Davis but leads him by about a foot too much, incomplete. Benson gets eaten up for a loss of three. Quick slant to Berrian gets good yards, but not enough yards for a first, it'll be 4th and 4 or 5. Maynard goes for the coffin corner and gets it, out of bounds at the 5. That's a 51-yard punt. No 88-yard touchdowns this time, fellas.

Flurries starting to fall, Brees drops into the end zone, gets pressured and throws it away. Brees in the end zone again, throws it away, was not out of the pocket, refs confer, say it was grounding and that's a pair of points, folks.

Bears 18, Saints 14, 5:27 left in the 3rd quarter

Judging by the comments, either y'all in readerland are happy about the results or a bunch of people just farted. Free kick returned to the 36. Benson gets a couple, then loses a couple, 3rd and 10. Bears try to set up a screen, but the running back was in on blitz protection, Grossman throws it away, Saints decline a hold and Maynard's punt hugs the sideline and rolls into the end zone. Jeez, just one odd bounce and it's the coffin corner again, but it just rolled up the sideline.