Passage: During the eighth week of the season, the Bears went to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to play the New Orleans Saints, who trailed the series 15-14 but had won every meeting since 2011. Jeff Joniak wrote a goal of the Bears offense would be to get into scoring position; since Mitchell Trubisky became the starter, the offense had entered the red zone only twice in three games, with both trips ending in field goals. Upon reaching the 20-yard line, using the running game would be ideal; Jordan Howard ranked fifth in the league in rushing, second in yards after contact, and led the offense rushing first downs with 32. In contrast, the Saints defense ranked 30th in rushing yards allowed per carry. Joniak also emphasized the need for Trubisky to tune out the loud Superdome crowd and lead the offense without making errors. For the defense, it faced Drew Brees, who, according to Joniak, was to be pressured quickly if the Bears were to succeed - while being blitzed, Brees was intercepted three times and sacked twice. Otherwise, Brees was successful in quickly passing the ball for gains of six yards in a fast-paced offense. Turnovers were also priority; in the last two games, the Bears had forced six and scored on three, and while Brees had recorded turnovers in his last two games, the Saints still had the fifth-best turnover difference. On the Saints' opening possession, Will Lutz was lining up for a 32-yard field goal attempt when Kyle Fuller was penalized for jumping offsides. This set up Alvin Kamara's eight-yard touchdown run to put New Orleans up by seven points. After the next two drives resulted in punts, Connor Barth made a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter, though Mark Ingram Jr. scored on a one-yard touchdown run. Barth missed a 48-yard field goal wide left late in the first half as the Bears entered halftime with an 11-point deficit. In the third quarter, Trubisky threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Zach Miller, who landed on his knee and dislocated it in the process. The touchdown was eventually nullified when referee Carl Cheffers determined Miller had let go of the ball in pain while on the ground. The Bears were forced to settle for Barth's 44-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, Lutz kicked a 45-yard field goal to increase the lead to 17-6. With 7:32 remaining in the game, Jonathan Bullard stripped Ingram and Christian Jones recovered the fumble. Aided by Trubisky's 46-yard run, Tarik Cohen dove into the end zone from the Saints' one-yard line to score the offense's first touchdown in 25 series (dating back to the Baltimore game). The Bears failed to score on the two-point conversion but were just five points down. Chicago forced another takeaway when Adrian Amos stripped and recovered the ball from Ingram with 2:12 left. Although the Bears turned the ball over on downs, they had another chance after Lutz's 49-yard field goal put them behind by eight points. However, Trubisky's pass for Tre McBride was intercepted by Marshon Lattimore to seal the loss. Miller was taken to the University Medical Center New Orleans for treatment. In addition to a dislocated knee, Miller was revealed to have torn the popliteal artery in his region, an injury that is common in car accidents and raised the possibility of amputation. Vascular surgery was successfully completed the day after the game. The overturning of Miller's catch was controversial. Cheffers defended the call, stating when Miller was falling to the turf, he "has to survive the ground. He went to the ground, he temporarily lost control of the ball. The ball hit the ground; therefore it's incomplete." The NFL's Vice President of Officiating Alberto Riveron also maintained Miller had not completed the catch, but predecessors Mike Pereira and Dean Blandino argued otherwise. "At some point the process of the catch ends, and it ends when he rolls over on the ground with control. It was ruled a catch on the field. I didn't see anything definitive to overturn it and quite frankly, if it had been ruled incomplete on the field, if it had been me in the command center, I would have reversed it to a catch," Blandino said. On Monday, John Fox announced he would send video of the play to the NFL.
Output: By how many games were the Saints trailing the series with the Bears?