3 key stats that defined the Bears stifling victory vs. Saints

The Chicago Bears (4-2) won ugly and tacked on another victory to their now four-game winning streak thanks to a 26-14 home battle versus the New Orleans Saints (1-6) in week seven.

It was not always easy for Caleb Williams, Ben Johnson and company, but the early strides by this team over the first third of the season have been palpable. To learn how they filed another game into the win column, look no further than these three stats to see the whole story:

216

For the second game in a row, the Bears running backs dominated the opposing defense, finishing Sunday's contest with 216 rushing yards as a position group.

After an impressive performance last week where D'Andre Swift totaled 175 all-purpose yards, the lead back followed it up with 124 yards and a score on the ground over 19 carries on Sunday. Seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai had his best game of his young career with 81 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Roschon Johnson also added 11 yards on his lone rush.

Cumulatively, the running backs averaged over 6.5 yards per carry and scored both of the team's two touchdowns. Improving the rushing attack has evidently been a big part of the Bears' post-bye week plans, and with just two games to look at, it appears that the offense has been able to do just that. As long as the defense continues to play well, the Bears can dominate teams and games by churning out yards and clock on the ground.

4

Dennis Allen's defense dominated in his first game versus his old team, finishing with four turnovers and four sacks.

Allen spent 15 total years on the Saints' staff prior to becoming the Bears' defensive coordinator this offseason, and his new defense flexed their muscles on Sunday. The win marked their third game where they forced four turnovers, and their fourth straight game with three or more turnovers, upping their season total to 16, the best mark in the league.

This is made even more impressive when because the Bears are one of a fraction of teams who have already had their bye. Both Kevin Byard and Tremaine Edmunds tacked on interceptions, upping their season totals to four and three, respectively, while becoming two of just seven players with three or more interceptions this season.

If forcing turnovers on the back-end was not enough, the Bears made improvements up front, finishing with a season-high four total sacks. Three of these came from blitzes on the back-end of the defense (Jaquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon and Edmunds), but the Bears pass-rush is steadily improving, and will only get better once Grady Jarrett and Austin Booker are able to rejoin the team. For his efforts versus his old squad, Allen was awarded the lone post-game game ball.

6:06

Winning the game for 60 minutes is always the goal, and the Bears were near-perfect in that attempt, outside of a crucial 6:06 stretch.

The Bears looked to be the much better team on Sunday, but the Saints still had a productive run that bears mentioning. Between their final drive of the first half and the first drive of the second half, New Orleans totaled 171 yards and 14 points on just 15 plays, including a 46-second, 91-yard scoring drive to get on the board before halftime.

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Outside of this period, the Bears outscored the Saints 26-0 and outgained them 376 to 82. The final score, because of this run, ended up being closer than the actual game was, but it serves as a good reminder, especially to the defense, to not let your foot off the gas pedal and let lesser teams back into close games. This team is still learning how to win, and this was a big one for a Bears team who was the more talented squad on Sunday.