Chicago Bears at New Orleans Saints: Everything you need to know about the NFC playoff game

The Chicago Bears didn’t have the 2020 season they had envisioned, enduring a six-game losing streak to finish 8-8.

But they still made the postseason thanks to a late-season surge and an Arizona Cardinals collapse, and coach Matt Nagy said his team is ready to embrace the new opportunity that awaits Sunday when they face the New Orleans Saints in a playoff game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

“To be able to have a chance to be in the tournament, in that dance for two out of the three years is what these guys worked for,” Nagy said. “Did we want to have a better year? Absolutely. Did we want to win the division? Absolutely. We’d love to do that every single year and have a bye. But we don’t. Every year’s different, and these guys found a way to get to it. Now you have a whole week of practice, and we’re going to have an opportunity to see what we’re made of Sunday.”

It is the Bears’ second playoff appearance in three seasons under Nagy, the last a 16-15 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles to end the 2018 season. Now they take on a Saints team that finished 12-4 and is looking to put three straight Januaries of playoff disappointments behind them.

The third and final NFC Wild Card game of the NFL's "Super Wild Card Weekend" has the Chicago Bears taking on the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon. The Bears (8-8) lost last week to the Packers but still claimed the final wild-card berth courtesy of winning the tiebreaker (best win percentage in common games) with the Cardinals. The Saints (12-4) finished off their regular season with an easy, 33-7 victory over the Panthers.

But New Orleans knows full well that what you do in the regular season matters little, and the Saints have the playoff scars to prove it. Three seasons ago, New Orleans was on the wrong end of the "Minneapolis Miracle" against Minnesota in the Divisional Round. That was followed by an even more painful (and controversial) overtime loss at home to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship Game. And last season, the Vikings struck again, this time beating the Saints in overtime in the Wild Card Round.

Chicago has experienced its share of postseason disappointment as well. In the 2018 playoffs, the NFC North champion Bears fell at home to Philadelphia 16-15 in the Wild Card Round, as kicker Cody Parkey infamously double-doinked his 43-yard field goal attempt with just 10 seconds left.

Inside linebackers Josh Woods, who is questionable with toe and glute injuries, and Joel Iyiegbuniwe would be the next in line to fill in for Smith, while the Bears could lean on Anthony Miller more heavily without Mooney.

The Saints declared out defensive end Trey Hendrickson with a neck injury. Hendrickson tied for second in the NFL with Aaron Donald with 13½ sacks. T.J. Watt led the league with 15.

Saints guard Nick Easton also will miss the game after he went on injured reserve with a concussion.

The Saints returned running back Alvin Kamara and defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson from the reserve/COVID-19 list and brought back wide receivers Michael Thomas and Deonte Harris and cornerback Patrick Robinson from injured reserve.