Not quite
The Saints came up short in their bid to become the sixth team to go from last in their division to the Super Bowl.

Cincinnati did it twice, going from 6-10 to 12-4 in 1981 and from 4-11 to 12-4 in 1988. St. Louis jumped from 4-12 to 13-3 in 1999, New England went 11-5 in 2001 after going 5-11, and Carolina went from 7-9 to 11-5 in 2003.

The Saints fell one win shy of the championship game after going 3-13 a year ago.

Big foot
Chicago’s Brad Maynard had seven punts against the Saints and two of his kicks were instrumental in pinning New Orleans deep in its own territory in the second half.

Maynard’s 51-yard boot that went out on the 5 came two plays before Drew Brees was called for intentionally grounding from the end zone, giving the Bears a safety.

“Brad pinned them down there,” Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher said.

After Chicago’s next possession, Maynard booted one 66 yards.

Maynard is one of a handful of Bears to have previously played in the Super Bowl, when he was with the Giants. He averaged a net of 42.4 yards on his kicks.

Extra points
The Saints were minus-5 in turnovers in the playoffs after going minus-4 for the regular season. ... The Bears have six sacks in the postseason, after getting 40 in the regular season. Israel Idonije, Mark Anderson and Adewale Ogunleye each had one for Chicago on Sunday. ... Robbie Gould tied a Bears postseason record for most field goals in a game with three — all in the first half. That also tied Morten Anderson’s NFC title game record for field goals in a half. Gould has five postseason field goals in his career, tying him for second on the Bears’ list with Jack Manders and Bob Snyder.

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