It’s been a very, very long time since the New Orleans Saints last lost to the Chicago Bears. Sure, it’s just an eight-game win streak — but that streak runs all the way back to 2008. If we end up jinxing the Saints with this one, we’ll own it. But some confidence is warranted.
Let’s spin the clock back. It was Dec. 11, 2008 when Chicago last claimed a victory. A first-quarter kickoff return touchdown for the Bears proved to be a difference-maker in a 27-24 overtime win, though fan-favorite Saints running back Pierre Thomas rallied back with a 42-yard touchdown run in front of his hometown crowd on Thursday Night Football. Drew Brees quarterbacked New Orleans, of course, but it was Kyle Orton leading Chicago.
What about all of the big names in this year’s Saints-Bears game? How old were Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams the last time Chicago came out on top? Where were Ben Johnson, Kellen Moore, Dennis Allen and Brandon Staley in their coaching careers? The youngest player on the Saints’ roster, rookie left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., was just 4 years, 9 months, and 1 day old at the time. Let’s run through the list and highlight some other notable characters in Sunday’s matchup:
- Spencer Rattler was 8 years, 2 months, and 14 days old, growing up in Phoenix, Ariz. He had started playing quarterback in peewee football the year before which developed into a lifelong passion.
- Caleb Williams was 7 years, 24 days old, growing up in Washington, D.C., and had already begun playing tackle football as a 5-year old; he was nicknamed “Bobby Boucher” after the hard-hitting Louisianan Adam Sandler character from The Waterboy. Frustrated after a tough loss, Williams gave up playing defense at a young age to focus on throwing the ball himself.
- Kellen Moore was 20 years, 5 months, and 7 days old, and gaining national attention in his first year as Boise State’s starting quarterback. The Broncos had just gone 12-0 with Moore under center in the regular season (for which he was recognized as the all-conference Freshman of the Year), and were preparing for a Poinsettia Bowl rivalry game with TCU.
- Ben Johnson was 22 years, 7 months, and 1 day old, working as a software developer in Durham, N.C. after graduating from North Carolina. He began his coaching career the next year as a graduate assistant at Boston College.
- Dennis Allen was 36 years, 2 months, and 20 days old, and working his third year on Sean Payton’s Saints coaching staff, his first as the secondary coach. He was already seven years into his NFL coaching career.
- Brandon Staley was 26 years and 2 days old, working as a graduate assistant at Northern Illinois, a little over an hour away from Chicago proper. He spent the next decade coaching at various levels of college football before getting his first NFL job with the Bears in 2017.
- Demario Davis was 19 years, 11 months, and 1 day old as a sophomore at Arkansas State. A year earlier, he had just experienced a three-day stint at a county jail for shoplifting groceries which he still says turned his life around. Davis embraced life as a born-again Christian and leader for his college football team. He led the Red Wolves with 80 tackles his sophomore year and catapulted himself onto the NFL’s radar with all-conference honors after his junior and senior seasons.
- Case Keenum was 20 years, 9 months, and 25 days old and remained the Houston Cougars’ starting quarterback after taking over late in the season before. As a redshirt junior, he became the school’s second-ever 5,000-yard passer and was named Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year.