Bears 33, Saints 25
CHICAGO -- Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears raced past the New Orleans Saints and ended their bid for a return to the playoffs. Hester sprinted 64 yards for a touchdown on a punt return, his NFL-record sixth kick runback for a score this season to break the mark he set a year ago.
He also caught a 55-yard scoring pass from Kyle Orton as the Bears beat the Saints, 33-25.
New Orleans’ slim chances hinged on beating the Bears (7-9) and hoping for losses by the Redskins and Vikings.
Drew Brees and Marques Colston hooked up for two first-half touchdown passes for the Saints (7-9), and Brees set a single-season NFL record for completions (443), passing the mark of 418 set by Rich Gannon in 2002. But Colston hurt his left wrist and spent the second half on the sidelines.
Hester ended up with four punt return touchdowns and two scores on kickoffs this season. Last year he had five.
Quoteworthy: “Look at the way we’re playing right now. We should have been doing that all season.” -- Devin Hester, Bears kick returner
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