LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Facing the NFL’s most prolific offense Thursday night at Soldier Field will present a unique and difficult challenge for the up-and-down Bears defense.

The high-powered New Orleans Saints lead the league in total yards with 405.9 per game and passing yards with 310.2 per outing while averaging 28.2 points, the second most in the NFL.  

Adewale Ogunleye slams Drew Brees to the ground during the Bears' 33-25 win over the Saints in last year's finale.

The unit is led by quarterback Drew Brees, who has thrown for a league-high 4,100 yards, is tied for first in the NFL with 26 touchdown passes and ranks fourth with a 96.2 passer rating.

“He’s been playing great,” said defensive end Adewale Ogunleye. “One thing we’ve talked about this year is quarterbacks who get the ball out [quickly]. We’re going to have a little bit of a problem with that. He gets the ball out really fast. He’s not holding onto the ball a lot.”

When Brees doesn’t unload the ball quickly, he has the ability to elude pass rushers both in and out of the pocket, keeping plays alive.

“He just moves slightly to the left or to the right—a lot like what Tom Brady does—just slight movements so he can get the ball off,” said defensive end Alex Brown. “You think you’re there and then he completes a 38-yard pass down the field.”

“He runs around,” said safety Kevin Payne. “He can buy time all day because he’s so athletic. He’s like a corner in the backfield running around. He buys time and lets his receivers get open. He’s a good player. That’s why he has the numbers he has.”

Brees has posted huge numbers against the Bears in frigid conditions at Soldier Field each of the past two seasons, but the Saints quarterback doesn’t have a victory to show for it.

In the 2006 NFC title game, he completed 27 of 49 passes for 354 yards with 2 TDs, one interception and an 83.2 passer rating in a 39-14 defeat. In last year’s season finale, he connected on 35 of 60 passes for 320 yards with 3 TDs, 2 interceptions and a 75.7 rating in a 33-25 loss.

“The guy’s good,” Brown said. “His offensive line blocks well. As a defensive line and as a defense, we’ve got our work cut out for us. There’s a very talented, powerful offense coming in here.”

Given the Saints' explosiveness, it's imperative for the Bears' front four to pressure Brees, who has only been sacked 10 times while throwing 503 passes this season.

"It's always a key when you play against an offense that can move the ball like that," said coach Lovie Smith. "You need to get pressure. I don't think they get off the bus running the ball; they get off the bus throwing the ball, so you  have to be able to put pressure with your front four. We have done that in the past and hopefully we can do it again."

While the Saints have moved the ball through the air with efficiency in their last two appearances at Soldier Field, Brees has been sacked three times and lost one of two fumbles in each game. 

Bears defensive end Mark Anderson forced a fumble on this sack of Saints quarterback Drew Brees in the 2006 NFC title game.

“We’ve gotten turnovers,” Ogunleye said. “We were able to get after him and sack him a little bit. They’ve always had a good offense. But what we do best is create turnovers and put our offense in scoring positions, and hopefully we’ll do that again this week.”

“One way to slow them down is to get some takeaways, and we’ve been able to cause some fumbles and get some picks,” said defensive coordinator Bob Babich.

The Bears lead the NFL in takeaways this year with 27 and they have a league-high 167 in Smith’s five seasons as coach.

Adding to that total Thursday night against the Saints (7-6) would provide a huge boost for the Bears (7-6), who have lost the tiebreaker with the Vikings (8-5) and therefore must finish with a better record than Minnesota to win the NFC North title.

“We’re excited about the challenge,” Babich said. “It’s a short week. It’s a great situation as far as two teams vying for a playoff spot, so it’s an exciting time.”

While the Saints possess a pass-oriented offense, they rushed for a season-high 184 yards in last Sunday’s 29-25 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Pierre Thomas gained 102 yards on 16 carries, while Reggie Bush added 80 yards on 10 attempts.

In last year’s finale, Thomas became the first individual opponent in Bears history to compile 100 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving in the same game.

“Recently the run-pass ratio has been closer to balanced,” Babich said. “I think that’s the direction they’re headed.”

“It opens up their offense,” Payne said. “It makes them more balanced and it makes them better, so we’re just going to have to bring our big-boy pads and be able to defend the run and the pass this week.”

Bracing for both will be difficult, but the Bears must find a way to limit big plays.

“They have a lot of weapons,” Babich said. “If you stack up to play the run, they’re going to go ahead and throw it. If you play seven men in the box, they’re going to go ahead and check to the run. You’ve just got to be diversified in what you do and you’ve got to try to keep them off balance.”

“They run draws, they run screens,” Brown said. “They run little swing passes and stuff like that to get outside because they’ve got some speed back there. We’ve got to make sure we hit them. We’ve got to be physical. 

"It’s going to be a little chilly. They’re used to the dome, so hopefully that affects them a little bit. But we can’t expect that to affect them. We’ve got to make sure that our play affects what they do.”