“The theme of that game…we had our chances,” Moore said. “I thought our guys battled. I thought our guys put [us] in really good position in the middle of the game to come back and get ourself back in it. But then we just couldn’t keep it going. Credit to those guys — they played better than us, they coached better than us. We’ve got to find the formula that works.”

New Orleans has shown it has the ability to create the elements of the formula. It hasn’t been able to create them consistently and sustain them long enough for the scoreboard to reflect the mix.

Rattler (20 of 32 for 233 yards and two touchdowns, and sacked four times for minus-24 yards) had been masterful in his caretaking the first six games. He entered Sunday with one turnover — an interception almost a month ago against Seattle — and six touchdown passes.

But he was sacked and lost a fumble on the Saints’ opening offensive possession, after New Orleans’ defense forced a punt on the game’s opening drive. And after the Saints punted and Blake Grupe missed his sixth field goal this season to end the second and third drives, Rattler’s pass intended for Mason Tipton was intercepted and returned to the Saints’ 30-yard line to conclude the fourth drive.

The lost fumble and interception led to 10 points by the Bears (4-2), and the assistance proved critical.

When Chicago added a touchdown with 2:51 left in the first half the Saints trailed 20-0, and that was more than enough.

Rattler rallied to lead New Orleans on a five-play, 91-yard touchdown drive that lasted 46 seconds and featured passes of 57 and 21 yards to Olave, the latter being the touchdown, to cut the lead to 20-7 with 22 seconds left in the half.

And the Saints opened the second half with a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive — Rattler had a 28-yard completion to tight end Juwan Johnson and a 14-yard touchdown throw to Olave with 9:40 left in the third, shrinking the deficit to 20-14.

But the rally stopped there.

Rattler, who completed 2 of his first 6 passes for 6 yards, with an interception and the lost fumble, warmed considerably (18 of 26 for 227 yards beyond his start), but interceptions on two of New Orleans’ final three possessions helped doom the comeback attempt.

“At the end of the day, we missed some opportunities,” Moore said. “Spence had some really, really good plays in there. There just wasn’t enough and there were too many turnovers. We had four turnovers, we’ve got to protect the football at a much higher level. It’s something we have done in the past, we just didn’t get it done today.”

And the Bears ripped off runs of 23, 24, 11 yards on their final two possessions to help seal it.

“They were junking up the front,” Rattler said. “We knew that was going to be a heavy part of their (defensive) plan. I think it took us a little to settle in. We played behind the sticks a little too much early to where they could get in their package and get after us a little bit.

“We’ve just got to get settled in quicker. Put that on me, as well. I’ve got to get the ball out quicker to start the game, I’ve got to protect the ball. I can’t fumble the ball the second play of the game and give the ball away four times throughout the game.

“Definitely not what I expected to do. But you’ve got to bounce back from that.”