Tiller helped Orton with pep talk last season

Purdue coach Joe Tiller said Bears quarterback Kyle Orton, a three-year starter for the Boilermakers, needed a pep talk from his former coach last season, his second of virtual inactivity after starting 15 games as a rookie.

"I talked to him about mentally staying in there and staying positive, which is what he did," said Tiller, who attended Thursday night's game. "I thought he handled it very well in his second year.

"(But) last year he was frustrated. He didn't express it publicly. Sometimes they say things to me they don't say to other people. I could tell it in the tone of his voice."

Tiller said Orton had a completely different mind-set when he came to training camp last summer.

"He was very confident coming into this season," Tiller said. "I spent time with him (last) summer and will spend time with him this summer because he will come to our place in Wyoming. He was confident he could get the starting job and hang on to it."

Tiller also coached Saints quarterback Drew Brees at Purdue, and he says there are similarities between Brees and Orton.

"They are similar in their mental makeup," Tiller said. "They are both fiercely competitive. They are extremely bright guys. They are articulate. They have great poise under pressure. They have different physical skills, but their mental skills match up."

Playoff possibilities: Entering Week 15 action, the Bears (7-6) were No. 6 in the running for the two NFC wild-card spots, trailing the Bucs (9-4), the Cowboys (8-5) and Falcons (8-5), the Eagles (7-5-1) and the Redskins (7-6), who had a better conference record (6-4) than the Bears (5-5).

The Bears had a better conference record than the Saints, who also were 7-6, but were No. 7 in the wild-card race because of their 4-5 mark in the NFC.

The Bears, now 8-6, take sole possession of the No. 6 spot based on head-to-head results but remain a longshot for the playoffs, although they can leapfrog teams in front of them if they lose Sunday.

Even if the Bears win out, they need four of the following five things to happen for them to make it as a wild card:

• The Redskins have to lose one of their remaining games.

• The Eagles have to lose one of their remaining games.

• The Falcons have to lose two of their remaining games.

• The Cowboys have to lose two of their remaining games.

• The Bucs have to lose all three of their remaining games.

In order to win the NFC North, the Bears need to make up 11/2 games on the Vikings (8-5) because Minnesota owns the tiebreaker advantage.

Keeping it tight: After 14 weeks, tight ends Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark had combined for 70 catches, 37 by Olsen and 33 by Clark, and 762 yards, 450 by Olsen and 312 by Clark.

The top two wide receivers, Devin Hester and Rashied Davis, had combined for 72 catches and 932 yards. Hester had 39 catches for 522 yards, while Davis had 33 receptions for 410 yards.

"I just think our tight ends are some of our best players," quarterback Kyle Orton said. "You always try to get your best players the ball. We feel like we have good matchups week in and week out with the tight ends, and if they're open, we certainly try to throw it to them."

Olsen had 8 catches for 45 yards Thursday night, and Clark had 3 for 11 yards.

By the numbers: Alex Brown's second-quarter sack was his sixth of the season, tops on the team. - Kyle Orton's first-quarter passer rating through 14 weeks was 116.6, second in the NFL to the Dolphins' Chad Pennington (116.9). Orton's passer rating in the first quarter against the Saints was 82.6.

- The Bears led the NFL in opening-possession points through 14 weeks with 44 and were second in first-quarter points with 92. Danieal Manning's kickoff return TD to open the game does not count as a possession.