Weather Conditions Will Lead Bears To Super Bowl
NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
NEW ORLEANS @ CHICAGO (-2 1/2)
This should be a memorable NFC Championship Game. Before the reports of poor weather in Chicago I would have given the overall edge to New Orleans. Besides, the fact that no dome-dwelling team has ever won a conference championship on the road and especially in the chilly confines of Chicago, as Saints coach Sean Payton said, the footing may be iffy.
That doesn't bode well for a Saints team banking on the quick cutbacks and breakaway speed of Reggie Bush and I believe he's the key to this offense. Without his versatility the Saints are still a potent offense but the "x" factor for defenses is how to keep the rest of the offense tamp down while keeping Bush's magnificent ability to make big something's out of little or nothing to the bare minimum.
Football lore says the Monster of the Midway were created for a game like this. Brian Urlacher has a lot more responsibility than usual with a few injury on defense, but he's going to have be the stopper, as always, for the Bears. I like their special teams with Devin Hester--a weapon that can be a gamebreaker in high-pressure games. This game will be tight and surely on the foot of Bears kicker Robbie Gould.
We should be spared from the unbelievably obvious Super Bowl storyline involving New Orleans rise(?) from Katrina to the Super Bowl because the Bears will pull this one out in the last seconds. Unfortunately, instead, we'll have to read about how bad Bears QB Rex Grossman has played despite winning 15 games this year.
BEARS 20, SAINTS 17.
||||||||IN-GAME BLOG||||||1st QUARTER
Turnovers have been big in this game, but the Bears have only three points and maybe more. Interestingly enough it hasn't been the chilly conditions that have caused the two Saints fumbles, but hard tackling and stripping of the ball by the Bears....Rex Grossman's attempt to call a second consecutive timeout near the goal line should be a bit disconcerning. The QB position is personified as the leader of the team and Grossman looked anything but a field general when his tight end Desmond Clark motioned him back under center....Fox announcer Joe Buck described the turf at Soldier Field as "soupy"--great imagery.
||||||||IN-GAME BLOG||||||2nd QUARTER
The first half was a microcosm of the Bears season. Rex Grossman: 3-for-12, 37 yards, zero touchdowns and the Bears dominanting 16-7......The last minute touchdown drive showed there's a lot of fight still in the Saints. After a few drops and poor passes from Drew Brees everything started to click culminating in a pinpoint pass to Marques Colston. It will be interesting to see if the Bears can squelch their newfound hope......Reggie Bush has 15 total yards.....Surprisingly, bullrunning running back Deuce McAllister has been silent, maybe by design. McAllister's freshness might be important if this game is tight in the fourth quarter
||||||||IN-GAME BLOG||||||3rd QUARTER
The Saints came out of the half with momentum and held onto it. Sean Payton is a great coach and he proved it with his playcalling on Bush's 88-yard scamper. He must has noticed that the Bears secondary was suceptible to an over-the-top pass.....The Bears safety on Brees' penalty in the endzone could be big. It took a one field goal game and made it two. Brees did everything he could. Two points is better than a back breaking touchdown.....As freezing rain and snow flurries began to fall, the warm weather Saints played better. Go figure. It's down to the fourth quarter for these two great teams.
||||||||IN-GAME BLOG||||||4th QUARTER
After a tough afternoon, the Bears effectively ended the game with Cedric Benson's touchdown at 11:37.....The safety by the Bears, in hindsight, effectively halted any momentum the Saints had from end of the 1st half to the middle of the 3rd quarter. In the end, the weather may have gotten to the Saints or they were plainly demoralized by the Bears ferocious d-line......I've felt this jubilation before. At some time during the fourth quarter it became obvious that, indeed, their team is going to the Super Bowl. Standing in the Coliseum in Oakland during the 2003 AFC Championship against Tennessee it was Rich Gannon's rushing touchdown that made our dreams a reality. It think Benson's TD to make it 32-14 brought that same euphoria to Chicagoland.
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Saints 0 7 7 0 - 14
Bears 3 13 2 21 - 39
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Labels: Bears, Brian Urlacher, Reggie Bush, Saints
