Packers Beat Bears 21-14 to Win NFC Title

Packers Beat Bears 21-14 to Win NFC Title, Advance to Super Bowl 45

CHICAGO -- Aaron Rodgers ran for a touchdown and made a saving tackle, B.J. Raji returned an interception for a score and Sam Shields had two interceptions to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 21-14 win over the Chicago Bears in the NFC championship game Sunday.

The victory sends the Packers (13-6) to the Super Bowl in Dallas on Feb. 6 to meet the winner of the New York Jets-Pittsburgh Steelers AFC title game later Sunday.

Raji's TD return in the final quarter put the Packers up 21-7. Green Bay then withstood a rally led by Chicago third-string quarterback Caleb Hanie. He led two fourth-quarter TD drives, but Chicago's last chance to tie the game ended in the final minute when Shields came up with his second interception in Packers' territory.

Bears starter Jay Cutler hurt his knee and played only one series in the third quarter. Todd Collins replaced him but was ineffective. Chicago ends the season at 12-6.

The sixth-seeded Packers have now won road games in Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago.

The Packers won this 182nd meeting of the NFL's most played rivalry and will be playing for the Vince Lombardi Trophy -- named for their former coach -- in their in fifth Super Bowl.

Rodgers and James Starks had short scoring runs in the opening half as the Packers built a 14-0 lead.

In the third quarter, Rodgers went back to work, connecting with Jordy Nelson for 21 yards and Greg Jennings for 20. After a pass interference call on Chicago's Tim Jennings, the Packers had a first down at the 8.

But on third-and-6, Bears star linebacker Brian Urlacher intercepted a pass by Rodgers and had just the QB to beat for a long TD return. But Rodgers got in Urlacher's way and grabbed just enough of his legs to pull him down at the Bears 45.

The Bears couldn't muster much of anything offensively.

Cutler was having a rough afternoon, going 6 for 14 with 80 yards and an interception before Chicago turned the offense to the little-used Collins. It wasn't immediately apparent when or how Cutler got hurt. Collins lasted two series before he was replaced by third-stringer Hanie.

Rodgers started where he left off last week against Atlanta, throwing passes of 22 and 26 yards to Jennings to open an 84-yard drive on the opening series of the game. He later hit Nelson with a 22-yarder to the Bears 2, then ran in from the 1 on a bootleg after withstanding a hard hit from safety Danieal Manning.

And just like that, the Packers were ahead in the first four minutes.

Taking the ball at the Bears 44 after forcing Brad Maynard to put out of his end zone, the Packers moved in again early in the second.

Rodgers got off a nice dump pass under pressure to Brandon Jackson and the running back made a beauty of a fake to go right past Urlacher and gain 16 yards. Starks then broke off a 12-yard run before Rodgers found Nelson for a 15-yard gain to the 4.

The rookie Starks carried right and weaved his way over the goal line, putting the Packers ahead 14-0 with 11:13 left in the half.

Rodgers was 10 of 15 for 156 yards and an interception in the first half.

The Bears got their offense moving midway through the second quarter but still couldn't score. Cutler had a 24-yard pass to Johnny Knox and then found Chester Taylor for 12 more, carrying to the Packers 30, their deepest penetration of the game.

But the drive stalled after a completion was wiped out by a holding penalty and two carries by Cutler. Instead of trying a long field goal, the Bears punted again and Maynard's kick went over the goal line into the end zone.

Rodgers couldn't find an open receiver on second down and took off for a 25-yard gain to the Bears 45. Chicago's defense dug in and stopped Starks on a third-and-1, forcing a Packers punt.

Shields forced a Cutler fumble with just under two minutes to go -- the Bears' Matt Forte recovered -- but once again Chicago had to punt.

Finally, the bundled up predominantly Bears crowd had something to cheer when Lance Briggs intercepted a pass from Rodgers intended for Donald Driver with 48 seconds to go.

But after a pass to Forte gained 17 yards, Cutler's long heave for Knox down the sideline was picked off by Shields near the goal line with 32 seconds left.

The Packers and Bears met only one other time in the postseason, a 33-14 win by Chicago in 1941, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

After splitting two regular-season games -- the Packers beat the Bears 10-3 in the finale just to get in -- the hype for this matchup overflowed all week.

Green Bay got in as the sixth seed and behind the play of Rodgers, went into Philadelphia and Atlanta for impressive victories. Rodgers had 366 yards passing and threw for three TDs in Green Bay's surprisingly lopsided 48-21 win against the Falcons.

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Todd Collins Packers hold off Bears

Todd Collins Packers hold off Bears, advance to Super Bowl XLV

There was one Monster of the Midway in the NFC championship game and his name was Aaron Rodgers.
He ran for a touchdown. He made a touchdown-saving tackle. And he was better than three Bears quarterbacks in leading the Green Bay Packers to the Super Bowl with an ugly-but-beautiful 21-14 victory Sunday over Chicago.
"It's a dream come true," Rodgers said. "It's an incredible feeling. I'm at a loss for words."
Rodgers kept the Bears' defence off balance all afternoon, Green Bay punter Tim Masthay kept Devin Hester under wraps and the Packers' superb defence took care of the rest in knocking the rival Bears out of the playoffs.
It was the 182nd meeting in the league's most historic rivalry, and the stakes had never been bigger.
Now the Packers (13-6) are headed to Dallas. And no matter what happens in the Super Bowl, the Packers and their fans hold ultimate bragging rights over their rivals to the South. The Packers will play the winner of Sunday night's AFC title game between the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers.
All Jay Cutler could do was watch, having left the game with a knee injury early in the third quarter. And with Cutler sitting, little-known backup Caleb Hanie actually made it a game.
Chicago's third-string quarterback rallied the Bears for a touchdown drive to cut the lead to 14-7 after Chester Taylor's one-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
Hanie and the Bears had a chance to tie the game after the Bears' defence finally got a few stops, but Hanie threw a ball straight to Packers defensive lineman B.J. Raji, who lumbered 18 yards into the end zone for a touchdown to give the Packers a 21-7 lead.
But Hanie wasn't finished, throwing a 35-yard touchdown pass to Earl Bennett to again cut the lead to seven points with 4:43 left.
The Bears (12-6) forced a punt and got the ball back with under three minutes left. Hanie drove the Bears to the Green Bay 29-yard line, then threw a fourth-down interception to Sam Shields — the rookie's second interception of the game.
Now all those Pro Bowl voters who didn't think Rodgers was worthy can relax. They're off the hook.

Getting ready for the Super Bowl

Rodgers will be busy getting ready for the Super Bowl instead.
Rodgers proved ready for the biggest day of his brief but impressive career as the successor to Brett Favre, even if his final stat line didn't look impressive after an ugly, hard-fought game.
He threw for 244 yards with two interceptions, but his play in the first half put the Bears in a hole as their defence that seemed to fall for every play-action fake.
"You have to give credit to their defence," Rodgers said. "I didn't play my best game. They had a good plan."
It was the latest in a series of big moments for Rodgers, who wasn't named to the Pro Bowl but has earned near-universal praise for the way he has played this season — especially since sitting out the Packers' Dec. 19 loss at New England because of a concussion.
Rodgers has been on a hot streak ever since, and doing it under pressure. The Packers would have been out of the playoffs with a loss in either of their last two regular-season games, including the regular season finale against Chicago.
With the Packers leading 14-0 at halftime, Green Bay's defence forced a three-and-out to begin the second half, and Rodgers went back to marching the Packers down the field.
Rodgers then threw an interception to Brian Urlacher on third-and-goal, ran him down near midfield, and just barely prevented him from running it back for a touchdown by throwing him off balance with his attempt at a tackle.
But the Bears couldn't make anything happen with primary backup Todd Collins in for Cutler, and appeared to be headed for a blowout until Hanie took over.
Packers players were surprised Cutler didn't come back.
"You know if he doesn't come back it had to be serious, not to come back and play in this game," Charles Woodson said.
Packers linebacker Clay Matthews wasn't sure when Cutler got hurt.
"Obviously you expect to get four quarters of play, but who knows what we did to him," Matthews said.
Rodgers was stellar on the Packers' first possession of the game, hitting Greg Jennings for long gains and later finding Jordy Nelson wide open after a play fake for a long completion to set up first-and-goal. Rodgers kept the ball on a bootleg two plays later, stretching the ball over the goal-line to put the Packers on the scoreboard first.
But the Packers lost veteran left tackle Chad Clifton to a neck stinger when he collided with a teammate on the touchdown play.
Clifton would return midway through the second quarter.
The Bears went with a heavy dose of running back Matt Forte early on, with very limited success.
Green Bay's defence forced the Bears to punt out of their own end zone late in the first quarter — and returner Tramon Williams bobbled the ball, then got it back to give the Packers' offence good field position. Brandon Jackson faked Urlacher out for a long gain on a screen pass, and Rodgers' pass to Nelson set up James Starks' four-yard touchdown run to give Green Bay a 14-0 lead.
The Bears were in a hole, and even Hanie's unlikely rallies couldn't bring them back.
"Just disappointment," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "We got into a hole but the guys fought back."

 

 

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