Bears receiver Devin Hester watches as the Packers' Clay Matthews (52) and B.J. Raji celebrate their NFC title. (Scott Strazzante/Tribune)
By Fred Mitchell
It was Super Bowl or bust, and the Chicago Bears came up empty.
On a sun-splashed, chilly Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field, the Bears and Green Bay Packers finally met in one of the most-anticipated NFC Championship Games ever.
With Jay Cutler sidelined for the rest of the game by a knee injury after one third-quarter series, emergency quarterback Caleb Hanie led a valiant comeback that kept the Bears close, but an interception by rookie Sam Shields with 37 seconds remaining sealed a 21-14 Packers victory.
Green Bay advances to meet the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl, while the Bears' season ends after an 11-5 regular season, an NFC North title and a playoff victory over Seattle.
"It's a disappointing way to end our season, it's not the way we wanted to end it," Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "No one expected us to be here, we know that, but it doesn't make it any easier for us. We expected to win this game, we expected to play good ... just too many mistakes. Give them all the credit. They played better than we did."
Bears coach Lovie Smith said there was "disappointment in the locker room. We feel like we made progress with our program this year and eventually we'll put that ring on."
Smith said team trainers and doctors concurred that Cutler couldn't continue after playing only one series in the third quarter because of the knee injury.
"Jay hurt his knee. He couldn't go. He tried to go," Smith said. "Jay was disappointed that he couldn't go out and play and help his team win."
Under persistent questioning about Cutler's injury, Smith said, "Hey, guys: He hurt his knee, and he was out. All right? There's nothing else for me to tell you on that. I don't know exactly when it happened. He couldn't go, we moved on. Let's go to some other questions."
Cutler said afterward that he was unable to plant his foot and throw, and hoped the injury will not require surgery.
"I was going to keep playing," Cutler said of the team's decision to go to backup Todd Collins. "We taped it up (at halftime), warmed it up a little bit and gave it a shot, but couldn't do it."
He said he had "no comment at all" for anyone who questioned his toughness.
Collins initially replaced Cutler but was ineffective in two series and gave way to Hanie.
"We didn't like what we were getting (with Collins) and made the change," said Smith, adding that Collins wasn't injured. "We felt like we needed to go in a different direction and we did."
Hanie entered with 57 seconds left in the third quarter. Early in the fourth, he led a scoring drive capped by a Chester Taylor 1-yard TD run to pull the Bears to within 14-7 with 12:05 left.
Hanie then was intercepted by Packers nose tackle B.J. Raji, who returned it 18 yards for a touchdown that put Green Bay ahead 21-7 with 6:12 remaining.
But the Bears weren't done. Hanie hit Earl Bennett on a 35-yard TD pass to bring the Bears to within 21-14 with 4:43 left. But the Shields interception, his second of the game, sealed the Green Bay victory.
Hanie completed 13 of 20 passes for 153 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions for a passer rating of 65.2.
"Caleb came in and did a good job for us," Urlacher said.
Hanie said he was ready when called upon and didn't feel like the deficit was insurmountable.
"I never felt out of it, I felt comfortable and that's how our team has been all year," Hanie said. "Just fight, fight and fight some more, even if we're down or people don't believe in us. We may not have a good game offensively, but we always try to bounce back and fight. That's the message that Lovie and coach (Mike) Martz have sent to us: just be resilient."
Asked about Cutler's inability to return to the game and his toughness, Urlacher said, "Jay was hurt. I don't question his toughness. He's tough as hell. He's one of the toughest guys on our football team."
Matt Forte gave the Bears' offense a spark, rushing for 70 yards on 17 carries (4.1 average) and catching a team-high 10 passes for 90 yards.
Green Bay had taken a 14-0 second-quarter lead on a four-yard run by James Starks at the 11:13 mark. The Packers also struck on their first drive, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers (17-of-30, 244 yards, no TDs, two interceptions, 55.4 rating) capping an 84-yard march by scoring on a 1-yard bootleg around left end for a 7-0 lead.
Packers Pro Bowl left tackle Chad Clifton left the game with a stinger midway through the first quarter. He was replaced by T.J. Lang on the Packers' second possession. He went to the locker room but returned to action in the second quarter.
Cutler and the Bears' offense got off to a slow start, with the Packers' defense forcing punts on their first two possessions.
An Urlacher sack of Rodgers knocked the Packers out of field-goal range, and the Bears had possession deep in their own territory as the first quarter ended.
The Packers went up 14-0 on the 4-yard TD run by Starks. The score capped a 5-play, 44-yard drive with 11:13 to go until halftime.
The Bears got an interception by linebacker Lance Briggs late in the first half. A low pass from Rodgers was dropped by wide receiver Donald Driver and the ball caromed into the arms of Briggs at the Bears' 38 with 53 seconds left in the half. He advanced the pick to the 42.
Cutler passed 17 yards to Matt Forte over the middle. On the next play, Cutler's deep pass intended for Johnny Knox was intercepted by Shields at the Green Bay 3. The half ended with Green Bay leading 14-0.
Green Bay continued to dissect the Bears' defense early in the third period. A pass interference call on Tim Jennings while covering James Jones gave the Packers a first down on the Bears' 8. But on third down, Urlacher intercepted a Rodgers pass and returned it 39 yards to the 45. Rodgers made a possible touchdown-saving tackle.
Collins took over at quarterback on the Bears next possession for the injured Cutler, who completed only 6 of 14 passes for 80 yards and an interception, for a passer rating of 31.8.
Hanie eventually led the rally that pulled the Bears to within a touchdown late in the game. But with 37 seconds remaining, Hanie's pass intended for Knox was intercepted by Shields, his second of the game. He returned it 31 yards to the Packers 43 to wrap up the Green Bay victory.
Bears safety Chris Harris was active for the game and in the starting lineup despite dealing with a torn muscle in his left hip.
The Bears didn't have any lineup changes. That meant Pisa Tinoisamoa, who missed
a day of practice last week while resting a sore knee, started at strong-side linebacker.
Also, the Bears activated tight end Desmond Clark, who dropped a touchdown pass in the regular-season meeting with the Packers at Soldier Field. Clark was expected to be used as a receiver, with Devin Aromashodu inactive for the game.
The other inactives for the Bears were Joshua Moore, Craig Steltz, Kahlil Bell, Herman Johnson, Edwin Williams, and Marcus Harrison. Hanie was the third quarterback.
For the Packers, safety Atari Bigby was active for the first time since Week 16. And fullback Korey Hall was active coming off an injury.
Source: http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2011/01/bears-game-day-xxxx-xxxxx-xxxxxx.html
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