This game was a tale of two halves. In the first half, the Packers wanted it more, but as I warned, let the Bears hang around...hang around. In the second half, the Bears wanted it more, perhaps rejuvenated by the insertion of Caleb Haine of all people. The result was a spirited comeback that couldn't quite finish. The Packers had every opportunity to put the Bears away early and often, but their offense could not generate the kind of rhythm that led to them being in the top 5 all season.
In the end, the Bears came within 30 yards of a tie game and overtime (potentially), but a poor decision to throw into coverage by a 3rd string quarterback essentially let the Packers off the hook. They have plenty to work on in advance of the Super Bowl, but they ended up justifying the pundits that had proclaimed them the better team all week. We all knew that the Bears lived and died with quarterback play. We didn't quite anticipate this outcome or this quarterback, but Jay Cutler (when he was in the game) did not play well, and that was critical. Todd Collins was dare I say worse, and while the Packers could not take advantage to the point of blowing the Bears out, they were able to hold on enough to escape Soldier Field (and I do mean escape) with a 21-14 win, their 5th Super Bowl appearance, and they become the 1st ever 6 seed to make it out of the NFC.
Just so you know, the Redskins beat both of these teams!
Stay tuned, we'll be covering the AFC Championship game next: New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers.
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