Chicago defensive lineman Julius Peppers puts on his helmet during practice Thursday as the Bears prepare to host the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Sunday.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Aaron Rodgers, get ready for Julius Peppers. Jay Cutler, have fun dodging Clay Matthews.

With their rocket arms and fleet feet, both quarterbacks have a chance to cement themselves among the game’s best when the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears take their historic rivalry to a new level in Sunday’s NFC championship game at Soldier Field.

This will be the 182nd meeting between these teams — none more anticipated than this one. Only once have they played in the postseason and that was a week after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when the Bears beat the Packers at Wrigley Field.

The men behind center certainly will be under the spotlight, but the guys on the other side just might steal it. After all, both defenses are ranked among the league’s stingiest.

“It’s probably the best defense we’ve played to date, just fundamentally sound in the way they’re playing,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.

Bears cornerback Charles Tillman said, “Right now, the best thing we can do is outexecute their defense.”

It won’t be easy.

The Packers boast the league’s fifth-ranked defense and tied for second with 47 sacks, the highest ranking in franchise history. Matthews was fourth in the league with 13Z\x. That doesn’t bode well for Cutler, who got sacked a league-leading 52 times.

Yes, the protection improved down the stretch, but containing the blitz won’t be easy.

“I would expect them to be aggressive,” said Cutler, who got sacked six times in a loss at Green Bay to end the regular season. “They have in the past four or five games, you know with Charles (Woodson) blitzing a lot and Clay Matthews and those guys. We’ve just got to be on our keys and our tips, hit our hot routes and do what we do in the offense.”

Rodgers figures to have his hands full, too, against a team that seemed like a long shot at best to reach the playoffs not too long ago.

The Bears were a mess at 4-3, with three losses in four games heading into their off week. Cutler had little protection and there was no balance on offense, but they fixed that, sparking a 7-1 run that gave them the NFC North championship and a first-round bye.

The defense was never an issue, though.

The Bears made a big investment after missing the playoffs for three straight years when they signed Peppers to a six-year deal worth potentially $91.5 million. The return to form of healthy Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher after he missed almost all of last year with a wrist injury provided a major boost, too.

Throw in another Pro Bowl season from Lance Briggs, and it’s not hard to see why the Bears’ defense ranked ninth this season.