Bears, Packers clash for title
CHICAGO — Cheeseheads, get ready for the Monsters of the Midway.
As if the league’s oldest rivalry needed an extra kick, Jay Cutler and the Chicago Bears gave it a big one by beating the Seattle Seahawks 35-24 in a divisional playoff game Sunday.
That means they’ll host Green Bay in the NFC championship game. That’s right, it’s Packers and Bears again, only this time, a spot in the Super Bowl is at stake.
“I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of hype around this game building up to it,” Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher said.
Well, let the hype begin.
The Bears have played the Packers 181 times, but never have they met for the NFC title. If they beat Green Bay, they’ll have a shot at their first championship since Walter Payton, Mike Singletary and the “punky QB” Jim McMahon shuffled all over the opposition 25 years ago.
Before they could think about a rematch with Green Bay, the Bears did their part against Seattle in their first playoff game since the 2006 Super Bowl season.
Cutler threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in his first postseason appearance, and the Bears pounded the Seahawks from the start, jumping out to a 28-0 lead against the first division winner with a losing record.
Now, they’re staring at a rather scary No. 6 seed.
Green Bay dominated top-seeded Atlanta 48-21 on Saturday behind a superb effort by Aaron Rodgers, who threw for 366 yards and three touchdowns.
“They looked good and we knew we had to come out and kind of make a statement like they did last night,” Bears tight end Greg Olsen said, “and I think for the most part we did.”
Olsen did his part with three catches for 113 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown in the opening minutes that set the tone.
Cutler threw for 274 yards, completing 15 of 28 passes, and finished with a 111.3 rating. When he wasn’t beating the Seahawks with his arm, he was doing it with his feet, running for touchdowns of 6 and 9 yards.
The Bears defense, meanwhile, shut down an offense that scored 41 points in a stunning win over defending champion New Orleans last week. The Seahawks wound up with 276 yards but had just 111 through three quarters, and all their points came after the game got out of hand.
The Bears harassed Matt Hasselbeck, who threw for 258 yards. Chicago also held Seattle to 34 on the ground. Marshawn Lynch finished with two yards on four attempts a week after delivering that spectacular TD run against New Orleans.
But there were no more shockers.
