Next Stop… Miami. Da Bears are back
in the Super Bowl with dominating 39-14 Win!
by Dan Peters
Going into today’s
game, The National media gave the Bears little chance of stopping the
NFL’s most explosive offense, but an inspired Bears defense proved them
wrong
Sunday.
The rejuvenated
Bears defense registered three sacks, forced three turnovers and held
the Saints to their second lowest point total of the season in a 39-14
victory in the NFC Championship Game. The George Halas Trophy returned
home Sunday for the first time in 21 years.
This was the most
lopsided Bears playoff victory since thrashing the
New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX.
You could see
it in her face how excited she was,” coach Lovie Smith “This was a
dream for her for a long time. We told her we would do that. The team
told her that they would bring it to her. She’s happy right now, but
the next game she’ll be even happier.” The Bears will face Peyton Manning and the
Indianapolis Colts in Miami in Super Bowl XLI on February 4. The odds
makers have already installed the Bears as 7 point underdogs.
Indianapolis rallied from a 21-3 deficit to beat the Patriots 38-34 in
the AFC title game
Are these Bears
worried? Hardly.. “I’m
very proud,” said defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. “It seemed like we
were an underdog. Nobody was picking us to win and I think our guys
kind of took that personal. They came out with a great attitude and
played real hard.
“We made a
couple mistakes giving up some big plays, but for the most part the
guys weathered the storm and made big plays when we had to. They did a
tremendous job.” It’s not nice
to taunt Mr. Brian Urlacher.
“We knew what the
experts were saying all week long, so it’s exciting for us,” said middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. “It
doesn’t matter what anyone says. We knew what we had to do to win and
we went out and
did it.”
The New
Orleans Saints entered Sunday’s game with the NFL’s No. 1-ranked
offense, a unit that features All-Pro quarterback Drew Brees, running
back Deuce McAllister and rookie Reggie Bush. The Chicago defense
registered three sacks and limited the Saints rushing attack to
56 yards on 12 carries. But
tonight, the combination of Thomas Jones
and Cedric Benson proved to be the duo to beat, rushing for a combined
196 yards. Jones had 123 of those with most coming on his second
quarter 69 yard burst putting the Bears up 16-0 The 123 yards on
19 carries is Bears a franchise playoff record.
The Saints
rallied to cut the deficit to 16-14 with touchdowns on consecutive
drives. The Bears defense didn’t allow the Saints to advance beyond its
own 42-yard line on its final six possessions of the game.
They have good skill
players,” Urlacher said. “We gave up some plays, but we never put our
heads down. We told ourselves to just keep playing hard every time we
went out there, and we did it. We got 11 guys to the football. We got
takeaways just like we did all year long and came out on top.”
The
turning point of the game…
Lance Briggs
and defensive end Mark Anderson pressured Brees into an intentional
grounding penalty in the end zone, which resulted in a safety that
widened the Bears’ lead to 18-14 with 5:27 left in the third quarter.
Good Rex? Or Bad
Rex?
Rex Grossman
made the plays when he needed to, hopefully quieting his critics. “It
doesn’t get any better than this right now,” Grossman said. “I’m
excited about the position we’re in right now. We’ve got one more win
before we can call ourselves world champions.”
Our running
game was unbelievable,” Grossman said. “We ran it right down their
throat in the second quarter. Our offensive line cleared the way and
our running backs really saw the holes well and made great cuts. Our
running game was on it today.”
The Clincher…
Thomas Jones
sealed the victory with a 15-yard TD run with 4:19 to play, igniting a
wild celebration that included the customary Gatorade shower for the
Bears head coach.
“It doesn’t
get any better than that,” Lovie Smith said recording the biggest
victory of his career. “You start off early in the year—minicamps,
training camp; all those things. You see how hard the team works, you
lay out a plan and they buy into it. You want it to end this way.”
This is big,”
said Desmond Clark “When Lovie first came in he said, ‘We want to
be Super Bowl champions,’ and now it’s right here in front of us. It’s
not a dream anymore. It’s reality. Once we took over that game, that’s
what I kept thinking: a dream is coming true right now. Athletically,
this is the biggest thing I’ve ever been through in my life.”
Super Bowl history in the making…
For the first
time in Super Bowl history, not one, but two African-American coaches
will take the field in Miami. Lovie Smith will reunite with his good
friend Tony Dungy.
Record setting
season for the Bears in the 2006 Season….
The Bears set
team records for most points in the first quarter..
24 against the
49ers.
Field goals
made in a season (32)
Punt return
yards in a game (152 at Arizona)
Punt returns
for touchdowns in a season (3)
Kickoff returns
by an opponent in a season (83)
Penalties by an
opponent in a season (132).
The Bears tied team
records for most points in the first half (41 against the 49ers),
fewest missed field goals in a season (4), kickoff returns for
touchdowns in a season (2), fumble returns for touchdowns in a game (2
at Arizona) and punts by an opponent in a season (100).
Next Up… The SUPER
BOWL February 4, 2007
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