Of course, the biggest Chi-Town W over the weekend was the Bears big playoff win at home over the surprising Seattle Seahawks...surprising in that they were actually still alive in the playoffs after a shocking W against the defending Super Bowl champion Saints. They dominated from start to finish which was fantastic to see. Other than a lucky TD "look what I found" catch by a pretty well shutdown Mike Williams when Peanut Tillman not only dropped, but conveniently tipped up would-be pick right into Williams' hands. The extra point made the score 35-17 Bears with just over 2 minutes left and the Bears slacked off a bit on D but still covered the spread with an 11-point W most predicted but others still did not.
How many of the so-called experts were calling for a trade of Greg Olsen before the season saying he had no place in the Mike Martz offense. Well, he came up pretty HUGE against the Seahawks yesterday, wouldn't you say? His blocking has come a LONG, LONG way too so they can keep him on the field more often and keep the defenses guessing more too. Of course, Kellen Davis and Brandon Manumaleuna (and I spelled that on my own although I did check it) also had some big plays on the day...Davis had the "nail in the coffin" TD from Cutler making it 35-10 and Manumaleuna had a NICE block on the Chester Taylor TD run that made it 14-0 in the 1st quarter.
The Bears advanced to the NFC Championship Game for the second time in 4 years and they'll be hosting this one too. But this time...drum roll please...THIS TIME THEY HOST THE PACKERS! This is the 182nd time they've faced off with the Packers in their 90-year history but the first ever NFC Championship game between the two fierce rivals. That's a bit shocking to me...the first time these two teams have faced off in the NFC Championship Game...WOW! I guess thinking back, it is quite a rare feat when both of these teams are good at the same time so it shouldn't be that surprising as it sure isn't easy to make it this far. However, this is also the first time in nearly 70 years since they've faced each other AT ALL in the playoffs too...not even once during this wild card era. Kinda crazy!
How nuts is it going to be at Soldier Field on Sunday afternoon? Every time these two teams face each other, there are still plenty of the visiting teams' fans in the stands regardless of win-loss records or situation. With the two teams going up against each other with the chance to move on to Dallas (hey, how about those Cowboys? Sorry, couldn't resist) to face the AFC Champ in Super Bowl XLV, it should be even more nuts. Add in the fact that this is the 25th anniversary of the Bears first Super Bowl victorious team - the storied 1985 Bears who are STILL celebrated in this town as if this happened yesterday.
A very minor question came up...if these Bears win the Super Bowl this year, will we finally be rid of the 1985 Bears? Personally, I just don't think so. Can you seriously compare Da Coach to Lovie? Forget coaching...personality is what sells in this town and Lovie just doesn't seem to have...well...ANY. Cutler vs. Punky QB Jim McMahon...Forte vs. Sweetness Payton...WR Devin Hester and Johnny Knox (go to the ball!) vs. Willie Gault and Dennis McKinnon. Heck even LB Briggs and Urlacher (who I LOVE) vs. Otis Wilson, Samurai Mike Singletary and Wilbur Marshall...those are NOT good personality match-ups. What about DT Tommie Harris vs. Steve McMichael and William "The Refrigerator" Perry? Peppers vs. Richard Dent or Idonije vs. Danimal Hampton? Anyone remember The Black-N-Blues Brothers? These were the O-lineman for that 1985 Bears team...this team was all characters!
I'm sorry, but there's just not a lot of personality on this version of 2010 Bears. Of course, the skill level and utter dominance isn't remotely comparable either as the 1985 Bears are typically in discussions as one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the history of the NFL while this year's version lost some pretty silly games. Let's all hope that the result at the end of the season matches up though and then we can "worry" about this other stuff which really just doesn't matter anyway.
DA BEARS!!!
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