CHICAGO – When the Bears fell behind 14-0 and then lost starting quarterback Jay Cutler to an injured knee in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game, it appeared that the Packers would cruise to an easy win.
But Lovie Smith’s resilient team valiantly fought back, twice pulling to within a touchdown in the fourth quarter behind third-string quarterback Caleb Hanie before finally succumbing 21-14.
“That’s a disappointing way to end the season,” said middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. “It’s not the way we wanted to end it. No one expected us to be here; we know that. But it doesn’t make it any easier for us to lose this game. We expected to win this game.”
The Bears were actually in position to tie the score late, but Hanie’s pass intended for Johnny Knox on fourth-and-five from the Green Bay 29 was intercepted by Sam Shields with :37 remaining.
“When you get down 14-0, that’s tough, 14-0 and you lose your starting quarterback,” Smith said. “But our guys just continued to fight, giving ourselves a chance to win the game at the end.”
Hanie had replaced an ineffective Todd Collins late in the third quarter after Cutler exited early in the second half with a knee injury he had sustained with a few minutes left in the first half.
The Packers dominated early and led 14-0 entering the fourth quarter after outgaining the Bears 340-132 in the first three quarters. But Hanie and the Chicago defense fueled a fourth-period rally.
Hanie’s 32-yard pass to Knox to the Green Bay 1 set up Chester Taylor’s 1-yard touchdown on the next play, drawing the Bears to within 14-7 with 12:02 left in the final quarter.
It appeared that the Packers had put the game on ice when nose tackle B.J. Raji intercepted Hanie’s pass intended for Matt Forte and returned it 18 yards for a TD, widening the margin to 21-7 with 6:04 left. Raji dropped back into pass coverage on a zone blitz and Hanie never saw him.
But Hanie responded by completing 4 of 4 passes for 60 yards including a 35-yard TD strike to Earl Bennett to close the gap to 21-14 with 4:43 remaining. Hanie completed 13 of 20 passes for 153 yards with one TD, two interceptions and a 65.2 passer rating.
“I feel real good about what Caleb was able to do,” Smith said. “As the third quarterback, you don’t get a lot of reps. But he stayed in the game mentally and really felt like he belonged there.”
The Bears defense struggled early, allowing the Packers to take a 7-0 lead by marching 84 yards on seven plays on the game’s opening possession. Aaron Rodgers completed 4 of 4 passes for 76 yards before he capped the drive with a 1-yard TD run on a bootleg.
“I don’t think they did anything we didn’t expect,” said cornerback Charles Tillman. “We were playing hard and fighting. They just executed more than we did.”
The Packers made it 14-0 on James Starks’ 4-yard touchdown run with 11:13 left in the second quarter. Up to that point, Green Bay held decisive advantages in total yards (186-33) and first downs (13-1).
Rodgers completed 17 of 30 passes for 244 yards with two interceptions and a 55.4 passer rating. Starks rushed for 74 yards on 22 carries.
The Packers repeatedly beat the Bears with quick slants and skinny posts off play-action fakes. But after Starks got into the end zone, the Chicago defense didn’t allow another point the rest of the game.
“We played a lot better in the second half,” said linebacker Lance Briggs. “Play-action was big key to that first drive when they scored. After that we really kind of settled down and got into the flow of things, started to get off the field and get the ball back to the offense.”
The Bears offense sputtered most of the game. The unit converted just 1-of-13 third-down opportunities and didn’t advance inside the Green Bay 30 until Hanie’s pass to Knox early in the fourth quarter.
After getting hit on the outside of his knee late in the first half, Cutler had his leg wrapped at halftime and played the first possession of the third quarter before the Bears decided to take him out of the game. He exited having completed 6 of 14 passes for 80 yards with one interception and a 31.8 passer rating.
Forte provided a bright spot on offense, showing his versatility by rushing for 70 yards on 17 carries and catching a game-high and career-best 10 passes for 90 yards.
Defensively, Urlacher played an exceptional game. He sacked Rodgers late in the first quarter, knocking the Packers out of field goal range. The middle linebacker intercepted Rodgers in the third quarter on third-and-goal from the 6, preventing the Packers from adding to their 14-0 lead.
But in the end, the Bears fell short of reaching the Super Bowl, losing to their arch rivals in what was arguably the biggest football game in Chicago since the 1963 NFL championship.
“It’s very disappointing,” defensive end Julius Peppers said quietly, sitting with his head down in front of his locker. “I don’t know what else to say much more than that. We worked very hard for a long time to get to this point. To come up short is disheartening. But we’ll regroup and we’ll be back.”
“Our goal is to win the Super Bowl,” Cutler said. “We put ourselves in a good opportunity at the end of the year to do that—one game away. We can take some positives from this and grow from it. But right now I know everyone is devastated, including me.”
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