Green Bay Packers shrug off Chicago to reach the Super Bowl (Part 1)
The Chicago Bears looked nothing like the National Football Conference (NFC) North division winners we had seen in the 2010-11 regular season. The Monsters of Midway appeared tame when they faced their division Rivals, the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship
game. The Bears overall performance was below par, but the biggest disappointment was Quarterback Jay Cutler.
Cutler attempted just 14 passes before walking off the field due to a knee injury. He connected six of those passes for 80 yards. He was intercepted once for eight yards. His first replacement, Todd Collins was pulled out after just four attempted passes.
Chicago’s offence was a complete mess.
The Packers on the other hand, were able to put pressure on Chicago’s defence from the start. Green Bay’s quarterback Aaron Rodgers started the offence for the Packers with back-to-back passes to Greg Jennings for 22 and 26 yards. In the first series Rodgers
attempted four passes and connected on each one for a total of 76 yards. Rookie James Starks, who had proved decisive against the Philadelphia Eagles, contributed six yards rushing and receiving in that series.
Rodgers rushed the final one yard for the touchdown himself. The Packers faked a rush up the middle while Rodgers carried the ball left. The Bears chased after Rodgers but weren’t able to push him out of bounds before the goal line. The Packers created a
seven-point lead with the extra point which they didn’t give up until the end of the game.
Cutler started the offence impressively. He threw a 24-yard pass to running back Matt Forte. Forte received two passes for 25 yards total and rushed an additional four yards. The bears couldn’t make the first down after Cutler’s initial pass to Forte. Chicago’s
next drive also ended without much gain as Cutler got sacked for five yards on 3rd and 12.
However, it wasn’t like Rodgers had it easy either. In the final drive of the quarter, Rodgers found Jennings for 21 yards on 1st and 10 but wasn’t able to advance any further. Starks rushed for three yards on two plays. On 3rd and
7 the Bears sacked Cutler. Brian Urlacher made the sack for eight yards and forced Green Bay to punt.
The first quarter ended with the Bears trailing the Packers by 7 points.
Things got worse for Chicago in the second quarter. The Bears were forced to punt the ball from their 2-yard line. Brad Maynard’s 37 yard punt was muffed at first by cornerback Tramon Williams, but recovered at 50 and returned for six-yards to Chicago’s
44-yard line.
Starting the offence in Chicago’s half, the Packers offence struck like a guided bomb. Starks opened the offence with two yards rushing, followed up by a 16-yard pass to running back Brandon Jackson. Starks rushed 12 yards from Chicago’s 31-yard line for
the second down, and Rodgers got the third down on the next play with a 15-yard pass to wide receiver Jordy Nelson. Starks scored his first NFL touchdown on the next play.
Rodgers handed the ball off to Starks who took it through the middle of the field. He was tackled just short of the endzone, but was able to extend his arm for the touchdown before he was taken down. With the extra point, the Packers led 14-0 in the second
quarter.
In the final minute of the quarter, both Cutler and Rodgers were intercepted. Rodgers passed the ball to Donald Driver who was open. However, Driver wasn’t able to catch the low pass. The ball bounced off Driver’s foot and into the hands of linebacker Lance
Briggs who carried it four yards to Chicago’s 42.
After the interception, Cutler completed a 17-yard pass to Forte and then decided to go deep on the next play. From Green Bay’s 41, Cutler threw the ball towards Johnny Knox at Green Bay’s three-yard line. Knox was being covered by rookie Sam Shield, who
launched himself into the air to intercept the ball, and ran it eight yards before being pushed out of bounds.
Cutler injured his knee on that play and stood through just one more series for the Bears before going to the sidelines.
Cutler’s passer ratings were 111.3 in the last game against the Seattle Seahawks but against the Packers, his ratings were a dismal 31.8. Considering Cutler’s performance and that of his replacement, the injury actually proved to be a good thing for the
Bears.
Rodgers Kneeled after Shields caught the interception to end the second quarter with a 14-point lead.
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