LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers, get ready for Julius Peppers. Jay Cutler, have fun dodging Clay Matthews.
With their rocket arms and fleet feet, both
quarterbacks have a chance to cement themselves among the game's best when the
Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears take their historic rivalry to a new
level in Sunday's NFC championship game at Soldier Field.
This will be the 182nd meeting between these teams
— none more anticipated than this one. Only once have they played in the
postseason and that was a week after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when the Bears
beat the Packers at Wrigley Field.
The men behind center will certainly be under the
spotlight, but the guys on the other side just might steal it. After all, both
defenses ranked among the league's stingiest.
"It's probably the best defense we've played
to date, just fundamentally sound in the way they're playing," Packers
coach Mike McCarthy said.
Bears cornerback Charles Tillman said, "Right
now, the best thing we can do is out-execute their defense."
It won't be easy.
The Packers boast the league's fifth-ranked defense
and tied for second with 47 sacks, the highest ranking in franchise history.
Matthews was fourth in the league with 13½. That doesn't bode well for Cutler,
who got sacked a league-leading 52 times.
Yes, the protection improved down the stretch, but
containing the blitz won't be easy.
"I would expect them to be aggressive,"
said Cutler, who got sacked six times in a loss at Green Bay to end the regular
season. "They have in the past four or five games, you know with Charles
(Woodson) blitzing a lot and Clay Matthews and those guys. We've just got to be
on our keys and our tips, hit our hot routes and do what we do in the
offense."
Rodgers figures to have his hands full, too,
against a team that seemed like a longshot at best to reach the playoffs not
too long ago.
The Bears were a mess at 4-3, with three losses in
four games heading into their off week. Cutler had little protection and there
was no balance on offense, but they fixed that, sparking a 7-1 run that gave
them the NFC North championship and a first-round bye.
The defense was never an issue, though.
The Bears made a big investment after missing the
playoffs for three straight years when they signed Peppers to a six-year deal
worth potentially $91.5 million. The return to form of healthy Pro Bowl
linebacker Brian Urlacher after he missed almost all of last year with a wrist
injury provided a major boost, too.
Throw in another Pro Bowl season from Lance Briggs,
and it's not hard to see why the Bears' defense ranked ninth this season. But
it's not all about the stars.
Packers center Scott Wells mentioned Anthony Adams
and Israel Idonije, not exactly the first names that come to mind when you
think "Monsters of the Midway." Then again, the Bears have never
played that way under coach Lovie Smith. They've always been more about speed,
technique and creating turnovers than bone-breaking hits, and they're looking
more like the defense that led the way to the playoffs in 2005 and 2006 than
the one that struggled in recent seasons.
"Their starting four, they're outstanding up
front," Wells said. "They do a great job holding their gaps and
playing their scheme."
Adams and Idonije are two important pieces on a
defense that ranked ninth overall and second against the run. The same goes for
D.J. Moore, who had two interceptions in an early win at Dallas and emerged as
the Bears' nickelback.
That gave the secondary a boost, as did the return
of safety Chris Harris after three years in Carolina. He had five interceptions
and tied Charles Tillman for the team lead, but it all starts up front.
Specifically, with Peppers.
Even if his eight sacks put him in single digits
for just the third time in his nine seasons, he's creating all sorts of
problems whether it's drawing false starts or double and triple teams. That
leads to openings for teammates when he's not making the big plays himself.
One beneficiary has been Idonije.
He wound up with a career-high eight sacks, tying
Peppers for the team lead, in his seventh season with the Bears — and his first
as a starter.
"When Izzy steps up and makes the plays that
he's been making this year, you start to understand why some of those decisions
were made," Briggs said. "I'm happy that Izzy got a chance to start
and I'm happy with what he's been able to do with it. He's going to be key in
our success this week and onto the Super Bowl."
Copyright
2011 The Associated Press.
