Bears Miami Bound
Team dissolves Saints' magic, 39-14
In order, Lovie Smith last week listed the goals he had for the Bears when he was hired three years ago.
Beat Green Bay. Win the NFC North. Deliver a Super Bowl championship to the NFL's cornerstone franchise.
Beat Green Bay. Win the NFC North. Deliver a Super Bowl championship to the NFL's cornerstone franchise.
He beat the Packers in his first try and is 4-2 against them. He won the division each of the last two seasons. And now he and the Bears are headed to Miami for the Super Bowl, where they will meet the Indianapolis Colts on Feb. 4 to try to complete the trifecta.
(Jon Sall/Sun-Times)
He beat the Packers in his first try and is 4-2 against them. He won the division each of the last two seasons. And now he and the Bears are headed to Miami for the Super Bowl, where they will meet the Indianapolis Colts on Feb. 4 to try to complete the trifecta.
Smith's defense suffocated the New Orleans Saints' high-octane offense Sunday, and with snow falling in the second half at raucous Soldier Field -- reminiscent of the last time the Bears won the NFC title -- this group made history. In throttling the Saints 39-14, the Bears were nearly flawless. They had no turnovers, one meaningless penalty for five yards and four takeaways.
The snow mixed with raining confetti as Tony Dorsett presented team matriarch Virginia McCaskey with the George Halas Trophy -- the prize named after her father. The low-profile owner, 83, left the field with family after the celebration but was prodded by a daughter to comment.
''I'm speechless,'' she said. ''It's just lovely. Lovie always says it's never in doubt, so here we are.''
Smith and Colts coach Tony Dungy become the first black head coaches to lead teams to the Super Bowl.
''It means quite a bit for me,'' Smith said. ''Our players knew about it, and they wanted to help us make history. I feel blessed to be in that position, but I'll feel even better to be the first black coach to hold up the [Lombardi Trophy].''
The seed was planted in training camp. Tight end John Gilmore reflected alone in his hotel room Saturday night about a scorching afternoon in Bourbonnais, where he sat in a cold tub next to center Olin Kreutz.
''We're sitting there, and Olin was breaking down the team, and he told me, 'Gilly, we're going to the Super Bowl,''' Gilmore recalled. ''You're talking about a guy who has been in the league nine years -- he knows. Olin doesn't just say stuff. I was a believer. He was right.''
The Bears took command early as Robbie Gould kicked field goals on three consecutive possessions and Thomas Jones (19 carries, 123 yards, two touchdowns) ran on eight consecutive plays, scoring from two yards out to make it 16-0.
Drew Brees threw touchdown passes of 13 yards to Marques Colston and 88 yards to Reggie Bush to cut the Saints' deficit to 16-14 early in the third quarter before the Bears erupted. Billy Cundiff missed a 47-yard field goal that would have put the Saints ahead, and Brees was called for intentional grounding while pressured in the end zone by Lance Briggs, resulting in a safety.
Resilient Bears quarterback Rex Grossman, picking on cornerback Fred Thomas, lofted a 33-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian, who caught it on his back at the 1 and rolled in to score. The rout was punctuated with add-on touchdowns by Cedric Benson (24 carries, 60 yards) and Jones as the Bears rolled up 196 yards on 46 rushes. In contrast, Brees threw 49 times. Teams seldom win in the playoffs doing that.
The Bears' defense tired of the fairy-tale talk about the Saints and the publicity their offense got. Brees was pressured consistently, was sacked three times and never found a rhythm, while Bush's long touchdown was the result of Colston's pick on strong safety Chris Harris. It was the most complete team effort since the Bears beat the New York Giants on Nov. 12 to establish themselves as the conference favorites.
''We feel like we have been the best team in the NFC from the beginning to the end,'' Kreutz said.
Grossman was smart with the ball and made big passes in the second half, when the Saints' defense essentially morphed into a 4-4 to stop the run. He heaved the ball into the stands after kneeling down for the final play, the weight of a season of scrutiny off his shoulders.
Smith shared a moment with his quarterback on the field afterward.
''You don't have to say a lot in these type of situations,'' Smith said. ''Just hugged him and told him I loved him.''
Everything Smith has said, the Bears have bought into. Long snapper Pat Mannelly -- along with Kreutz, the longest-tenured Bear -- has seen it all.
''Lovie's like a prophet,'' Mannelly said. ''Everything he's said, we have been able to do so far. This is unbelievable.''