NFL Divisional Round: NFC Game 2...

NFC
Chicago Bears (2) Vs. Seattle Seahawks (4)

The Story…
These teams were the crème de la crème of the NFC five years ago. In Super Bowl XL, the Seahawks went down to a spirited Pittsburgh, led by Jerome Bettis, playing his last game for the Pennsylvanian outfit in his hometown of Detroit. The year later, in the Bears’ first appearance in the big game since their legendary 15-1 1985 Super Bowl season, Peyton Manning and the Dungy-led Colts met with destiny and spoiled the show. Since then, both teams have slipped somewhat. The Packers took control of the North and the Cardinals the west, meaning these two former stand-outs were sent to the wilderness.

Seattle’s coaching situation has been a carrousel of late, with Jim Mora lasting long enough at the helm to identify his team’s home colour as Seahawks Blue, before being replaced by USC hero, Pete Carroll. I love Carroll – he looks like my dad; like an academic in sweats; like a small man with a big heart and an even bigger desire to win.

Chicago, with former Denver Pro-Bowler Jay Cutler at the helm and Mike Martz pulling his strings, regained some of their bicep-laden swagger and reclaimed the North, ousting the Pack (who had been the Super Bowl pick of many, and, for some, still are) to second place, a Wild Card and ultimately sixth seed.

Seattle, on the other hand, snuck in to the playoffs on the back of a woeful 7-9 record. Never, in the history of the NFL, has such a rotten record found itself paraded in the playoffs. With it, the Seahawks got homefield advantage – a huge thing for Seattle – and used it to dismantle the World Champion Saints.

Now they head to Soldier Field where they figure to receive a cold reception. With their defence banged-up and Matt Hasselbeck busy dusting off his Zimmer, it could be too much to ask of these plucky underdogs to stop the Bears advancing to a third meeting with Green Bay for the NFC.


Prediction…
I see the Bears winning this one easily. They should overwhelm the Hawks early on and make the second half a desperate affair for the visitors. Carroll has done well to get this far (and will, somehow, leave the playoffs .500 and better off than his regular season record). I think Lovie Smith might make safe his job for another year by winning this game. It will be Cutler’s first trip to a Championship game, where he will meet Aaron Rodgers. I hope the Bears pull it off for Jay, other than that, I hope they get stiffed. I want both Cutler and Rodgers to have the stellar careers their talents deserve. What with the emergence of Matt Ryan of the Falcons, and Eli Manning’s proven credentials, the NFC is becoming stacked with hot young QB talent.


Recap…
The game went almost to form. The Bears did jump out to an early lead, scoring 21 unanswered points throughout the first half – 14 of them in the first quarter.

The second half, however, did not go according to plan. After notching up another touchdown, the Bears allowed the Seahawks a field goal; closing out the third with a 28-3 cushion. Then the Seahawks exploded. A run of three touchdown passes from Hasselbeck, rudely interrupted by one from Jay Cutler, helped the Seahawks lose this game by a respectable 11 points. The final score of 35-24 inflates the Seahawks’ contribution to this contest, as Chicago knew that with a 25 point lead and 4:40 left on the clock, they could afford to pull starters with snaring the NFC in mind.

So it will be, for all NFC North supporters, the dream clash (though Vikings’ fans may disagree). Green Bay Vs. Chicago for the right to take on the AFC champs in the Super Bowl…only two questions remain: will the Patriots edge the series over the Jets, and which conference will emerge victorious after this, the most engaging of seasons.


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