UMFan83

On a related note, this might just be the golden era of Chicago sports. The baseball teams are still mostly unsuccessful, but they no longer go more than 3-4 years without making the playoffs, and the Sox actually brought a World Series to the city. The Bears have been to the NFC title game twice in the last 5 years, and potentially could be going to 2 super bowls in that time. The Bulls have one of the best and most likable young stars in the NBA, who is Chicago raised and has enormous pride for the team and city, and are now starting to get into that range of possible contenders. And the Hawks won the Stanley Cup last year and has a dynamic core that is poised to contend for the next decade. It's not a stretch to say that all 5 Chicago teams have a chance to win a title in the next decade, although almost surely some will not.

I read an article the other day in the Trib which was basically an interview of Wayne Larivee, who did Bears games in 85 and he said the entire city was nervous wrecks during the playoffs in 85. He said you could walk around the city and almost feel the tension. It wasn't until the first or second touchdown of the NFC title game until people relaxed again. A collective sigh of relief was had. From what I read, the playoffs were absolutely no formality for the fans of this city. On a side note, talking about how the Chicago area was title starved, the 1970's must have been the most depressing time ever to be a Chicago sports fan. The Cubs and Sox didn't make the playoffs once the entire decade, the Bears were awful for a good part of the 70's and were never real contenders the entire decade. The Hawks lost a couple stanley cups earlier in the decade but were a non-factor the rest of the time. The Bulls of the mid-to-late 70's were probably Chicago's best hope for a title, coming within 1 game of the NBA finals once, and making another Western Conference Finals another year, but for the most part the general Chicago public couldnt give 2 shits about them, and even still the team really didn't stand a chance against the Eastern powers like Boston.

I still do think that this is the biggest non-championship round game in modern Chicago sports history. I guess since I can't quantify things that I wasn't around to experience, I'll say in my lifetime. Here is what it has going for it: -Arguably the biggest rivalry in Chicago (only Hawks/Wings, Cubs/Sox and Cubs/Cards are in the discussion) -The most historical rivalry in the NFL, and frequently mentioned among the top 5-10 rivalries in sports. -The 2nd most important game you can play, and the deepest round this rivalry can possibly occur in without teams switching conferences -Chicago's most popular of the 5 sports teams -Rivalry is among fanbases in close proximity with each other and interact on a daily basis all year long. -Both teams have 15+ year championship droughts, so both teams very badly need this game for validation and bragging rights. I just can't see how another pre-championship round game could be bigger when you combine hype, importance and historical factors.

Speaking of superlatives, can we finally agree guys? This is the biggest Bears game since Super Bowl XLI.

Steelers & Packer fans are the same in that regard, IMO. Steeler fans probably even more so than Packer fans. I've heard many comments coming from both camps -- they feel like the championship games are a foregone conclusion. I think NE fans thought the same. That place was a morgue. Those people obviously had never even considered that the Jets might win the game. Just for the record, this Packers fan doesn't feel like anything is locked up. I think we CAN win the game, and I do think the Packers have the overall better team, but the Bears will be at home with everything on the line, and they have a very very tough D. The Bears could easily win this game. I'm not taking anything for granted here. I'm picking up a contradition here. You said that if the Bears win this weekend, you will accept that they are the better team. But here you are saying that the Packers are the better team but the Bears still might win despite this. Do I feel that the Packers are the better team? Yes. But the whole "any given sunday" thing, etc. The Bears are also a good team, as they've proven. Do I think the Packers can win? Yes. Should they? Yes. Is it a guarantee? No. The only 3 things guaranteed in this life are death, taxes, and the Cubs not playing in the World Series. Damn, some of you people are hard to please. I give the Bears credit and you still jump all over me for it. So if the Bears beat the Packers 2 out of the 3 times they played, and the one game they lost the Bears had nothing on the line and the Packers needed to win to save their season and it was still a 7 point game, you wouldnt be able to accept the Bears are better? Actually, don't bother answering, I don't want to derail this thread with Bears Packers talk

I never really thought about comparing Jay Cutler and Ben Roethlisberger. That's weird but I guess his points make sense. I think Jay has a better arm though and relies on it.

Is it camo?

Anyone else's work having a Bears dress code? Our work is letting people dress in Bears gear for free, but if you want to dress in Packers gear you have to pay $5 (put into a party fund). I love it

I didn't realize that this is only the 4th time that a number 1 seed won't make the Super Bowl since 1990.

+1 I don't know how many people I have seen/heard already counting their 7th SB. Not a single one of them thought they could beat NE. Steelers & Packer fans are the same in that regard, IMO. Steeler fans probably even more so than Packer fans. I've heard many comments coming from both camps -- they feel like the championship games are a foregone conclusion. I think NE fans thought the same. That place was a morgue. Those people obviously had never even considered that the Jets might win the game. Just for the record, this Packers fan doesn't feel like anything is locked up. I think we CAN win the game, and I do think the Packers have the overall better team, but the Bears will be at home with everything on the line, and they have a very very tough D. The Bears could easily win this game. I'm not taking anything for granted here. I'm picking up a contradition here. You said that if the Bears win this weekend, you will accept that they are the better team. But here you are saying that the Packers are the better team but the Bears still might win despite this.

The Bears national imprint is very large. They might not have a Sal Palentonio, who is a Philly guy because he's from Philly, but they will always attract one of the largest audiences in primetime. They are one of the biggest draws in Vegas as well. They were more or less a non-entity for 1.5 decades and when they splashed on the scene 4 years ago it was with defense, and very short lived. If Chicago turns into a consistent contender with offense, they will be as marketable as any team in American sports. Its really bizarre. As soon as the Bears are good they pull enormous numbers on primetime games (Eagles game, the Patriots game), yet they still don't really have a dedicated reporter from ESPN. Theres Michael Smith...sometimes. Both Packers and Bears fans should be pissed the NFL Live spent more time commiserating about the Patriots losing than on pregame for this game. I'm really not sure why you're watching NFL Live in the first place. I love the sentiment that you can't watch a show because it comes on ESPN. NFL Live isn't a good show, but it's still football. Plus, it comes on at a time when there ain't [expletive] else to watch. Almost always when NFL live is on, there is a similar show but better on the NFL network

No reason to even play the game now. Also, when I started watching football, one of my favorite players was John Jurkovich. He was on WTMJ this morning and picked the Bears to win. He's now dead to me. At least I still have Bryce Paup. Of course he did. He's a Chicago radio personality.

Wow, the Packers signed Antonio Robinson to their practice squad today. Robinson spent part of training camp with the Bears and was released August 13th.

lol Luis Montanez. I expect Hee Seop Choi to be next.

If we listened to you instead of playing the games, the Bears would be like 6-11 right now.

The funny thing is, the Bears have been known for years as a rather bland team. Except for the fact that they had one of the most colorful teams in sports history 20 years ago. Since then though there hasn't been a lot of reason to have national interest in the Bears, beyond their history and their laughable mistake prone QBs.

It's annoying but obvious why the media is squarely against the Bears. -The Bears got embarrassed on national TV, showed no semblance of an offense, and their line was a turnstyle against the Giants. For many media guys, this was their first impression of the Bears. Or I guess 2nd impression after the Packers game. -The media hates Jay Cutler because he doesn't pander to them, doesn't have a media first personality, and its not likable to the public. So instead of stories about how Jay Cutler greatly improved from last year to this year, the media still sees him as the guy who threw 26 INTs last year and always refer to him as a shaky, turnover machine of a QB, while someone like Drew Brees throws 24 INTs and makes the Pro Bowl. -In most season long statistical measurements, the Bears don't stack up as well against the other remaining teams. DVOA has the Bears lagging behind the others for the season I'm pretty sure. The problem is, if you take numbers from the 2nd half only, the Bears stack up really well. But the media doesn't see that. They see the Bears 30th overall in offensive yards per game, and its just another piece of evidence in their minds as to why the Bears suck. -I don't know if the Bears got more "breaks" than any other team, but somehow it became the popular opinion that the Bears have gotten to where they are from luck. You can't hide how incredibly healthy the Bears have been this year. That almost never happens. But like the last page or two has argued, other teams have gotten these breaks too but because they are heavily considered good teams by the media, there isn't a focus on them. There's other reasons too of course. But as annoying as the national perception of the Bears is, you can see their flawed logic as to why they think that way. Oh well, I definitely prefer being in this role. If we win the Super Bowl, they will then shut up and crown us. If we don't, well they are gonna continue underestimating us next year too.

You know, I'm really getting annoyed at this storyline. Why is it that the Bears lucked into Philly losing to Minnesota to open up the 2 seed to them? Chicago beat Minnesota twice, and they beat Philly. They didn't luck into the Vikings beating the Eagles, the Eagles lost. Green Bay lost several games this year, Chicago didn't luck into Detroit being one of those losses. Chicago didn't luck into New Orleans losing to Seattle. New Orleans is going to struggle on the road outdoors in the playoffs. It's just the way it is with a dome team that relies so heavily on its passing game. Yes, the Bears have had an opportunity presented to them, but they have actually gone out and taken advantage of the opportunity, beating several contending teams along the way. People claim Green Bay shot themselves in the foot in week 3 against a still developing Bears team. But if they did, then the Bears went out, bought the gun, put it in their hands and forced them into the decision of shooting their foot or their arm. Chicago has stumbled along the way, but so has every team. Chicago limited those stumbles and improved as a team along the way. They made their own breaks. Yowza. I didn't say they lucked into those opportunities. I just said that those things happening opening our pathway a bit and raised my expectations. If the Vikings don't beat the Eagles, the Eagles are playing a 3rd string Dallas QB and the Bears need to beat the Packers to get the bye. I'm not saying the Bears couldn't do it. I'm just saying it was one of the things that happened to got us to this point and raised my expectations. There's no doubt in my mind the Bears have taken advantage of every single situation they've been presented this year. Teams don't just get HFA throughout the entire playoffs and get to the conference championship game on pure luck. They've had to beat some really good teams and they've faced some really tough situations along the way. That doesn't mean they haven't caught some breaks too. Do the Packers really score 3 on the Lions if Rodgers doesn't get concussed? Who knows. But because that happened, its one of the many factors that got us to where we are now.

Same. But I was that way against the Saints too. I was so focused on that game that it didn't hit me till afterwards that we were going to the freaking Super Bowl. This feels so much different than the 2006 season to me. They were destined for the Super Bowl that entire season, and were clearly the most talented team in the NFC. I'll feel differently about it Sunday, but right now it just feels like an amazing opportunity to beat GB in the NFC Conference Championship game, moreso than an opportunity to get to the Super Bowl. Our group of football watchers are mainly Jets, Bears and Steelers fans though, and this weekend is going to be nuts. Agreed. 2006 was way different for me. Like you said, we were waiting all year to get to the Super Bowl in 06, so when we did get there it was like a huge exhale. This year, I haven't really been 100% sure of the team. For awhile in the regular season, I figured winning a playoff game would be a good accomplishment and a successful season. But the pathway kind of opened up for us thanks to our division rivals. The Lions managed to upend the Packers, giving us much easier path to the division title. Meanwhile, the Vikings beat the Eagles for us, giving us a first round bye, making our path to the super bowl easier. Of course even then we were looking at a possibility of having to beat the Saints/Eagles then Falcons/Packers. But the Saints made our path even easier by losing to Seattle. At this point, winning the playoff game on Sunday was necessary to not have a disapointing year. So its that and the fact that we are playing our arch rivals for the NFC. It almost feels like the Super Bowl. The funny thing is, in 06, I didn't really have much confidence when we played NO until we started to dominate. This year, I have a really quiet confidence in our chances of winning.

04: W @ GB, L @ CHI 05: W @ GB, W @ CHI 06: W@ GB, L @ CHI 07: W @ GB, W @ CHI 08: L @ GB, W @ CHI 09: L @ GB, L @ CHI 10: L @ GB, W @ CHI 4-3 at GB, 4-3 in Chicago. Started out 6-2 overall, has gone 2-4 since.

Peter King named him DPOY. I don't see anything about him winning the AP award.

Regardless of whether Peppers manhandles the Oline or not, there's noway the refs are going to call anything close to 18 penalties in the NFC Championship game.

lol at this blog article on the LA Times website:

Hope he didn't kill anyone. Dammit we should have kept Bradley so we could get the contract voided. Now we still have another year of Silva.

CBSsports.com rated the remaining playoff QBs on trustworthiness and Cutler finished last after Sanchez. Not a surprise but funny.