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CHICAGO -- Forget about Rex Grossman. This one was all about vindication for the Chicago Bears defense.
You heard me. The Bears defense. For all the questions about good Rex versus bad Rex, Grossman wasn't the Rex-factor that determined the outcome to Sunday's NFC Championship Game with New Orleans.
The Chicago defense was.
It forced three fumbles and one interception. It had three sacks. There was a safety in there, too. And when you add it all up, Chicago's defense was responsible for plays that led to or produced 15 of its first 25 points in a 39-14 rout of New Orleans.
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| Hunter Hillenmeyer and the Bears' defense hold the Saints to 56 rushing yards. (US Presswire) |
Now, I know what you're thinking: Chicago and good defense go together like Levi and Strauss. Except after this Bears defense lost safety Mike Brown and defensive tackle Tommie Harris, it wasn't the same. It hemorrhaged so many yards that last weekend's 306-yard effort by Seattle was the lowest in the Bears' last eight starts, including Sunday.
Honest. Green Bay ripped them for 26 points. Tampa Bay hammered them. Hey, even Detroit threw a scare into these guys. So when New Orleans, the league's top-ranked offense, rolled into town, the Bears were supposed to disappear for the winter.
Yeah, well, tell that to New Orleans. On its first series, quarterback Drew Brees was sacked on a critical third down at the Chicago 31. Scratch one field goal. On the Saints' second series, Brees was sacked again after New Orleans drove to the Chicago 41. This time he fumbled. On their third series, they lost the ball when Marques Colston fumbled.
I think you get the idea. Throw in sub-freezing temperatures, snow flurries and the occasional stiff breeze, and you can't help but think back to the days of the Super Bowl Shuffle. OK, so these aren't your '85 Bears, but they win the same way -- with a defense that forces opponents into critical mistakes.
"This is the blueprint of the Chicago Bears tradition," Grossman said. "Great defense, run the ball well and then today we made a few plays in the passing game that set us apart at the end. But this is typical, traditional Chicago Bears football in the snow."
The snow was something new. Chicago hasn't gotten much of it this winter. But the takeaways weren't. The Bears led the league this season with 44 of them, including five each in three games. But they swooned down the stretch, and that included last weekend's overtime defeat of Seattle where they had one interception of Matt Hasselbeck ... and nothing more.
"I think our identity was never gone," defensive end Adewale Ogunleye said. "We don't let so-called experts dictate to us and put a name on us and how we're going to play. We knew all along that we were a championship-style defense and we were going to show up. And today we did."
OK, so the Bears surrendered a couple of long scoring drives -- including one that featured a nifty 88-yard catch-and-run by Reggie Bush. But that was it, people. In fact, the Bush score might have had more to do with the outcome than anyone realized because as he pulled away from his pursuers -- most notably, linebacker Brian Urlacher -- Bush turned and pointed, as if to wave goodbye.