Same deal as always. Auto-refresh and comment board on the right, if you are Web cam enabled, add your own comment on the game. I will do a few of Web cam updates (pre, halftime and post, I believe) and you can e-mail me to tell me how ugly I am or how my voice grates at your very soul.
On my way to get a polish sahsij for lunch, I had the song "Aiko Aiko" in my head, which is a Bayou song. This will not do, I told myself. So I put the catchiest song from "The Blues Brothers" on the iPod: "Shake Your Tailfeathers." And if you look down the side for related videos there, you can pick and choose from your favorites from the movie. And what about the boogaloo?
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FIRST QUARTER
Chicagofan, click on the Web cam link on the right of Bear with Us. Says "Talkback" with the picture of the painted dude with a Bears hat. And Pedro Polish, that subhead refers to sausage. Fox had a story all about Dungy and Lovie each having the opportunity to be the first black coach in the Super Bowl. So there you have it. If you root for the Bears, you're rooting for Hurricane Katrina, if you root for the Saints, you're rooting for black coaches to be kept out of the Super Bowl. There is, of course, the possibility that you're from either Chicago or New Orleans, but that's hardly antagonistic, is it? Auto-refresh is now fixed, thank you for the catch. Dome teams are 0-9 on the road in the conference title game since 1970. Saints will receive.
And here we go. Kick to the goal line and Michael Lewis slips right at the 20, possibly inside it. Nope, right at it, quick pass to Marques Colston on a stop route to the left side for seven yards, then has some time on a play fake. He throws it up for grabs between Devery Henderson and Charles Tillman and Henderson wins the jump, 1st and 10 from the Bears' 32. Brees is flushed and throws it away. First handoff of the game and Deuce McAllister gets three off guard left. Shotgun and Brees is sacked by Israel Idonije back near the 40. Idonije beat his offensive lineman and McAllister didn't stand a chance. It was almost comical. Punt is a touchback.
Olin Kreutz tries to quiet the crowd. Play fake, Grossman has nothing, tries to dump off to Thomas Jones, it's too low, 2nd and 10. Jones up the middle for five. Manny, thanks for the heads up, it is now changed to McAllister. Either way, it was comical. Grossman under pressure, ducks out of a sack and throws it away. Maynard's punt goes inside the Saints' 40, and Adrian Peterson drops Bush right at the 40. Great 1-on-1 tackle.
That last play is exactly why I like Adrian Peterson. He doesn't do much except make a huge play when they need him to. He has two forced fumbles on kickoffs this season, and his runs and receptions have all been at key times. Mark Anderson in and McAllister gets three. The Saints have some weird three-back set and Brees hits Terrance Copper on a stop route just into Bears territory. Brees then throws a little behind Colston and both he and Tillman fall over and the ball skips away, 2nd and 10. Pitch left to Bush and he gets six. Fans make some noise on 3rd and 4. Mark Anderson blindsides Brees a la the Matt Leinart hit in Week 6, Ogunleye tries to scoop up the fumble, bobbles it and the Saints recover way back somewhere. They punt to about the 20, Hester reverses field and gets to the 40.
While I agree that the Bears should have fallen on that one, it is in the parameters of Lovie's defense to go for the big play. Hence, Tillman going for the pick and not batting the ball and Ogunleye trying to scoop the fumble instead of falling on it. In this weather, they should go a little on the conservative side, but then, we don't want a Martyball situation, do we? Meanwhile, Jones gets a yard, Grossman goes deep for Berrian in the teeth of a blitz and underthrows him just enough for Fred Thomas to get a hand on it, then I believe Muhsin Muhammad (it might have been Berrian) drops a pass on a cross route that probably would have resulted in a first down. The punt goes to about the 20, and Bush runs out of bounds at the 25 or so.
Make it the 27, from where Lance Briggs does his thing and drops a run for a loss of one or two. Alex Brown gets double teamed, giving Brees enough time to hit Billy Miller on a stop route a couple yards shy of the sticks and the Saints call timeout to figure out what they're gonna do on 3rd and 2 from the 35. Rich in NJ makes an interesting point, with all the stop routes the Saints are running—the 3-step drop type of routes that a team needs to beat the Bears—a receiver is bound to slip while the DB doesn't. Swing pass left to Bush, he just barely makes the catch and gets 3 and the first. Brees then hits Colston over the middle, Colston leaves his defender in the dust by reversing the field and gets the first down and more, but Chris Harris strips the ball. Vasher scoops it up successfully and returns it to the Saints' 40.
Benson looks like he's wrapped up for a yard, but breaks free and gets four more, 2nd and 5. Benson gets a couple more. End around to Rashied Davis, he gets the first on a great sustained block on Berrian, then bounces off another tackler and gets to the 13. Benson again refuses to go down and gets five more. Fake end around, dump-off to Jason McKie and he gets four. First complete pass for Grossman. Benson gets stood up off tackle right for no gain. Timeout Bears with 2:25 left in the quarter. Check that, that was a measurement timeout. Bears are going for it, Troy Aikman doesn't like the call, but then the Bears actually call a timeout, so maybe they're thinking of taking the points and the early lead in the NFC title game. But no. They're still going for it. Benson gets it. I (cough) agree with Buck and Aikman, regardless of the fact that they picked it up, it was a shaky decision. Grossman overthrows a ridiculously wide-open Desmond Clark in the end zone. Benson gets down to the 1. Grossman tried to call a timeout on that fourth down, Sean Payton wanted a penalty called since you can't call back-to-back timeouts, but the sideline guy reports that it's not a penalty, you just can't do it. Grossman has McKie at the goal line but the pass gets batted down. Gould chips it in.
Bears 3, Saints 0, :41 left in the 1st quarter
Lewis picks up a bouncing kick inside the 10, returns it to the 35 or so, loses the ball and the Bears recover. Payton challenges and it looks like he might lose this one. Adrian Peterson on the forced fumble, by the way. He may get a carry or two as a reward. He should, anyway. Call stands, ball was coming out before his knee hit. Payton is less than pleased, feeling that Lewis had regained control with his knee on the ground. Refs say no. Rex hits John Gilmore for four yards. The Bears line up but can't get the play off before the quarter is over.
Bears 3, Saints 0
SECOND QUARTER
Benson bounces outside, stiff-arms Mark Simoneau (no, thank you, I want more than just a couple) and gets brought down two yards shy of the sticks, so four yards total. Benson tries to make a cut in the backfield and slips, Gould will come on for a 43-yard try. Splits 'em.
Bears 6, Saints 0, 13:40 left in the half
Lewis picks up the kickoff on a roll again inside the 5 and is dropped around the 23. Kickoff coverage is much better than last game, needless to say. Brees hits Copper on a stop route but the refs say he was open because of interference, 1st and 20. Buck and Aikman think it's bad call. Brees tries to hit Colston on a quick-out, but Colston thinks about the cut he needs to make before catching the ball, incomplete. Bush goes up the middle, has nothing, bounces outside, has nothing, goes outside some more, gets brought down for a gain of one. Brees has all day, and uses it to throw a near-pick to Urlacher. Punt goes inside the Bears' 45, Hester returns it just into Saints territory.
Currently: 39° F
