I know Jay Cutler was hurt and his toughness has come into question in the aftermath, but the Bears were almost crowned NFC Champions today.  That’s a testament to Chicago’s defense.  They were outplayed in all aspects of the game in the first half and yet they were only down 14-0.  The second half was a brilliant bit of gameplanning by the Chicago coaching staff.  Aaron Rodgers was forcing throws and Green Bay couldn’t get anything going on the ground.  Chicago also got another bit of luck with their third string quarterback Caleb Hanie leading the way at the end of the 3rd and the entire 4th quarter.  Not only did he wake the Bears offense, but the defense started to play even better down the stretch.  The passing game was awoken and it resulted in two 4th quarter touchdowns.  Unfortunately for two moments Hanie realized that he was a third string quarterback.  Throwing a game winning interception that resulted in a touchdown to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji (pictured above) and another to end the game to Sam Shields.  Green Bay should count their blessings and thank their defense for getting them to their 5th Super Bowl in franchise history.  Aaron Rodgers can get flustered from time to time like any quarterback who is under pressure and faces good coverage.  He won’t always win it for them and they will need the entire team to play their ‘A’ game if they want to beat their next opponent.

When you out gaining the other team by nearly 200 yards going into halftime, you might start thinking you can play it safe in the second half.  That’s what happened to Pittsburgh.  They were up 24-3 and played it safe for the second half.  The result?  Pittsburgh was out gained 231 to 75 by New York.  Pittsburgh scored just enough in the first half to end up with the win.  The Jets scored 16 points in the second half and probably would’ve won had Mark Sanchez not fumbled before halftime that resulted in the Steelers last touchdown.  New York should be proud of their effort.  It shows that there is no quit in them no matter what.  Almost everyone had them being tapped out for the rest of the game.  To me they were gassed and needed the rest at halftime to re-charge themselves.  Did I think they would win?  Not necessarily.  I figured they would make it close and they did.  What I didn’t expect was the lack of urgency out of Pittsburgh’s offense.  They had them where they wanted them and they did one thing I didn’t think they would.  They stopped running the ball.  Rashard Mendenhall ran for 27 of his 121 yards in the second half.  That’s unacceptable for Pittsburgh going forward.  If they have an advantage, especially on the ground, they should continue with it until the other team stops it.  Two of their four second half drives ended with Roethlisberger throwing an interception and fumbling the football that resulted in a safety.  Pittsburgh is by no means perfect and their next opponent should capitalize on that from the start of the game.