NFC CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP: SAINTS SENT MARCHING HOME

The Chicago Bears were 13-3, the one seed in the NFC, and picked to lose by virtually everyone to a team that won three less regular season games. The Saints were also in an unfamiliar situation. After having no expectations for every game prior to the NFC Championship, the Saints were now supposed to go into Chicago and win the NFC. The Bears used this lack of respect as motivation and did it ever get the job done. The Bears defense looked like it did when it was being compared to the defense the team had during the 1985 season. The highly touted Saints running game was non existent all game long which made last week's star Deuce McAllister a non-factor. Chicago was able to set the tone early by forcing three fumbles in the first quarter. Drew Brees was under relentless pressure all day, and with the way they were swarming all over field it looked as though the Bears defense had twenty men on the field. Of course, Chicago needed a performance like this considering Rex Grossman spent his first half doing his best impression of me playing quarterback. However, as well as they played the offense continued to give them absolutely no help, so the Saints were able to creep back to within two points during the third quarter. Now with the ball and all the momentum, the Saints were about to start their most important offensive possession all season. The Bears, though, made sure that it would be their last offensive posses ion this season with any significance. Another mad dash by the Bears defense at Brees caused a safety, and the Saints were never able to recover. Twenty one years after the Bears won their only Super Bowl with the best defense of their generation, it was once again the defense that lifted a Bears team back to the big game.

As for the Saints, while it was a disappointing performance in the NFC title game, the season as a whole can be looked at as one of the best turnarounds in NFL history. A year ago they were a team without a home and just three wins. Then the remarkable began to happen. First, it was the hiring of Sean Payton. The Saints took a chance on Payton, who had been a mediocre coordinator at best during his career, and they were rewarded with one of the game's best play callers since Bill Walsh. A few months later, free agency began, but how would the Saints be able to lure big free agents to a franchise that had more question marks than anyone in the NFL? The Saints knew they would have to take chances during free agency, and the biggest one they took was on Drew Brees. Just months removed from shoulder surgery, and the Saints were willing to give him a guaranteed long term contract. Crazy? No, genius. A move that easily could have set the franchise back years instead was the move that began a roster transformation that would turn this 3-13 team into division winners. Then came April and a gift from Houston. The Texans had passed on Heisman winner Reggie Bush, and now it was the Saints he would play on Sundays for. At the time they did not know it, but there was another gift waiting for them on draft day. Seventh round picks aren't expected to make football teams, but Marques Coltson wasn't your average seventh round pick. The Hofstra alum not only made the Saints but became one of the best wide receivers in the NFL during just his first season. No longer laughing stocks and vagabonds, the team that was once referred to as the "Aints" was now the new "America's Team". After a season full of miracles, there is no reason to believe that these Saints won't be making more of them in January for years to come.

The Bears are back in the Super Bowl but not without several questions. The biggest of them is their quarterback Rex Grossman. Quite frankly, Grossman looked like anything but an NFL quarterback in the first half on Sunday. He was able to turn it around and make some big plays in the second half, but against the Colts, he must play a complete game to give his team a chance to win. It is not simply playing not to lose anymore for Grossman because he must make some plays if the Bears are to win. Along with Grossman, the Bears defense has their own concerns. Which defense will show up in the Super Bowl? Will it be the one that won the NFC title game or the one that was torn apart by Seattle? The Bears could be without Tank Johnson, who has violated his probation and may not be able to travel with the team. Chicago's defense must set the tone from the kickoff, and if they are able to do that, the city may be celebrating its second Super Bowl.