Chicago – The snow and the flakes fell Sunday.
The New Orleans Saints couldn’t handle the elements and the rudiments and the Chicago Bears and the eight-man defensive front and the 42-Mike offensive play and that incessant “Bear Down” song on the public address system. They fumbled four times, losing three, were intercepted once, committed seven penalties to just one by the Bears and couldn’t stop the run or the snow or the bleeding.
The Bears had zero turnovers and no trouble in scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter.
Warm and fuzzy New Orleans turned cold and ambiguous. It was a good run the past several months. But the Saints needed more than one good run Sunday.
The Chicago Brrrrs bared the flakey Saints in the NFC championship game. Then the Second City sat by the fireplace and awaited the Second Team for the Super Bowl. Indianapolis will join the Bears in Miami after rallying to beat New England 38-34 for the AFC championship.
“It was snowy, and it was cold, and it was wet …” said amateur meteorologist and professional running back Thomas Jones, who rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears.
It was a dark and stormy afternoon for the Saints, who ran for only 56 yards.
They should have stayed indoors.
Maybe it would have been different for the Saints if they had played at the Superdome down by the mighty Mississippi. But they didn’t know how to act or react outdoors at Soldier Field hard by Lake Michigan.
Chicago’s Lovie Smith became the first African-American head coach to qualify for the Super Bowl.
“Our players wanted to help us realize that goal. … I want to be the first black coach to hold up the Super Bowl trophy.” Smith was not the first coach to say: “We didn’t get respect.” It was a common theme in the locker room, as it is in every sports locker room. Who gets respect, other than Aretha Franklin?
Smith clutched the George Halas Trophy and his first NFC title on the field where George Halas his own self coached en route to eight NFL titles.
Smith said he liked the New Orleans story all season as much as everybody else did. But he likes the Chicago Bears story more.
The Saints blew their chances, then were blown out.
Possession No. 1 – quarterback Drew Brees was sacked on third down. Punt.
No. 2 – Brees was sacked on third down and fumbled. The Saints finally recovered for a 25-yard loss. Punt.
No. 3 – Receiver Marques Colston fumbled the ball to Chicago.
No. 4 – Michael Lewis fumbled on the kickoff, and the Bears recovered.
Not quite the Saints’ best start. Yet they trailed only 9-0 in the second quarter.
Then Chicago, with Rex Grossman playing quarterback like Frosty the Snowdog, turned the offense over to Jones, who carried eight consecutive times for a total of 69 yards and finished off the smash-mouth drive with a 2-yard run.
“That was one of the drives where (offensive coordinator Ron Turner) kept calling the same play over and over, one of the plays we like to run,” Jones said.
Mike-42. The draw play should be changed to Thomas-20.
“The running game was unbelievable. We ran it right down their throats in the second quarter,” Grossman said.
The Bears led 16-0.
The Saints were back in the game at 16-14 in the third quarter before the snow got harder and the Bears got tougher.
New Orleans missed a field goal; Chicago was awarded a safety when Brees intentionally grounded a pass in his end zone, and the Bears scored on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Grossman to Bernard Berrian, who caught the ball while flat on his rear.
For New Orleans, the loss was Elton John’s “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road.” The Wicked Witch beat Dorothy, the Tin Man didn’t get a heart, the Scarecrow didn’t get a brain, and the Saints didn’t get to their first Super Bowl.
New Orleans’ Reggie Bush had 161 all-purpose yards, but all but one play wasn’t so special.
He produced a sensational 88-yard touchdown on a short catch, a quick burst and a great fakeout. He ended it by pointing back from the 5-yard line at Brian Urlacher, somersaulting into the end zone and dancing with the stars (on the NFC logo).
It wasn’t such a bright idea. Urlacher said afterward he didn’t know Bush had gestured, but others said the rookie should have left the theatrics in the French Quarter.
Thereafter, the Bears outscored New Orleans 23-0.
Forget a moon over Miami. The Bears want snow in South Florida in two weeks.
Staff writer Woody Paige can be reached at 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com.
* This story has been corrected. Because of a reporter’s error, this story identified Chicago’s Adrian Peterson as the player who fumbled a kickoff return in Sunday’s NFC championship game. The player was New Orleans’ Michael Lewis.
