Sour ending dampens joy of successful season

Considering last year's 7-9 finish and the turnover among assistant coaches in the off-season, players said the just-completed 12-6 season was a successful one — even though they fell one game short of the Super Bowl.

But it might take awhile before they can fully appreciate it.

“After tonight it will be a successful season,” tight end Greg Olsen said after the game. “Right now, it's hard to really say it was successful, when you lose like that, when you're that close to being in the Super Bowl.

“It's definitely a tough one to swallow here at home. I know our fans were really counting on this one, as were we. It's disappointing, but I think a week from now we can look back and say for a young team we made a lot of progress, and let's come back next year and try to make it that next step.”

Despite trailing 14-0 at halftime and being outgained 252-103, including 104-38 on the ground, the Bears battled back in the second half. The Packers' only points came on an interception return, and the Bears outgained them 198-104.

“There's a lot of disappointment in the locker room,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “But we feel like we made progress with our program this year and eventually we'll put that ring on.”

Expectations were low for the Bears back when training camp started in late July, based on three straight seasons without a playoff game. But with an NFC North championship and a 12-6 record, they achieved most of their goals.

“I don't think we can hang our heads because we went above and beyond what people think we should have done,” cornerback Charles Tillman said. “There's only going to be one team that ends the (postseason) with a win, and that's the team that wins the Super Bowl.”

For some of the Bears' older players, this might have been their last, best shot at getting to the Super Bowl.

“They just outplayed us,” said 13-year veteran center Olin Kreutz. “It's really disappointing to be that close. You really can't put it into words how you feel walking off that field because it means so much to us. We knew how big this game was.”

Defensive end Julius Peppers said he envisioned playing in the Super Bowl when he signed with the Bears in the off-season. So losing in the NFC championship game isn't good enough.

“We accomplished a couple of goals, but a successful season is holding the (Lombardi) trophy up at the end of the year. We didn't do that, so you can't say this is acceptable. We did some good things, things that we can be proud of, but the main goal we wanted to accomplish, we didn't get done.”