Packers' future looks scary for Bears fans

There are so many reasons to be intimidated by the prospect of Green Bay Packers football.

And it's not just Aaron Rodgers, who has vaulted himself into the discussion of the NFL's best QBs.

It's not merely their playmaking defense, and its ability to get to the opposing QB.

It's not only the reminder that they played most of the year without a running game and still won 10 regular-season games.

No, the really scary thing is that GM Ted Thompson consistently finds players and coach Mike McCarthy constantly makes something out of them.

It's that they lost 15 players to injured reserve, including six starters, and nearly every player they plugged in did the job — including when injuries occurred during the Super Bowl.

If you're a Bears fan and you ponder the skills of Thompson and McCarthy vs. that of Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith, it's a bit daunting.

The Bears just had the luckiest and healthiest season they can ever hope to have, and yet it's the Packers who won the Super Bowl and have every right to think they'll be better next year.

The Packers don't figure to lose a third of their roster to injury again next season, and Rodgers and the running game could both improve.

Yes, the Packers have to fear the hangover and might lack some of the hunger of a group trying to win for the first time, but there will also be a bunch of veterans returning from injury that didn't feel a part of it and will want it just as much.

Meanwhile, Thompson will be scouring the corners of the planet for more like Charlie Peprah, Desmond Bishop and Frank Zombo, the three men who led Green Bay in tackles Sunday.

Peprah was originally a fifth-round draft pick claimed off waivers from the Giants in 2006, and after he spent a year with Atlanta, the Packers brought him back for 2010.

Bishop was drafted by the Packers in the sixth round in 2007, and Zombo was an undrafted free agent in 2010 out of Central Michigan.

Up and down their roster you can find stories just like those, players unearthed by Thompson and prepared by McCarthy in the event they might be needed.

Depth is a wonderful thing, as important as any one thing in the NFL, but if you don't have the coaching staff to develop players and get them ready to play, all the depth in the world doesn't matter.

So it probably goes without saying that when you replace that many injured players, the coach and GM must have done a remarkable job, but it's worth saying again anyway:

Thompson and McCarthy did a remarkable job.

If you're a Bears fan, it's enough to make you jealous of their management team — and a little scared.

The leader

After the Steelers cut the lead to a field goal Sunday came the signature play of the Super Bowl with 5:59 remaining in the game.

On third-and-10 from the Packers' 25, Aaron Rodgers hit Greg Jennings with a strike down the middle for 31 yards, extending the drive and taking another four minutes off the clock before a Green Bay field goal pushed the lead to 6.

Said Rodgers: “I told Greg this is a big play and we need to make it right now. There was no doubt in our minds we had that play.”

The line

How much respect does Las Vegas have for the Bears?

Even after reaching the NFC title game, the Bears at 22-1 are the seventh choice in the conference and 13th overall to win the big prize next season, behind the Packers (7-1) Pats (8-1), Steelers (10-1), Chargers (12-1), Colts (14-1), Saints (14-1), Ravens (14-1), Falcons (16-1), Cowboys (16-1), Jets (16-1), Eagles (16-1) and Giants (20-1).

Best line

Aaron Rodgers in four postseason games: 9 TDs, 2 INTs, 68 percent completed, 274 yards per game and a 109.8 passer rating.

Worst timing

With the Steelers down 21-17 and driving for another score on the Green Bay 33, on the first play of the fourth quarter Chicagoan Rashard Mendenhall gave up the football after fumbling only three times this season in 384 carries up to that moment.

That is such a Packers thing to do to a guy.

Best stat

Teams giving up an interception return for a touchdown are 0-11 in the Super Bowl.

Best quote

Steelers safety Ryan Clark, on the pain of losing the Super Bowl: “Where do you go from here? Nothing separates us from the other 30 teams that weren't here. We're just like them.”

Best headline

Sportspickle.com: “Green Bay General Store looted.”

Super flu

CBS' David Letterman: “Six percent of Americans call in sick on the Monday after the Super Bowl. Actually, the New York Jets called in sick two weeks ago.”

And finally …

Miami Herald's Greg Cote, on the week in Dallas: “I'm not sure who arranged for this arctic weather. It was either God in a foul mood, or grinning, high-fiving members of the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee.”

brozner@dailyherald.com

ŸListen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's “Hit and Run” show at WSCR 670-AM.