This Bears-Packers week promises to amp things up
Some games sell themselves.
The Bears and Green Bay fighting for the right to play in Super Bowl XLV ranks on the short list of such events... except there'll be no quiet moments to drink in the magnitude of Sunday's NFC championship game at Soldier Field.
If the ravenous media scavenging in the Bears' locker room after their 35-24 win over Seattle serves as an accurate barometer, this week's chatter will range from nonstop to “can't-they-play-the-game-already?”
To put it another way:
Imagine Brett Favre and LeBron James and Tom Brady and the Red Sox and the Yankees suffering a five-vehicle accident in ESPN's parking lot — and the World Wide Leader capturing it on camera.
Yeah, it's going to be that big and that cacophonous.
Unless veteran Bears cornerback Charles Tillman wins his unenviable mission to pull the earth back into orbit.
“It's just another rival game,” Tillman said. “I think that's how Green Bay will look at it, too. It's the Bears/Packers, Bears/Packers.”
Then Tillman switched to his pitchman voice that suggests he wants to be the next guy to yell “Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!” on those monster truck commercials.
“But I think the media will create, ‘It's Bears/Packers, the biggest rival in the history of the NFL since Nineteen-hundred-something!' ” Tillman said.
“I think, at the end of the day, it's still football. They're a great football team.”
And a team that emerged as the early pick to get to Dallas according to the Las Vegas oddsmakers.
The Packers opened as 3-point favorites largely on the strength of Aaron Rodgers' stellar playoff performances at Philadelphia and Atlanta.
Rodgers hit 49 of 63 passes (78 percent) for 546 yards, 6 touchdowns and no interceptions in those wins.
Bears quarterback Jay Cutler texted his buddy after Green Bay's win Saturday night at Atlanta — while Bears cornerback Tim Jennings and others praised Rodgers on Sunday afternoon.
“He looked like the greatest that ever did it,” said defensive end Julius Peppers. “He's hot right now. Hot. Smoking. So we've got to be at our best to have a chance to win the game.”
Jennings believes the Bears can repeat Sunday's game plan and play some press coverage against Green Bay's receivers, but that comes with a caveat.
“We're going to have to mix it up,” Jennings said. “If you let Aaron Rodgers figure out what we're in, it's going to be a long day.”
In case anyone has forgotten the recent past en route to the Armageddon of the near-future, the Bears and Packers split their regular-season games.
In Week 3, Robbie Gould's chip-shot field goal with four seconds left lifted the Bears to a 20-17 victory. The Packers committed a franchise-record 18 penalties along the way.
Green Bay got even with a 10-3 home win on Jan. 2 that enabled the Packers to sneak into the NFC playoffs with the No. 6 seed.
It's tempting to put extra weight on that game since it was more recent, but who knows how hard the Bears fought to win that one?
Perhaps it's only fitting the Bears and Packers meet again — with no questions whether everyone gave it their best shot.
Now it's up to the media to remind everyone that the game is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday. Otherwise, lots of fans might forget.
“The Packers and Bears to finish it up,” said Bears coach Lovie Smith. “That's how it should be.”
That's a good start. Who knew Lovie was so willing to feed the hype machine?