Bad start, strong finish for Bears D

As questioner after questioner stepped up to a weary Julius Peppers and asked what went wrong Sunday, the Bears all-pro defensive end could have cited statistics.

After all, check out Green Bay’s numbers over the last six weeks of the season as Aaron Rodgers and Co. head to the Super Bowl.

In their four games against teams not from Chicago — three division champions and the New York Giants — the Packers’ offense averaged 33½ points and 408.8 yards per game.

But in their pair of games against the Bears, Green Bay’s offense averaged just 12 points and 324 total yards.

And if you’re looking for the last time a defense held Rodgers to such a poor efficiency rating (55.4) in a full game, there’s no such thing.

So did the Bears really fare so poorly in Sunday’s 21-14 NFC championship loss?

“We just started slow,” Peppers said. “I don’t know what else to say. We had a slow start, then we settled in and started playing a little better. We played our game. We did pretty good in the second half.”

With Rodgers mixing medium-range slants to Greg Jennings with James Starks’ solid runs, the Packers stacked up 14 points and 185 total yards in the first 19 minutes.

But over the final 41 minutes, the Packers’ offense posted no points and 179 total yards.

Linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs each delivered interceptions during that stretch as the Packers came away empty on five trips into Bears territory during the final 40 minutes.

That gave third-string quarterback Caleb Hanie the chance to get the Bears back in the game.

“If Jay (Cutler) would have played, we still would have felt that it was up to us,” said cornerback Charles Tillman. “That’s just how we are on defense. That’s how we think. That’s our mentality.”

Tillman and fellow cornerback Tim Jennings performed brilliantly in last week’s playoff win over Seattle with 5 pass breakups between them, but they weren’t as productive against the Packers.

Wideout Greg Jennings caught passes for 22 and 26 yards on Green Bay’s first two plays from scrimmage and finished with 8 catches for 130 yards. Jordy Nelson added 4 catches for 67 yards as the secondary didn’t break up any passes, though Tim Jennings earned two pass-interference penalties.

Could the Bears have done anything differently?

“Honestly, no,” Tillman said.

“I went out there. I played hard. I left everything out there on the field. I don’t have any regrets. There’s no need for us to hang our heads.”

The Bears hit their season average for turnovers forced (2), but only came up with 1 sack after averaging 2 during the year.

“We take the loss like a man, but don’t forget,” Briggs said. “And next year, don’t fall short.”