Round 3

After the email address Chicagosportsnoise@gmail.com received its first ever message in over 4 months as a functional account, the files have started to roll in steadily. As we pass hump day on the weekday calendar, and the end of the work week nears, I urge you to send your opinion to me as soon as you can if you want it posted before the game. I don't work weekends, let's be real. And we all know how little people accomplish on their desk on a Friday, it's more Pandora than production--I have no doubt. So without further ado, here are some new installments regarding Sunday's showdown.

Our first message comes from "On the Ag" from Milwaukee, Wisconsin via the social netwroking website Twitter.com.
"I just got done watching an episode of MTV's True Life on Jay Cutler: I have more chins than playoff wins"

Next, we have the fresh, free-spirited, college opinion of "Brett n Butter", writing us from Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal, IL.

"Has there been a more anticipated game in Chicago sports history than the upcoming NFC Championship game between the Bears and the Packers? The game is expeceted to have the 4th highest average ticket price of all time, trailing only the past 3 Super Bowls, in the rivals' first ever playoff matchup since 1941. The Bears enter the game as home underdogs, which comes to no surprise to any NFL observer. The Packers come in as the league's hottest team, thrashing top-seeded Atlanta (pun intended) in the Georgia Dome just a week ago. The Bears caught a big break by getting Seattle last week in which could be best described as a must-win tune up. However, as we view the matchup it may be unwise for Packer fans to start booking their flights to Dallas.

When these teams met in Week 3, Chicago was able to pull out a win thanks to untimely turnovers and penalties by Green Bay. Were the Bears lucky to win that game? Absolutely. The Bears are a much improved team since that game though. Thanks to that game the Bears are hosting this game, and the importance of this cannot be stressed enough. When Week 17 came around, the Bears had nothing to gain or lose. However, they still competed, much to the dismay of soccer mom's who feared some of the Bears' key players would get hurt. Bears fans can only hope Mike Martz was trying to withold the team's best offense that day, because they looked as out of synch as a Poklop-Gaynor karaoke duo.

As we dissect the matchups between the two teams, it is tough to argue that the Bears have an edge on offense or defense. Aaron Rodgers is playing as well as any QB in recent memory and James Starks has added a new element to a formerly one-dimensional offensive attack. While the comparison on defense is much closer, Green Bay boasts the superior defensive backfield that will certainly not make life easy on Jay Cutler as he dodges the consistent blitzes of Dom Capers' 3-4 defense.

So I'm picking the Packers to win this one? As Lee Corso would say, "not so fast my friend!" The Bears are the beneficiary of two of the game's great equalizer. First of all, Devin Hester gives the Bears a field position edge in nearly every game. Whether or not they kick to the future Hall of Famer is irrelevant, it will still result in favorable starting positions for the often inconsistent Bears offense. Not to mention the fact that the Soldier Field playing surface can make those trying to chase down the electrifying return man look they just got victimized by a banana peel in Mario Kart. That brings me to my 2nd equalizer, which is the game being at Soldier Field. Not only will crowd noise be a major factor, but the Bears' familiarity with with the heavily criticized playing surface will certainly play a part in slowing down the explosive Packers offense. Keep in my mind this game will not be played indoors like the last game Green Bay took part in, a game in which they looked unstoppable. The sloppier the game, the more it favors the Bears who will likely rely on forcing turnovers and winning the field position battle in order to stay in the game.

My prediction: the Bears offense plays well enough and the defense will be as opportunistic as they have been all season. The Bears win a classic, 24-23."

Now they're done. Rack em

Frost