As the Super Bowl looms ahead, the oldest rivalry in the NFL is rekindled with the Chicago Bears set to battle Green Bay for a trip to the Super Bowl. The teams have only competed against each other in the playoffs once before- in 1941.
“It’s a big deal, we have a lot of history with them,” said Brian Urlacher, Bears linebacker. “We don’t like them, they don’t like us.” The first meeting between the teams, in 1921, resulted in a fist fight. The Bears coach Lovie Smith said “It just doesn’t get any better the way I see it then for the NFC Championship to come down to the Packers coming down on our turf. The Packers and Bears to finish it up. That’s how it should be.”
Meanwhile, in the AFC, the New York Jets are headed to battle Pittsburgh for the championship after an incredible (and rather shocking) victory over the New England Patriots. The Jets played a superior defensive game, playing back and covering receivers, forcing Brady into corners and sacking him five times.
Rex Ryan assessed the game results and said “I was dead wrong. I thought it would come down to me and Belichick and thank goodness it never did because he won that battle like he always does. It came down to our players and it came down to the assistant coaches and we won that battle. You can’t just give them one thing all the time. Mix your coverages, mix your blitzes, mix your pressures. Against these great quarterbacks, that’s what you have to do… against Peyton Manning at Indy and now Tom Brady at New England. Mission impossible. Now on to round three of mission impossible.” And indeed, Tom Brady and Wes Welker both praised Ryan and the Jets for their mixed tactics after the game. Now, the Jets are readying themselves for another tough battle against the Steelers next week.
The Boston Bruins made an incredible comeback against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, scoring four goals in the final four minutes of the game, ending it with a 4-2 win. Zdeno Chara, Brad Marchand, Mark Recchi and Gregory Campbell all contributed goals to the final score. This was Boston’s second consecutive victory over the penguins. During the first they scored five goals in the third period to climb out of a deficit and end the game at 7-4. “Our last time here it was the same result- so we knew we could do it. We just had to believe in ourselves, and we did,” said Recchi. “Our coach gave us a good talk before the game. We have to build and make this process go well throughout the year.”
Jets fans and rivals have both had serious doubts regarding the team and sophomore quarterback Mark Sanchez over the past two years. However, last night’s game showed that the players were not about to concede to the common conception. Both the Jets and the Colts played a tight game. When the score was 16-14 to the Colts with 53 seconds left, it looked like the game might be over. Sanchez, despite his modest accomplishments throughout the games, refused to let it end and engineered a perfect drive, putting Nick Folk within range and allowing him to kick a 32-yard field goal just as time expired, sealing the game at 17-16. “It’s a ‘got to have it’ play,” Sanchez said. “There are a few plays for every quarterback in their playbook.” He admitted that he would not have been able to make the pass last year.
The Boston Celtics were victorious in the battle of the NBA’s best on Wednesday, coming out 105-103 0ver the San Antonio Spurs. It was a truly close game, though, as Ray Allen led the Celtics to a 105-96 lead with less than a minute left. San Antonio scored seven consecutive points in those final seconds, but Manu Ginobili’s final 24-foot shot was blocked by Pierce. “You knew it was going to be a nip-tuck game pretty much all night,” Pierce said. “You got two heavyweights battling and it was fun to be a part of it. I’m just glad we won.”
The Seattle Seahawks sealed the NFC West Division crown with a 16-6 victory of the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. The Seahawks are the first team to reach the playoffs with a losing record. “I always like doing things that have never been done and this is one of them,” said Seattle’s coach Pete Carroll. “We didn’t quite get here the way we dreamed of getting here, but we got here.”
The Los Angeles Lakers came out with a much-needed 103-88 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday. Lamar Odom scored 24 points straight off the bench, while Kobe Bryant scored 20 and Andrew Bynum contributed 18. Chris Paul of the Hornets led his team with 20 points and seven assists, but the Lakers, who are determined to win their third consecutive NBA title, flew to an 18-point lead at halftime and held the game from there.