Bears and Packers on Collision Course for NFC Championship

The Green Bay Packers absolutely trounced the Atlanta Falcons 48-21 in the Divisional Playoff matchup, setting up a possible epic battle with the Chicago Bears for the NFC Championship and a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.  Check out NFL.com’s highlights here.

The Packers looked sharp on both sides of the ball.  Just to give you a sense of how the Packers offense performed, they never punted the ball all day.  Aaron Rodgers finished up the day going 31 out of 36 for 366 yards and three TD’s, while running for a fourth and finishing the day with a 136.2 passer rating.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Packers looked just as sharp.  They racked up five sacks of Matt Ryan and four takeaways, none bigger than Tramon Williams’ 70-yard pick-6 to end the first half and extend the Packers’ lead to 28-14 at halftime.  The Packers never looked back after that.

With the win, the #6 seeded Packers advance to the NFC title game.  Their opponent will be decided in the early game on Sunday.  When the ball is kicked off at 12 noon CST, both the Bears and the Seahawks will be playing with the knowledge that the winner will be hosting the NFC Championship game.

A Bears vs Packers NFC Championship game would be epic, bringing the oldest rivalry in the NFL to center stage for the Halas Trophy.  I can look ahead to that game.  It’s important that the Bears don’t.  First things first – they have to hold up their end of the deal to get the dream matchup.