Panthers strike early, outlast Bears

CHICAGO – It took Steve Smith and the Carolina Panthers less than a minute to prove the Monsters of the Midway aren’t so scary after all.

By the time the Chicago Bears regained their swagger, it was too late to save their season.

Smith had 12 catches for a career-high 218 yards and two long touchdowns, including a 58-yard scoring reception on the second play from scrimmage, to lead Carolina to a 29-21 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. It sends the Panthers into the NFC championship game for the second time in three years next week at Seattle.

Carolina, just the third No. 5 seed since 1990 to advance to the championship game, did it by striking early before letting its defense challenge Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman, who was starting his second game of the season.

Grossman, who missed most the season with a broken ankle and had attempted just 39 passes heading into the playoffs, was decent once he settled down. He led the Bears on two second-half scoring drives to rally them out of a 16-7 halftime deficit.

Grossman was driving the Bears again late in the fourth quarter when they trailed 29-21, but he was intercepted by Ken Lucas with 2:27 to play, then was incomplete to former Panthers receiver Muhsin Muhammad on fourth-and-1.

It spoiled a resurgent season for the storied Bears, who used outstanding defense to return to the playoffs for the first time in four years. Their run included a 13-3 dominating victory over the Panthers in November, when the Bears had eight sacks and two interceptions against Jake Delhomme.

Smith had a career-best 14 catches for 169 yards in that first meeting.

“Last time we played them I had 14 (catches), but we didn’t score,” Smith said. “All I heard all week long was what I didn’t do. We were ready for whatever they threw at us.”

In the rematch, the Panthers used Smith to prove this Chicago team is still a ways away from its glory days.

“We were well prepared,” Smith said.

Smith beat Charles Tillman on the Panthers’ second snap, leaving him face down on the ground as he reeled in a long pass from Delhomme for a 7-0 lead with less than a minute elapsed in the game.

“Defensively we talked about not giving up the big play, trying to keep Steve Smith contained, and we weren’t able to do that starting early,” coach Lovie Smith said.

The Bears never caught up.

Down 16-7, Grossman opened up the second half looking a lot more relaxed and confident, directing an eight-play scoring drive that culminated with his 1-yard TD pass to Desmond Clark. It made it 16-14 and sent the Soldier Field crowd into a frenzy.

With momentum clearly in Chicago’s favor, the Panthers didn’t panic, even after running back DeShaun Foster was knocked out of the game, and the rest of the playoffs, with a broken ankle. Instead, they turned to Smith, their playmaker all season.

Smith continued to embarrass the Chicago secondary by blazing his way past Chris Thompson, who was left laying on the field as Smith raced into the end zone for a 39-yard TD that stretched Carolina’s lead to 23-14.

But Grossman again engineered another scoring drive, throwing a 24-yard pass to Gage and an 18-yarder that Muhammad dove for. After a Thomas Jones touchdown was reversed on a replay challenge, Jason McKie scored to make it 23-21 with 12:23 left in the game.

No matter for the Panthers and Delhomme, who improved to 5-1 in the playoffs. He engineered yet another drive and sealed it with his third touchdown pass of the game – a 1-yard pass to Kris Mangum. Kasay missed the point after, but it still gave Carolina the cushion it needed.

Delhomme finished 24 of 33 for 319 yards while cutting down the mistakes that had plagued him in the first meeting. He threw one interception and was only sacked once.

“This team has been here before. Guys want to make plays,” Delhomme said. “Guys don’t have big eyes in the huddle.”

Panthers 29, Bears 21

First Quarter

Car—S.Smith 58 pass from Delhomme (Kasay kick), 14:05.

Second Quarter

Car—FG Kasay 20, 14:57.

Car—FG Kasay 38, 6:26.

Chi—Peterson 1 run (Gould kick), 1:57.

Car—FG Kasay 37, :00.

Third Quarter

Chi—Clark 1 pass from Grossman (Gould kick), 11:21.

Car—S.Smith 39 pass from Delhomme (Kasay kick), 2:07.

Fourth Quarter

Chi—McKie 3 run (Gould kick), 12:23.

Car—Mangum 1 pass from Delhomme (kick failed), 8:04.

A—62,209.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Carolina, Foster 16-54, Goings 10-34, S.Smith 3-26, Delhomme 2-9. Chicago, T.Jones 20-80, Peterson 5-9, Grossman 1-5, McKie 1-3.

PASSING—Carolina, Delhomme 24-33-1-319. Chicago, Grossman 17-41-1-192.

RECEIVING—Carolina, S.Smith 12-218, Proehl 3-28, Carter 2-43, Hoover 2-13, Goings 1-14, Colbert 1-9, Foster 1-3, Mangum 1-1, Robertson 1-(minus 10). Chicago, Berrian 5-68, Muhammad 3-58, T.Jones 3-30, Gage 3-28, Clark 2-5, Peterson 1-3.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.