This was without doubt one of the most bizarre playoff games I’ve ever watched. It had almost everything – good defense, QB drama, a late comeback and someone named Cales Hanie! In the end, the cheeseheads are on their way to the Super Bowl, making them the first six seed from the NFC to make it to the big game. Here’s my game log with some non-football observations thrown in for good measure.

1st Half

1) Brett who? Aaron Rodgers has made Packers fans forget about number 4 with this season’s amazing playoff run. Coming into the game, he had an obsene 129 passer rating and seems on the verge of joining Brady, Manning and Brees as an upper echelon QB. Plus, unlike these players, Rodgers can actually scramble pretty well too.  He starts the title game off on a hot streak, guiding the Packers to 2 quick scores, wearing down the Bears defense.

2) On the other side of the ball, the Bears offense can’t get anything going. Mike Martz’s play calling is interesting to say the least. (As an aside, isn’t it strange that commentators focus more on Martz than head coach Lovie Smith?) He keeps running the ball with Matt Forte but when will he let Cutler loose? And when you’re down 14 points, I think it’s a no-brainer to go for it on 4th down on the Packers 31. The ensuing punt only netted 11 yards and the offense comes away deflated. Cutler throws a killer interception near the end of the first half and walks off the field looking like his dog just got run-over. Cue the criticism as Cutler is undoubtedly one of the most dissed QBs playing right now. In fact, it must be something in Chicago’s water supply as Cutler’s predecessor Rex Grossman wasn’t exactly popular either.

3) As a general point, Chicago’s special teams should have a huge advantage with Devin Hester catching punts but so far nothing. In fact, the Packers have started with better field position almost every possession.

4) Now back to Cutler, he made a big (non football) mistake by dating a “celebrity” – former Hills star Kristin Cavallari or at least going public with it. See: Tony Romo and his ill-advised relationship with Jessica Simpson. As soon as you lose, all the bitching starts about distractions and jinxes! By the way, does anyone remember when Brian Urlacher dated Paris Simpson for about 5 minutes? Did that really happen?

5) Troy Aikman looks almost exactly the same as during his playing days which is a really good thing  (This is a compliment coming from me as a Giants fan who grew up despising Aikman’s Cowboys). Whenever the camera pans back to the commentators, Joe Buck must wish he was about a foot taller! Instead, he over-compensates with his incessant talking – really, take a breath!

2nd Half

1) A Tale of Two Halves for the Bears defense perhaps? They finally show up and Urlacher in particular is making his presence felt. Rodgers now looks uncomfortable and his unbelievable game against Atlanta is a distant memory!

2) Cutler’s QB rating is 31 so when he goes out with a knee injury in the 3rd quarter, I almost wonder whether it’s the spark the Bears need.  Maybe not. His replacement, Todd Collins (who looks older than Troy Aikman), promptly almost throws 2 interceptions.

3) That was quick – Collins is replaced after 2 series with someone named Cales Hanie. The Bears are seriously desperate. Will they let him even throw the ball? Martz must be dreaming of his days with ”Dancing with the Stars” ace Kurt Warner in St. Louis right now. I think his playbook must have automatically shrunk to about a page with that move.

4) The most boring quarter of playoff football I’ve ever seen has just ended.

5) As I’m about to change the channel to watch some snooker, the 4th quarter starts and the action finally picks up! The Bears should be down about 4 TDs by now but they’re amazingly still in the game. Whenever the camera pans to Cutler on the sideline, he looks as if he’s making an effort to even care about the result. Or is it just me?

6)    Rodgers just got drilled by Julius Peppers – this is clearly not a fun game to be quarterback. Despite the ensuing penalty, Peppers is starting to disrupt Rodgers.

7) Meanwhile, the Bears offense is still reliant on Forte. Has anyone else touched the ball? And right on cue, there’s 400 lbs. nosetackle Raji intercepting Hanie’s pass and rumbling into the endzone, tummy flapping. Seriously, his butt is huge! Nice TD dance though…I wonder how long he practiced that?

8) I knew the game couldn’t end without a reference to William “the refrigerator” Perry – one of my favorite players despite his team having beaten the Giants on the way to the Super Bowl. Actually, I think the 1985 Bears were the most entertaining team of all-time to watch…

9) While I’m pondering the Super Bowl shuffle, the current version just score an improbable touchdown. Hanie seems more surprised than anyone that he actually threw a long completion. Maybe Cutler will lose his starting job – kidding (maybe!)

10) The Bears “D” has now totally frustrated Rodgers who looks as if that Peppers hit may be messing with his brain. He’ll need to lie down a bit after this game.

11) Hanie has one more chance to tie the game and steps up nicely in the pocket to avoid a blitz, picking up a key 1st down. On 4th and 4 though, the inevitable happens and he throws an interception. It was a nice effort by him though – I give him credit. everyone in Wisconsin is now breathing again.

Bottom line – Not a game for the ages but the right team won!

Courtesy of Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images