The Green Bay Packers have secured their place to Super Bowl XLV after defeating the Chicago Bears 21-14.
The NFC champion Packers had the lead but the Bears charged ahead and almost had a game tying goal when the third-string Bears’ quarterback Caleb Hanie had his pass intercepted a mere 12 yards with only 37 seconds to go in the contest.
Hanie’s surprise appearance almost upset the Packers’ dreams as he forged ahead and almost tied the game until the interception by the Packers that saved their slot.
Quarterback Hanie had 14 passes during the game and completed 13 of 20 passes for a total of 153 yards with a touchdown during the final 16 minutes of the 4th quarter. Hanie had to take over for injured quarterback Jay Cutler whose knee was his Achilles Heel and backup QB Todd Collins went 0 for 4.
Trailing 14-0 at the end of the 3rd were weak on offense but the third-stringer Hanie took charge and proved he was far more than just third-string as he put the fear of a comeback into the Packers and their fans.
The battle raged on as tensions rose but Hanie kept his cool. The 1-yard touchdown that Chester Taylor brought the Bears to within a touchdown of the Packers but Hanie’s later intercepted pass raised Green Bay to 21.
It was a 35-yard touchdown run by the Bears’ Earl Bennett that Hanie bulleted the pigskin to that brought the score to 21-14 with only 4:43 left in the game. However the Packers finally prevailed and will be at the Super Bowl for the first time since the late 90s.
