taken from Yahoo.com
Bears, Panthers meet again
By ANDREW SELIGMAN, AP Sports Writer
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — The way Adewale Ogunleye sees it, he’s not putting down the Carolina Panthers; he’s just building up his own team.
In doing so, the Chicago Bears’ defensive end said Monday that Carolina was overhyped entering their first meeting in November and is getting a little too much praise heading into Sunday’s second-round playoff game at Soldier Field.
“You know they had all the hype coming into the game and we felt they didn’t deserve it,” Ogunleye said. “And I think again, they have a lot more hype than they should, and we’re going to continue to play as hard as we can. I’m not downplaying the Carolina Panthers, but I’m up-playing us.”
Ogunleye wasn’t necessarily trying to start a controversy. He just seemed to be sending out a reminder that the Bears dominated Carolina 13-3 Nov. 20 at Soldier Field.
It was a defining victory, one that confirmed they were a force in the NFC.
“A lot was put into that game,” safety Mike Brown said. “A lot of people thought Carolina was going to come in and have their way with us. I think after that game is when people realized we’re a good football team.”
Safety Chris Harris said: “We always felt like we were legitimate contenders. We don’t have to prove anything to anybody but ourselves, but we knew we had the team. We just wanted the rest of the world to know.”
The Bears had won five straight but had not beaten a team with a winning record during that streak. Then, they sacked Jake Delhomme eight times, and Nathan Vasher had two interceptions to set up a touchdown and a field goal.
Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith caught 14 passes for 169 yards, but the running backs ran for just 55. And the Bears offensive line neutralized defensive ends Julius Peppers and Mike Rucker, holding them to a combined three tackles.
It was, arguably, the Bears best effort of the season.
“It was a really good effort, real intense out there, a lot of people making plays,” Brown said. “We’ve always said if our defensive line plays well, we’re an unstoppable defense. Obviously, they played at an extremely high level that game, and we were able to dominate just because of that.”
Now, they meet again — the Bears after a first-round playoff bye and the Panthers after shutting out the New York Giants 23-0. The first road team to score a playoff shutout since 1980, Carolina ran right at a linebacking corps hit by injuries, and the defense forced five turnovers.
“I expect to encounter a fired up team,” said Bears wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, a longtime Panther.
He called Carolina coach John Fox a “kill-you-with-kindness guy.” But the Panthers showed no mercy against the Giants.
DeShaun Foster rushed for 151 yards after gaining 165 against Atlanta a week earlier in Carolina’s NFC South-clinching win.
“They did a great job defensive-wise,” right tackle Fred Miller said. “They kept Eli (Manning) off his game and got some crucial picks. … They played a game exactly as scripted. Now, they’ve got to come in here.”
Harris sees a different Panthers team, one that’s doing a better job running the ball now. He singled out Foster, saying, “He’s so explosive.”
Ogunleye sees the same thing: a team feeding off its running game lately. The Panthers all but abandoned that in their loss to the Bears.
“They did a good job against the Giants,” he said. “But I think if we can stop the run and make them a one-dimensional team and try to go to Steve Smith, you know that’s going to be our game plan.”
The Panthers were a preseason favorite to win the NFC. The Bears were not expected to contend, yet here they are preparing for their first playoff game in four years.
They suffered through three losing seasons, lost starting quarterback Rex Grossman to an ankle injury for the first 13 games and started 1-3 before turning things around. Along the way, they dominated Carolina. Now, the teams meet again.
“We know we can beat them,” Brown said. “They think they can beat us, but we know we can beat them.”
taken from Yahoo.com
Andrew