Soldier Field in Chicago will host the NFC Championship game between the division rival Green Bay Packers (10-6) and Chicago Bears (11-5). Chicago won the first game of the season series in week 3 at home 20-17 behind 2 Robbie Gould field goals. Green Bay won at home in the final week of the season to give themselves a playoff berth and the 6^th seed in the NFC. The Packers are favored by 3.5 on the road, which is a testament to a squad that seems to be peaking at the perfect time (as well as the general public’s love for them).

Aaron Rodgers has been nothing short of spectacular in the first two games of the Packers postseason. He has accounted for 7 touchdowns (6 passing, 1 rushing) with 0 interceptions in two games. In his only playoff appearance prior to this season, Rodgers put up 422 yards and 4 touchdowns with only 1 interception in last year’s wild card round. He is quickly getting acknowledged as a top performer when the games count most and rightfully so.

Rodgers has led the Packers to 2 road wins against teams that were favorites in the NFC to be in the big game in Philadelphia and Atlanta. He certainly hasn’t been alone, however. After number 1 running back Ryan Grant went down for the season in week 1, Green Bay has struggled to move the ball on the ground all season.  It was pretty obvious that shuffling between 3^rd down back Brandon Jackson and full back John Kuhn wasn’t going to be the answer. What has been the answer so far however is 6^th round draft pick out of Buffalo, James Starks. Starks leads all postseason rushers with 48 carries in 2 games. He has picked up 189 yards in the playoffs, a giant leap from his 101 yards in 16 regular season games. The Packers defense isn’t a group of slouches either as they held Atlanta to 194 yards and forced 4 turnovers.

When you add a talented group of receivers into the mix, the Packers offense seems to be clicking on all cylinders and will certainly be a tough task for Rod Marinelli and the Bears defense to scheme against.

While the Packers have had an extremely tough road to get to the NFCCG, the Bears have had the easiest schedule of the remaining 4 teams. With a bye in the first round, they hosted the 7-9 Seahawks at home to clinch a spot in the NFC Championship.

Consistency has to be the biggest issue for the Bears offensively. Jay Cutler is infamous at this point for throwing red zone interceptions. Although he managed the game well in his postseason debut on Sunday throwing for 274 yards and 2 touchdowns, he did throw a ball right in the chest of a defender in the end zone who dropped it, luckily for Cutler. The Bears defense did a great job defending the high powered Green Bay offense in the two regular season meetings, so it will be up to Cutler not to give them any short fields or to turnover potential points of their own. With a very fast and aggressive defense that the Packers bring, if Cutler is not on his toes he will surely end up paying for it.

Matt Forte is a big play threat out of the backfield, although Chicago has had trouble running between the tackles for most of the year. The real threat that everyone will be focusing on is Devin Hester on punt returns. He is the NFL’s all time leader in special teams TDs and teams will often give up crazy amounts of field position in exchange for him not getting the chance to return one.  If the Bears continue to smother the Packers offense like they did during the regular season, Hester could potentially be a game changer with if he gets his hands on the ball.