Midwest meltdown: Panthers dominate top defense

CHICAGO -- On Carolina's second snap of the game, Steve Smith gave the Chicago Bears a preview of the long night ahead at Soldier Field.\nThe Panthers receiver maneuvered around Charles Tillman as the defensive back stumbled on the sideline, gathered in a pass after a nice double pump by Jake Delhomme and then used a nifty move to sidestep Mike Brown.\nJust 55 seconds into the game, Smith was in the end zone.\nChicago's defense, which carried the Bears to a division title and playoff berth for the first time in four years, was left grabbing all day -- especially at Smith. And now the Panthers are headed to Seattle for the NFC Championship game after beating Chicago 29-21 Sunday.\n"When they needed a play, he made it," Bears star linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "He's the best offensive player in the league."\nNearly two months ago, when the teams met at Soldier Field, Chicago had eight sacks and two interceptions against Delhomme, sparking a 13-3 victory.\nSmith was hard to stop that day with 14 catches, but couldn't get in the end zone. On Sunday, he caught 12 balls for a for a career-high 218 yards with a pair of touchdowns. He also set up a field goal with a leaping catch in which he took the ball away from Tillman.\n"I'm just really utilizing my talents," he said. "They throw me the ball, my job is to catch it. If I don't catch the ball, they will get somebody in here who will. I've got four people at home depending on me to do my job, so I can't come home with excuses."\nThe Bears had no excuses, either. They were beaten by a better team this time.\nRex Grossman, who played just six quarters all season after breaking his ankle in the preseason, started slowly. He completed only four of his first 14 passes. He regrouped, led the Bears on three touchdown drives that kept them in the game and finished 17-of-41 for 192 yards with one interception.\n"It's crazy. It's been a crazy year. Nothing that I would have expected," Grossman said. "This year is over and it's disappointing because we had such a great opportunity."\nDelhomme finished 24-of-33 for 319 yards while cutting down the mistakes from the first meeting. He threw one interception and was only sacked once.\n"When we came a couple months ago, basically I lost the game," Delhomme said. "It was nice to come back and get on top this time. They're a good defense, but we stepped up to the challenge."\nDelhomme and the Panthers went to the Super Bowl two years ago, showing the ability to win on the road as they have already done twice this season with victories against the New York Giants and Bears.\n"We go on the road, it's just us," Delhomme said. "You have to believe. It's going to be loud, but we concentrate on our job. Coach (John) Fox does a good job with that."\nCarolina will have to win now short-handed. Running back DeShaun Foster broke his ankle in the third quarter Sunday. Foster rushed for 151 yards last week to lead the Panthers over the Giants, and had 54 yards on 16 carries Sunday before the injury.\nThe Panthers were already without three-time Pro Bowl running back Stephen Davis, who was placed on season-ending injured reserve in December with a swollen right knee.\nSo now Smith's presence is bigger than ever. He's almost impossible to cover one-on-one. That's why he led the NFL with 1,563 receiving yards.\n"I know I didn't have a good day," Tillman said. "Steve Smith made a couple of big plays, and we came up short on defense."\nAfter the Bears cut it to 16-14 late in the third quarter, Smith delivered again. He flew past \nbackup corner back Chris Thompson for a 39-yard TD play.\n"I saw (Thompson) was covering him, when I saw that I gave him a signal that I wanted to go there," Delhomme said. "Steve put on the burners and took off."\nAnd who covers Smith -- or tries to cover him -- doesn't really matter.\n"If you lined up my mama out there, I've got to catch it over her, too," he said.