Chicago rolls past Saints, advances to Super Bowl

CHICAGO -- Relax, Chicago. Rex Grossman and Da Bears are indeed good enough for this Super Bowl, and they've already made it a historic one.\nFew teams with such an impressive record have been as questioned, even maligned, as the Bears. Yet after romping past the New Orleans Saints 39-14 Sunday, they are headed to their first NFL title game since the 1985 team overwhelmed the league and shuffled in under Mike Ditka and Jim McMahon.\nThis time, Lovie Smith will lead them there, the first black head coach to make it to the title game in its 41 years.\n"I'll feel even better to be the first black coach to hold up the world championship trophy," he said.\nSmith's team did it in true Bears fashion -- big plays on defense and a steady running game in the sleet and snow, ending the Saints' uplifting saga.\nThe Bears (15-3) will play either the New England Patriots or Indianapolis Colts in Miami in two weeks. \nAll the worries about how genuine the Bears' outstanding season was disappeared thanks to running back Thomas Jones, All-Pro kicker Robbie Gould and a defense that, while not dominant, made enough decisive plays.\n"I am really into the great tradition we have with the Chicago Bears," Smith said. "I am just trying to get our football team up to that same standard Mike had his team at, especially that '85 team."\nAdded All-Pro linebacker Brian Urlacher: "We knew what the experts said. It didn't matter. This is a great team win for our franchise."\nFor a moment, though, in the third quarter they seemed to be in trouble.\nReggie Bush's electrifying 88-yard touchdown catch and dash to the end zone pulled the Saints within two points, 16-14.\nBut from then on, Urlacher and the Bears' defense took over.\nChicago, which has won nine NFL titles but has been an also-ran for much of the last two decades, later went 85 yards in five plays in the worst of the weather. Often-criticized Grossman had four completions, including a 33-yarder to a diving Bernard Berrian that clinched it, sending the bundled-up fans in Soldier Field into foot-stomping hysteria and chants of "Super Bowl, Super Bowl."\n"We had a great game today," said Grossman, who was 11-for-26 for 144 yards but made no mistakes. "This is great and all, but we have one game to go."\nJones had all 69 yards on an eight-play ground drive in the second quarter, scored twice and rushed for 123 yards. Gould nailed three field goals.\nThe Bears, who led the league with 44 takeaways, forced four turnovers, and when NFC passing leader Drew Brees fumbled less than a minute after Berrian's TD, whatever karma the Saints (11-7) carried this season disappeared.\nCedric Benson scored on a 12-yard run, and from there it was a matter of searching for the sunscreen.\nIt was a bitter, sloppy conclusion to the Saints' remarkable turnaround from a nomadic 3-13 season in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina's destruction to this winning season. As their city rebuilds, the team has provided an uplifting respite in the saga.