Chip's Playoff Picks: NFC Championship

Alright so here we are. The Conference Championships on the line and the TMSSS2000 is all lubed up and ready to go. In case you missed the previous installments here are some quick links if you're interested.

Chicago vs. Seattle & San Diego vs. New England
New Orleans vs. Philadelphia & Baltimore vs. Indianapolis
Dallas vs. Seattle & Indianapolis vs. Kansas City

So far the TMSSS2000 is 5-1 picking the winning team, and 4-2 against the spread. Let's see how the NFC Championship will unfold.

New Orleans Saints vs. Chicago Bears

The Bears win the toss and will start with the ball.

The first offensive series is an ugly one as Grossman is sacked by Mark Simoneau before throwing an interception to Josh Bullocks. Apparently the TMSSS2000 is starting to figure out Grossman a little better.

Drew Brees connects for a long pass to Marques Colston to take them down to the Bears 27. But two straight sacks from Lance Briggs and Brian Urlacher stall the drive. John Carney misses a 55 yard field goal attempt.

The Bears manage to grind their way down the field before settling for a 48 yard field goal off the foot of Robbie Gould (0-3 Bears).

The Saints fail to get anything going again on their next drive and are forced to punt as the second quarter ends

The Bears continue to grind the ball with short dump passes, but fail to go anywhere, punting the ball.

The Saints miss a golden opportunity for a TD when a wide open Marques Colston drops a bomb from Brees. The Saints punt.

Finally opening up the passing game a little, Grossman finds Muhsin Muhammad twice downfield on the series, and eventually connects with Bernard Berrian for the TD (0-10 Bears).

With seconds whittling away in the half Brees once again find Colston deep as the receiver takes the Saints down to the Bears 29 yard line. The second half is capped off with a TD pass to tight end Mark Campbell (7-10 Bears).

The Saints start with the ball in the second half. Just when it looks like it'll be another stalled drive, Deuce McAllister busts out for a huge run taking them down to the 28. The run is followed by Brees finding Joe Horn* in the back of the endzone for the score (14-10 Saints).

*I realize Horn will be a gametime decision. If he ends up being out for this week just replace this name with Terrance Copper.

The Bears simply have no answer as 8-bit Grossman looks lost. I just watched him opt for a screen to Cedric Benson twice in that drive while Moose was wide open downfield. Grrrr, this is just as frustrating as watching the real Bears! Chicago punts.

The Bears looking to stop the Saints get a boost with Alex Brown's third sack of the game. It looks like it's going to go down to the wire as the third quarter ends.

The fourth quarter starts with yet another sack on Brees. Facing 3rd and long, the Bears looking for the stop, Brees find Colston deep yet again and the Saints get the first down. Reggie Bush breaks for a couple big runs and just like that, the Saints score again, this time on a screen pass to Deuce (21-10 Saints).

Meanwhile we keep getting shots of 8-bit Tommie Harris on the sideline in regular clothes as 8-bit Joe Buck keeps beating us to death with how the Bears D just isn't the same without him and 8-bit Mike Brown. Yeah we get it, they're not as good without them. Now shut up!

It's do or die time for the Bears as they start on their own 15 yard line. Things are looking good as Grossman finds Cedric Benson on a short pass. Benson breaks away and takes it down to the 50.

Dammit! Once again Grossman fails to acknowledge a wide open Moose downfield, and passes it to Benson for a three yard loss. Christ, I'm getting pissed watching a Tecmo game. That ain't right, where's the Reset button!

On 4th and 23 the Bears pretty much just killed their Super Bowl dreams as Grossman throws an incompletion into double coverage. 8-bit Jerry Angelo begins looking at QB prospects for April's draft.

The Saints simply run the clock out, but not before they manage one more Brees to Deuce TD. Pricks (28-10 Saints).

Well that sucked. The Bears couldn't get anything going on the ground as Thomas Jones was stuffed. Grossman, while his stats don't look horrible was pretty bad when it came to reading the field and missed some huge opportunities. I should've just rolled with Jim Harbaugh on the roster.

Oh yeah Reggie Bush can kiss my ass too. If it wasn't one of Colston's long catches killing the Bears, it was Bush running for 11 yards on 3rd and 10.

Player of the game goes to Drew Brees who threw for 4 touchdowns.