CHICAGO — As praise was getting thrown around inside the Packers’ locker room, receiver Greg Jennings paused for a moment and said, “I can’t say enough about Tim, the way he punted the ball.”
Indeed, first-year punter Tim Masthay was the main reason why the very dangerous Devin Hester was not a major factor in the Packers’ 21-14 victory over the Bears in the NFC Championship.
Masthay did not punt once last week in Atlanta but he was called on eight times in this game and responded, putting five down inside the 20 and limiting Hester to three returns for only 16 yards.
“It ended up being a game changer, it kept their biggest threat off the field pretty much with a lack of opportunities,” Jennings said.
Masthay saved his best kick for last. The Bears were gaining some momentum in the closing minutes when Masthay rocketed a 58-yard punt, angled expertly toward the right sideline. With his toes on the sideline, Hester caught the ball but his 11-yard return didn’t hurt the Packers one bit.
“The last punt I hit it about as perfect as I could hit it,” Masthay said. “I guess if it would have been six inches to the right it would have been better, but for the most part I hit it well and guys covered well.”
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Packers WR Donald Driver, a 12-year veteran, is finally headed to his first Super Bowl.
“My receiver group, we talk noise to one another. My guys told me we got to get the old man that,” he said. “I’m glad they got me there. Now I want to win.”
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The Packers put 15 players on injured reserve this season, including six full-time starters, and were 8-6 and facing playoff elimination down the stretch.
“The trials and tribulations we encountered, to me, that was how we were shaped,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.
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Caleb Hanie as the No. 3 quarterback for the Bears had no idea he’d get a chance to play.
“Obviously not,” he said. “You dream about it and you try to envision what would happen.”
Hanie went 13 of 20 for 153 yards and one touchdown but was intercepted twice.
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Packers LT Chad Clifton was forced out with a neck stinger when he was hit by teammate John Kuhn on the opening drive but he was able to return midway through the second quarter. . . . How explosive are the Packers? Of their first 11 plays, eight went for first downs.
This was the 182nd meeting between the oldest rivals in NFL history but only the second time these teams met in the postseason. The previous playoff encounter was in 1941, seven days after Pearl Harbor.
