They’re a Step From Fat City

It was the symbol for the season, the ultimate talisman for the Chicago Bears.

Keith Traylor, a 6-foot-2 defensive lineman for the Chicago Bears who weighs about 320 ... or 330 ... or 340 pounds, found himself with a football in his hands and open field ahead of him. Lots of open field.

In the regular-season finale against Jacksonville, Traylor intercepted a pass. Then he ran for 67 yards. He looked for someone speedier, lighter, to lateral to. No one was close. He huffed and he puffed. TV viewers were alternately enthralled by this massive man running slower and slower, and frightened that they would see some sort of health crisis before Traylor either landed in the end zone or was tackled.

It was kind of like watching the Bears all season. In a city where grade school children are singing “Fight on, Chicago Bears” right after they sing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” it was captivating to see the team challenge for the NFL playoffs for the first time since 1995 and challenge for the Super Bowl for the first time since 1985. It was also frightening, waiting for the collapse, certain it would come.

Traylor didn’t score his touchdown. He was tackled short of the goal line. But his team scored a touchdown and went on to win the game, which clinched the NFC Central Division title and, briefly, even allowed the Bears to dream of home-field advantage through the conference playoffs. But the Bears lost twice to Green Bay and almost lost so many other times, winning twice in overtime.

Still, they did win enough games to host the Philadelphia Eagles today, the winner advancing to the NFC title game.

The Eagles had a seminal moment of their own this season. It did not involve a giant man lumbering for his life. It involved beating the New York Giants at their Philly home, Veterans Stadium, for the first time in five years. The win, on Dec. 30, ended the sad streak and gave the Eagles the NFC East title and a playoff spot. The Giants were the ones who eliminated the Eagles from the playoffs last year, in the conference semifinals. The Giants were the ones who have hogged all the glory and titles over a decade.

“It was,” said Eagle quarterback Donovan McNabb, “an important win on many levels.”

And a win in today’s game will be important for either team on many levels.

Glory has not found the Bears or Eagles in many years. The last time Philadelphia was in an NFC championship game was in 1981. The Bears last appeared in that game in 1989. If the proudest moments of both franchises are long past, both also tout an old-fashioned value.

That is, both love to play defense.

The Bears allowed the fewest points (203) and second-fewest yards rushing in the league during the regular season.

“I think our defense is one that just goes out and does its job,” Chicago end Phillip Daniels said. “We haven’t made a lot of mistakes either, and that’s the key to having a good defense.”

Traylor has done more than provide comic relief with his running. He and fellow defensive tackle Ted Washington combine to weigh an estimated 700 pounds. Give or take a few.

Running up the middle against these guys is not easy. Neither is getting a definitive answer to the weight question. Traylor and Washington are close-mouthed about poundage, especially after a Jacksonville radio announcer called Traylor’s interception run this way: “That fat cow just ran all the way down the field. He’s got more than one little bowl of jelly in his stomach.”

The Eagles allowed only five more points than the Bears, but relied more on the pass rush and the secondary. Ferocious end Hugh Douglas, who runs hard and hits harder, keys the rush. Veterans Troy Vincent and Brian Dawkins anchor the secondary. In three playoff games the last two seasons, the Eagles haven’t allowed a touchdown.

“It’s going to be a physical game,” said Eagle defensive tackle Corey Simon. “To be competitive at this level, you have to see this as a challenge.”

Neither team wants to live in the past, but the past keeps sticking its nose into the affair. That’s because the last time these two teams met in the playoffs, on Dec. 31, 1988, the game was made nearly invisible by a dense fog that covered Soldier Field just before halftime. People sitting in the 10th row couldn’t see the game. Players standing on the 20-yard line couldn’t see the end zone.

The Bears won the Fog Bowl, 20-12. At least that’s what everybody thinks happened.

“Who knows?” says Eagle quarterback Donovan McNabb, the Chicago native and Philadelphia’s most dangerous offensive weapon. “Who could tell what the final score was?”

McNabb is a valuable cold-weather player because he has both a strong arm and quick legs. He can throw or run.

The Bears are a dangerous cold-weather team because they have strong, young running backs--Anthony Thomas, a rookie with 1,183 yards, and James Allen, a fourth-year guy who has 469 yards.

Soldier Field is a dangerous cold-weather place, an old stadium standing on the edge of Lake Michigan with slippery turf and a storied past.

This might be the last game in the “old” venue. After the Bears’ final game this season, Soldier Field will close down for a year and a $587-million makeover. If the Rams beat the Packers Sunday, the Bears--if they win today--will play next week in St. Louis.

“The old field might have a trick or two left,” Bear quarterback Jim Miller said. “Let’s hope the trick is on the Eagles and not us.”

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NFL PLAYOFFS

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