That might be true of the Bears defense, but not for the team as a whole. If edge-rusher is the second-most important position in the NFL, quarterback is first, and the Bears have second-year man Mitch Trabisky under center. Though he has an NFL arm and good wheels, Sunday's game was only Trubisky's 26th start since his senior year of high school in 2012. Great defense or not, Trubisky might not be ready to take the Bears where their fans think they're destined to go.

Rodgers, on the other hand, has shown he can take the Packers just about anywhere he wants. In putting up 24 second-half points, he completed 17 of 23 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns. Given the beating he took in the first half, it was one of the more special games of his career.

"Aaron Rodgers was remarkable," McCarthy said. "I just can't tell you how proud I am of him. Frankly, walking out of the tunnel, I was prepared to go with (backup) DeShone (Kizer). It was the evaluation with our medical staff to make sure he was safe and ready to go and his performance just speaks for itself. Just a tremendous performance. We went exclusively with the no-huddle there in the second half and the 2-minute drive is priceless. It's the best thing that we do. It's the best thing that he does."