The Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers are heading to Dallas to play in Super Bowl 45 in two weeks.
Green Bay Packers 21, Chicago Bears 14
The Packers took an early lead against the Chicago Bears and rode that to a 21-14 victory in the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers ran in from the one-yard line for the game's first score and later in the second quarter James Starks (22 carries for 74 yards) scored from four yards out to make it 14-0.
The score remained that way until the fourth quarter when the Bears mounted a rally behind third string quarterback Caleb Hanie, who was pressed into action when starter Jay Cutler (6 of 14 passing for 80 yards with an interception) left the game early in the third quarter with a knee injury.
Hanie found wide receiver Johnny Knox on a sideline route to set up Chester Taylor's one-yard run to cut the Packers' lead to 14-7.
The Packers made it 21-7 with 6:04 left in the fourth quarter when B.J. Raji intercepted Hanie's slant pass and raced 18 yards for the score.
Chicago closed to 21-14 with just over four minutes left when Hanie threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Earl Bennett.
The Packers were able to hang on for the win when Hanie threw his second interception of the game with 45 seconds left in the game.
It is Green Bay's first appearance in the Super Bowl in 13 years.
Pittsburgh Steelers 24, New York Jets 19
The Pittsburgh Steelers, in a game that mirrored the Green Bay-Chicago game, raced out to a 24-0 lead in the first half and then held off a second half rally by the New York Jets and eventually won the AFC Championship Game, 24-19 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
Steelers' running back Rashard Mendenhall (27 carries for 121 yards) scored from one-yard out and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger ran two yards for another score, Shaun Suisham kicked a 20-yard field goal and William Gay returned a fumble 19 yards to give the Steelers a 24-0 lead.
The Jets got a 42-yard field goal from Nick Folk to make the halftime score 24-3.
The Steelers rolled up 166 yards on the ground against the Jets' defense while limiting New York's vaunted running attack to just 70 yards for the game.
In the second half, the Jets had to take to the air to get back into it as quarterback Mark Sanchez (20 for 33 for 233 yards) threw the first of his TD passes on a 45-yard strike to former Steelers' wide receiver Santonio Holmes.
The Jets cut the deficit to 24-12 on a safety as a result of a bad snap for the Steelers at their own one-yard line. Just before the safety, the Steelers defense made a goal line stand against New York by stuffing running back LaDainian Tomlinson from the one-yard line.
New York scored one last time with 3:06 left in the game when Sanchez threw a four-yard TD pass to Jerhico Cotchery.
The win by the Steelers enables them to go for their second Super Bowl title in the last three years and third championship in six years.
The Steelers lead all NFL teams with six Super Bowl titles and this will be their eighth overall appearance in the Super Bowl.
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