Monsters of Midway scare Saints back into 'Aints

CHICAGO -- Nice job by Reggie Bush taunting Brian Urlacher before Bush bounced into the end zone, flipping upside down like a circus clown, just seconds prior to his first career moment of postseason trash talking.

Premature jockulation, as it turned out. Why anyone would want to point and taunt at a land shark like Urlacher is beyond me. One minute you talk smack to Urlacher, the next he is cracking your spine like a walnut.

Reggie Bush's premature celebration motivates the Bears D. (Getty Images)

It was a terribly dumb play and at least one of the Bears players, defensive lineman Adewale Ogunleye, ripped Bush afterwards for what he did.

Bush knew he was wrong. He walked back to the huddle and the first thing he did was apologize to New Orleans coach Sean Payton.

"He said to me right afterwards, 'I shouldn't have done that,'" Payton recalled.

"Obviously I know I made a mistake," Bush said, "but I'm not going to kill myself over it."

Ah, no, don't. However that one play demonstrated not just the occasional obnoxious cockiness of Bush but both his immaturity and potential greatness as well as the immaturity and potential greatness of this New Orleans team.

The snow fell, the field turned to crud and the clock was turned back. The Saints became the 'Aints again and their de-evolving could not have come at a worse time in a 39-14 loss to the Bears in the NFC Championship Game.

They have been one of the most inspirational stories in the history of sports and on Sunday against Chicago they were also a horror story.

The Saints are building a legitimate conference power but on this day they were simply outmatched by a bully, failing to protect us all from two weeks of The Super Bowl Shuffle.

You may hear about how the Saints, by committing four turnovers, gave the game away. Do not be fooled. The Bears took it. They forced those turnovers.

In some ways the Saints had little chance to win this contest and it goes beyond how no domed team has won a conference game in 10 tries over a period of almost 40 years. When Chicago's defense plays like this -– breaking heads, busting ribs, playing as Lawrence Taylor used to say, like a bunch of crazed dogs –- few teams stand a chance.

If Chicago's defense duplicates this performance in the Super Bowl the Bears will win by two touchdowns.