Chicago: Indianapolisfinally vanquished some playoff demons and Chicago'sdefence lived up to its billing as both teams clawed their way past worthyopponents Sunday to book a Super Bowl showdown in Miami.

 Indianapolisquarterback Peyton Manning engineered one of the greatest comebacks in NationalFootball League playoff history by throwing for 349 yards and rushing for onetouchdown as the Colts rallied to beat New England38-34.

"It wasn't a panic situation," Manning said.

"We knew we couldn't get it all back at once. We just slowly chippedaway at their lead," he said.

Chicago's defence forced four turnovers asthe host Bears reached their first Super Bowl in over two decades with a 39-14win over New Orleans.

"It doesn't get any better than this right now," said Bearsquarterback Rex Grossman.

The top-seeded Bears (15-3) will meet Indianapolis(15-4) in the Super Bowl at Miamion February 4.

"We haven't achieved the ultimate goal, but we have given ourselves theopportunity," Manning said.

Manning sparked the Colts' historic rally which saw them down by 15 pointsat halftime and as much as 18 to New England which had eliminated Indianapolis from theplayoffs twice in the last three seasons.

Often criticized for not leading his team to a championship despite hisprolific passing numbers and his portfolio of commercial endorsements, Manningshowed plenty of heart by rallying the Colts to a 32-point second half.

A seven-time Pro Bowler and two-time MVP, Manning completed the comebackwith a seven-play, 80-yard drive which rookie Joseph Addai capped with athree-yard touchdown run with exactly one minute left.

"It is not the situation you want to be in, down 21-3, but we just tookit one series at a time and everybody did his part and we came out with a greatwin," said Manning, who will make his first Super Bowl appearance in hisninth NFL season.

The Pats tried to rally in the final minute, but New England quarterback TomBrady threw an interception to Colts' Marlin Jackson which clinched the win forIndianapolis.

"I know how hard I worked this week to get ready for these guys and soit is always nice to take hard work and put it to good use," Manning said.

Chicago'sLovie Smith became the first black coach to reach a Super Bowl. He was followedjust hours later by Colts head coach Tony Dungy, also an African-American.

"A lot of great coaches have come before me and they gave me anopportunity," Smith said. "I hope I can be as inspirational toothers."

"It means a lot. I am proud to represent African-American coaches andso proud for Lovie," he said.

With light snow falling and temperatures around minus three degrees Celsius(28 Fahrenheit) on Sunday, Grossman was able to do enough in the biggest gameof his four-year career.

He recovered from a poor first half to complete 11-of-26 passes for 144yards without a turnover.

His 33-yard touchdown pass to Bernard Berrian 37 seconds into the fourthquarter gave the Bears a commanding 25-14 lead.

The Bears also received more than enough big plays from their defence tofrustrate the Saints (11-7), who were playing in the semi-finals for the firsttime in their 40-year history.

Chicagoforced four turnovers and recorded a safety.

These Bears also are known for a fierce defence led by Pro Bowl middlelinebacker Brian Urlacher and a quarterback in Grossman who has been criticizedfor inconsistent play.

"We knew that the experts were saying it all week long, so it'sexciting for us," Urlacher said.

"It doesn't matter what anyone says. We knew what we had to do to winand we went out and did it. Our offence ran the ball, we stopped the ball, ourspecial teams covered kicks like they did all year long, and it was a greatteam win for our franchise,"  hesaid.

Chicago lastmade the Super Bowl in 1986 under coach Mike Ditka.