Carolina Panthers perennial Pro Bowl receiver Steve Smith, who averaged 149 yards per game against the Bears, had seven catches for 118 yards on Sunday.
All of those were with Bears cornerback Tim Jennings on him.
But the only one who got in the end zone Sunday was Jennings -- and Smith was a bit peeved afterwards.
"I slipped, sir. I slipped," Smith said to reporters after the game. "The ball was thrown. He picked it. That what-if game, and this and that, that requires energy that I just don't have right now to go through.
"That was the best play he made all game on me," Smith said. "But it was a key moment in the game, changed the momentum. I know you want to pump him up. But I've been kicking his ass every time I come up here. And today wasn't no different. Do you disagree?"
Well, certainly Jennings would. He was complimentary of Smith. 
"It's very important when you got a Pro Bowl receiver like that's been playing the game at a high level like that his whole career," Jennings said. "He's going to make some plays. But I had to have the mentality that I got to stay up and stay playing aggressive and minimize his playmaking ability."
Regarding his pick-six, Jennings matter-of-factly said, "I had an opportunity to make a play on the ball, the quarterback threw it, and I was able to catch it and take it to the house."
Hey Smith kicks alot of ass playing against alot of teams but when Jennings made that play and as we know it takes just one play to change a game jennings wins this battle hands down.
One of those two will be playing in Hawaii this year...and it is not Smith or his loud mouth.
For Smith to run his mouth with his team 1-6 takes a lot of nerve and what it does is comes around to bite you like it did today! Sure Smith maybe an all pro but he is no Jerry Rice, or guys like Walter Payton, who simply let their play do the talking! Could it be Smith screwed up and ran a bad route? Tim waited his time and when it counted he garbbed the pick 6 while Smith was left with his pants down around his ankles.
someone should remind mr smith that the panthers are 0-2 against the bears since tim jennings has been with the bears and is 0-3 overall against jennings if you count his time with the colts...so looks like the ass kicking has been one-sided since football is still a team sport...
Sorry, Jennings will be busy prepping for the super bowl...
I respect Smith in his career, and find his talking on the field amusing. There isn't a corner in the league that doesn't have a Steve Smith story. But Smith had two huge failures in this game. The interception because he lost his footing, and the catch he dropped in the end zone, though it would have been an extremely tough catch. Jennings gave up yardage, but in the end, the score was Smith 0, Jennings 6.
mr smith shoulda mentioned how he choked with the big play was in his hands. when he dropped a perfectly thrown ball from mr newton in the end zone during the second half, it gave the bears life. if he catches that pass the bears would have been just about done. instead, they only got 3 points and the bears were left with life.
I disagree with Steve Smith. He made some big plays with his speed and ball skills, but Jennings was with him step for step on every catch. And yardage only counts for points in fantasy football. Timmy Jennings won the Bears this game, and Steve Smith COULD have closed the deal with a ball he dropped in the end zone (due to excellent coverage by TJ.
Steve Smith is a better player, but both are tough competitors and Jennings won the battle on this day!
Steve Smith is a real arrogant and classless jerk for making such comments about TJ. You can definitely tell who has more CLASS on and off the field. So Steve stop chirping and stop crying and give this man just as much respect as he gave you. Slip or not TJ was in the right place at the right time and got the PICK 6 for the team WIN!!!
yes he does kick that boy's ass. but the income of todays was was slap in his face man up.
Jennings wins on the field due to the team win and off the field due to actually having class, unlike Smith, who I'm sure will be punching teammates again in no time.
Good for TJ for sort of staying with him on the out? Smith slipped...plain and simple. With the games that he has had against the Bears and the bad team that he is playing on again, who wouldn't spout a little when asked about that play. Smith could end up in the HOF which, for a guy that is 5'9" and has caught passes from the likes of Chris Weinke, Rodney Peete and Jake Delhomme (and those are the good ones), that is remarkable.
As a Bears fan, I'm glad that they won but to hammer Smith? C'mon man.
The Bears played a horrible game and really didn't show up UNTIL Jennings picked the pass. Steve Smith is an excellent player and can shoot his mouth off all he wants..when you're a winning team. But they're 1-6. You can talk about how you ran all over Jennings and everyone else, but the fact remains that while Steve Smith may be doing well, his team flat out isn't. 1-6 gets you nothing but a better placement in the draft next year.
I'm a Bear's fan but I recognize that world class athletes are generally not humble. Steve Smith is no exception. We all saw how he was dominating Jennings. He does it everytime he plays us. Why should he be humble? To his credit, Jennings fought him tooth and nail, and eventually it paid off, but Smith made amazing catches in this game. As a football fan, I Give credit where credit is due.
Smith is right. Jennings allowed him 118 yards, and Smith beat his coverage all game long. Anyone can slip on a slippery field, and on a timing route, that can be deadly. The Bears were incredibly lucky to win this game against a severely underrated team. Carolina will surpise some teams down the line. i'm a die-hard Bear fan, but the bears have to get their acts together if they are going to make the Super Bowl. Both the defense and offense were pretty pathetic this game, but the ball bounced the Bears' way the last 6 minutes of the game. Where was the pass protection on the o=line's part prior to that? Mostly lieing on their backs while Cutler was fighting for his life and getting sacked. The Defense was equally poor, allowing the Panthers to ram it down their throats.
Smith made Jennings look bad all the game. Jennings got lucky to redeem a miserable performance by Smith slipping. In fact both the Bear offense and defense smelled up the place yesterday. Morissey's article is right on, and he said it as well as anyone can.
Let me add that unless the Bears get more consistency on both defense and offense, they will never make the Super Bowl. I'm a die-hard Bear fan and would love to see the offense and defense both click perfectly in the remaining games, but a lot of improvement is desperately needed as the Bears hit the toughest part of their schedule.
Smith, I got one word for you: scoreboard
I guess I'm the only one who found no fault with this statement.
Steve Smith is a proven commodity...a perennial All Star and yes...he was doing well in the game.
But when you are dealing with the Alpha Male personality of that position...I wouldn't imagine any huge concessions. I mean...everybody can't be Larry Fitzgerald....most fall in the Brandon Marshall territory pre reformation...
Jennings handle it as a class act...and I always appreciate bulletin board material for the next match-up.
I hope Mr. Smith's swagger remains intact thru this nightmare of a season his Panthers are having, tho...
D
Steve Smith is and will always be a guy with a lot of talent and no class. You can shine up a turd but it's still a turd.
You would think a long time pro bowler would have enough class to admit when he was bsted. When you don't get a touchdown but the guy covering you gets a touchdown, you were beaten sir. You were brought down a peg and to deny it shows your total lack of class.
Yo DVS Jackson, you are not alone. It's amazing to me how many folks respond to these articles as if they know these players personally. It's ok to have an opinion about players and their personalities off of the field, but rarely are these opinions accurate. I guess that's part of being a fan.
Jennings slipped once and allowed one ... 1 ... one ... 61 yard catch from Smith. Part of which responsibility should have fallen on the safety. That one play provided Smith more than HALF the 118 yards for the WHOLE game.
Smith had an opportunity to actually catch an easy TD during the game too ... and dropped it!!!
Jennings CAUGHT his easy TD pass!!!
Who kicked who's ...?
Sorry Creighton, Bears win again! Not suprised you haven't showed your chubby face around here! Can't blame ya pal!
Obviously his comments are misguided but Smith is outspoken at the best of times and his team had just lost at the last second. Easy to be the bigger man when reporters are asking what your pick 6 meant to the team and not how you feel after dropping a key touchdown pass.
@TUS
It's almost like your trying to disprove yourself. Jennings caught an easy pass and took it to the house after Smith falls flat on his face, if that play were to occur 10 times how many times do you think Smith falls? How many times out of 10 does Smith catch an easy TD pass?
I think Steve kicked his own ass.
That doesn't make any sense at all. Jennings made a play on the ball, not Steve Smith. Smith beat him for a 118 yds, he was not shut down in anyway. Jennings made a great play, one that changed the game but doesn't automatically mean he wont the match up on Smith because he clearly didn't and there's a 118yds to prove it.
As a massive Panthers I have to interject here. Steve Smith is only good because he plays with such unbelievable passion, like when he got lit up by your safety but got up yelling. He was also responsible for the play that cost the Panthers the game, so yea obviously he's gonna be pissed when that's brought up post game. That story obviously is going to overshadow all the unbelievable things Steve does in our local community and for charity (dude straight washed ppl's feet and donated 100k to pay for medical bills related to the Batman shooting) He's actually a really humble, thoughtful guy when he's not in straight gladiator mode.
... I guess Smith missed his A** kick and was laying on the ground when Jennings made his game changing touchdown LOL he who laughs last well you know the rest...
The think is when you have a steve smith on your team and have to throw the at him 10 to 15 times he should come out with a 100 yard receiving day but to make comments like you destroy the bears secondary please 7 catches for 118 and how many passes were thrown his way that still says that TJ shut him down 2 picks and a touch down that steve couldn't get.
no wonder that team is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO messed up.
1.You have a quarterback pouting on the bench because he fumbled away his glory at the end zone. In spite of the fact that a team mate hustled to his fumble and got the touchdown anyway. Maybe his not scoring the touchdown was more important than the team actually scoring one?.
2. Smith is doing all this crowing about who's tail he's kicking in a losing cause. Isn't that another way of saying, "I did my part, nobody else on my team did theirs!" This type of thinking is a cancer to a team. Maybe he should have said, I had a chance to put away the game and I dropped the ball. You are only given so many chances during the game, to make good plays. If you make the play that wins the game, then you can say you are the kicker and not the kickee.
Here's the deal. Smith is a psychopath. A talented psychopath, but a psychopath none the less.
AHhhhhhh BOOOOOOOOHOOOOOO smith, yea you had good game, but you lost! your star performance means nothing! Grow up!!!
Good point. Smith has won ALOT of personal matchups, but his team still loses!