CHICAGO – It took Steve Smith and the Carolina Panthers 55 seconds to prove the Monsters of the Midway aren’t so scary after all.

Smith had 12 catches for a career high 218 yards and two long touchdowns, including a 58-yard scoring reception on the second play from scrim mage, to lead Carolina to a 29-21 victory over the Chicago Bears yesterday. It sends the Panthers into the NFC championship game for the second time in three years next week at Seattle.

Carolina, just the third no. 5 seed since 1990 to advance to the championship game, did it by striking early before letting its defense challenge Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman, who was starting his second game of the season.

Grossman was driving the Bears again late in the fourth quarter when they trailed 29-21, but he was intercepted by Ken Lucas with 2:27 to play.

Smith had a career-best 14 catches for 169 yards in that first meeting.

“Last time we played them I had 14 [catches] but we didn’t score,” Smith said. “All I heard all week long was what I didn’t do.”

Smith beat Charles Tillman on the Panthers’ second snap, leaving him face down on the ground as he reeled in a long pass from Delhomme. With Mike Brown in front of him waiting to make the tackle, Smith stopped in mid-stride, tiptoed around Brown and into the end zone for a lightning fast 7-0 lead.

The Bears never caught up.

Smith later caught a jump ball between Tillman and Chris Harris at the Chicago 2 for a 46-yard gain. Three plays later, John Kasay made a 20-yard field goal to give Carolina a 10-0 lead at the start of the second quarter. He then made a 38-yarder to stretch the lead to 13-0 and silence the crowd.

That changed on the Bears’ next series, when Grossman finally found a rhythm by completing passes of 24 and 12 yards to Muhammad and Bernard Berrian to put Chicago in scoring range.

Chicago coach Lovie Smith called a timeout to talk it over, brazenly deciding to go for the touchdown rather than try the easy field goal. The decision paid off when Adrian Peterson smartly held the ball out to ensure it made it into the end zone as he pushed forward.

That cut the Panthers’ lead to 13-7 with 1:57 to play in the half and revived a crowd that seemed shell-shocked only minutes earlier. Carolina responded by marching down the field to set up Kasay’s third field goal, a 37-yarder that sent the Panthers into halftime up 16-7.

Grossman opened the second half looking more relaxed, directing an eight-play scoring drive that culminated with his 1-yard TD pass to Desmond Clark. It made it 16-14 and sent the Soldier Field crowd into a frenzy.