Bears nip Packers to keep playoff hopes alive

It was about as ugly as an “ugly win” can get, but the Chicago Bears 20-17 OT win over the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football kept them tied with Minnesota for first place in the NFC North and left them still in the hunt for a playoff berth.  Down 14-3 at the half, Chicago tied the game late in regulation and won it early in the extra session on a 38 yard FG by Robbie Gould.

After a scoreless first quarter, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers got his team on the board midway through the second when he found Greg Jennings in the end zone from seven yards out.  The Bears chipped into the lead with a Gould FG a couple of minutes later, but the Packers would respond with another Rodgers TD pass—this time to Ryan Grant from 17 yards in the final minute of the half.  When the gun sounded, the Packers headed to the locker room with a 14-3 lead.

It would be incorrect to say that the Bears came “roaring back” in the second half, but they didn’t give up and continued to cut into the Pack advantage.  Kyle Orton hit Greg Olson from 3 yards out for the only score of the third quarter, cutting the Green Bay lead to four points at 14-10.  The Packers extended the lead back to seven on a Mason Crosby FG early in the fourth.  Chicago tied the game late in the period on a 3 yard run by Matt Forte to send the contest to OT.

Actually, it wasn’t quite that easy—the Bears suffered a scary moment as the seconds ticked away in the fourth quarter when the Packers lined up for a potential game winning FG with: 18 left.  The Bears Alex Brown got a hand on Mason Crosby’s 38 yard attempt to keep his team alive.  The overtime was the easy part, with dependable Robbie Gould splitting the uprights to give his team a three point victory.

Both teams are certainly familiar with inhospitable weather conditions, but Monday’s contest was played in downright brutal elements—the announced temperature at Soldier Field was 2 degrees F, the coldest since the team began keeping records in 1964.  The wind chill was announced at -18 degrees, the second lowest figure in history.  Bears kicker Gould said that he had a job to do despite the burly weather conditions:

"You know it's going to be chilly, the ground is going to be hard. You've just got to go out there and do your job. There's no excuses for missing.”

At 5-10, Green Bay has one last “gut check” on their schedule in a season with nothing left to play for other than pride.  Detroit comes to Lambeau Field next Sunday trying to avoid becoming the first 0-16 team in NFL history.  Obviously, Green Bay doesn’t want to be the lone victim of the hapless Lions and will try to maintain their historical mastery of Detroit at home.  The Lions haven’t won in Green Bay since 1991.

The Bears, meanwhile, have a lot to play for as they travel to Houston for a game against the 7-8 Texans.  While the division title isn’t completely in their control, they need to win to have any chance whatsoever.  They also need some help from the New York Giants, who will have to beat Minnesota on the road to give the Bears the NFC North crown.  Should Minnesota win, they’ll take the division regardless of the Bears outcome.  In any case, the Bears must win to stay in the playoff hunt—if Minnesota defeats the Giants they’ll need Dallas and Tampa Bay to lose to give them the wildcard slot.  Dallas has a tough game at Philadelphia, but with Tampa Bay hosting the lowly Oakland Raiders it would appear that their best shot is for the defending Superbowl champions to take care of their divisional rivals in Minneapolis.