4th Quarter
3:01 p.m.
THANK YOU BUTTERFINGERS CHESTER TAYLOR! You just gave the Packers a three-way tie for the division lead!!! He fumbled to stop the Vikings' last-gasp drive.
2:58 p.m. 1:56 Packers' 2nd Drive
Green Bay 37, Chicago 3
Mason Crosby 35 yd FG
Now it's just run the clock down time and clink the Miller Lite glasses. The Packers beat Lovie Smith at home for the first time since 2004.
2:49 p.m. 5:21 Bears' 2nd Drive
Grossman's in...Orton is fuming. Oh well.
A great job by the DB's stops them on four plays.
2:40 p.m. 7:37 Bears' 1st Drive
Green Bay 34, Chicago 3
Jason Hunter 54 yard fumble return TD
The Bears just took advantage of Brandon Chillar covering a wide receiver and he got burned for 36 yards.
But he just made up for it by diagnosing a Forte pass completion for a four-yard loss. Beautiful way to stop a drive.
4th and 10 at the 36 for Chicago...INTERCEPTED BY NICK COLLINS! Will he run this one back? Nope...flags fly inside the Chicago 40. Don't tell me there was a jump into the neutral zone...FRIGGIN NO! Offsides on the defense - so that negates the interception, but a foul on the return by Chicago means it's 3rd and 10 again.
HAHA! They got Orton for tripping.
REMIX!! 4th and 10...snap fumbled and JASON HUNTER RECOVERS - HE IS GONE! Unleash the dagger! Seven returns for TDs by the defense this year, a team record.
2:28 p.m. 9:51 Packers' 1st Drive (continued from 3rd quarter)
Green Bay 27, Chicago 3
Crosby 33 yd FG
Key 3rd and five and to the 35 yard line, the first down marker, goes Donald Lee. C'mon, ref, I'll run over to Kroll's Butterburgers and get you a bag-full of them if you call it a first down!
Aaagh...a chain link and the attachment short of the first down.
The crowd wants them to go for it....Rodgers and the offense will.
4th and Rodgers' sneak again gets the first down. He is MONEY on those sneaks...hmm...wonder if Bart taught him the ropes on that.
AAAAGH...Rodgers' pass to Lee in the end zone was broken up in the end zone. I think I lead the lead in AAAAGH's, more than Larry.
3rd Quarter
2:18 p.m. 0:00 Packers' 2nd Drive
Rodgers does a smart job by rolling out to get the first down with a check-down throw to Humphrey. Looking at the replay - WHAT A great job of holding on to the ball while being mugged by a Bears linebacker.
2:15 p.m. 1:57 Bears' 2nd Drive
Uh oh for Chicago...another holding penalty on the Bears that makes me think they've picked up the O-line disease the Packers suffered from for so long.
3rd and 11 and again the Bears' offense has no clue what the Packers' defense is doing to make their lives miserable...a 3-3-5 scheme with blitzes. LOVE the defensive calls, Bob Sanders.
2:08 p.m. 3:01 Packers' 1st Drive
Green Bay 24, Chicago 3
Rodgers-Lee 5 yd TD pass
Rodgers to Jennings is MONEY! The Bears show why they're the 30th ranked pass defense in the NFL with a 29-yard completion, and another key play to Driver for another first down. The Packers' mid-range passing game is clicking.
Ryan Grant is going OFF today! Another pile-driving 22 yard run by Grant to the doorstep of the end zone, and credit Jordy Nelson for a sensational block to open him up.
RODGERS TO LEE - Five-yard touchdown pass! We are dominating!
This is a whooping.
1:57 p.m. 8:19 Bears' 1st Drive
The Packers are adding corner and safety blitzes, and they went in and destroyed Orton on first down with a Woodson blitz...but they're paying the cost in coverage of other aspects, as the Bears proved by gaining another first down..
Tramon Williams is MANNING UP! Great job of blanket coverage on Hester's attempted inside hitch-and-slant pattern.
1:51 p.m. 10:10 Packers' 1st Drive
On a 3rd and 3 at the 47, Rodgers completely missed a wide-open receiver along the far sideline for a first down, and he threw the ball out of bounds. Oopsie. Momentum becomes, as Pat Riley would say, men-motum.
1:45 p.m. 13:02 Bears' 1st Drive
Uh oh, Hester's loose into Green Bay territory...uh oh, Chicago says, after a block in the back on Hunter Hillenmeyer moves Chicago back deep into its own territory.
3rd and 6 at the Chicago 30, and again, Tramon Williams is Mutt to Greg Olsen's Jeff on the first down catch by Olsen. Or was it Williams = Jeff and Olsen = Mutt? Someone please inform me - I'm pre-birth culturally challenged.
AGH! Had Aaron Kampman gotten his Hawkeye paws on the pass volleyballed by Ryan Pickett, it's six points and a Lambeau Leap for the Pro Bowl D-end.
On 3rd down, Kampman makes up for it by nearly decapitating Orton for an incompletion tipped by Brandon Chillar on a blitz.
2nd Quarter
1:26 p.m. 0:00 Bears' 4th Drive
I hate to say this, but the penalty of 15 yards on Colin Cole for blasting Devin Hester on the sidelines is a good one. He basically cross body-blocked Hester on the sidelines. This is the type of thing that can get the Bears riled up and come back in this game.
138 yards on the ground ain't bad for a half, folks.
1:23 p.m. 0:15 Packers' 3rd Drive
Green Bay 17, Chicago 3
Crosby 53 yd FG
...and it starts from the Chicago 40 after an "all-ugly team" punt by Brad Maynard.
Now don't just settle for a field goal here, boys! Take some chances and punch it in....whoa? Rodgers, why did you down the football on 2nd down? Because you took a check-down throw to Jackson on first down.
Urlacher came through and blitzed, and that time, Rodgers was smart to NOT take chances and just throw the ball away.
So it's a 53-yard field goal - one yard more than Crosby missed last time around against Minnesota...PERFECT!
1:20 p.m. 0:49 Bears' 3rd Drive
Chicago must be implementing the moonwalk offense...moving backwards with penalties. (Get it, Michael Jackson moonwalk, moving backwards...ah, I'd better go back to comedy school.)
3rd and 7 from the Chicago 9...and Aaron Rouse's tackle means it's the Chicago 10, which means a punt.
1:11 p.m. 1:11 Packers' 2nd Drive
Green Bay 14, Chicago 3
Grant 4 yd TD run
Ryan Grant was down despite him losing the ball after his knee went down...but I have to say, he looked like a baby crawling while scrambling for the ball. (Trust me, I'd goo-goo-ga-ga too in that circumstance.)
3rd and 4 - great job by James Jones to find an opening in the seam of a zone for an 18-yard catch. He comes limping off the field.
The fact the Packers have both 100+ rushing yards and a seven-yards-per carry average on the 4th best rushing defense in the NFL is amazing.
Ryan Grant POUNDS to the end zone and goes Lombardi-style for the touchdown! (Lombardi-style equals run, run, and run again for the uninformed.)
1:00 p.m. 4:38 Bears' 2nd Drive
Credit the Packers with a monster gang tackle on 3rd down on Forte to force a three-and-out. Thanks, D, for bailing Aaron out.
12:58 p.m. 6:53 Packers' 1st Drive
Ryan Grant got shaken up on a solid run outside, so he's getting a break as Brandon Jackson pounds off-tackle for a first down.
Meanwhile, Minnesota owns a 10-3 lead on Tampa Bay...darn it all.
Still, Jackson is pounding up the middle for first down after first down. I can see Lombardi saying "you get a seal heah, and a seal heah, and you run dis play in dee alley!"
Grant returns while Jackson gets WELL deserved kudos and slaps upside the head . I'm glad he's wearing a helmet.
An illegal touching call on Jordy Nelson (ran out of bounds before making a catch) forces a five yard penalty and a 3rd and 8.
AAAAAAAAAAGH! Urlacher with an interception on a Favre-like Rodgers forced throw to Driver inside the 10 yard line.
12:44 p.m. 12:12 Bears' 1st Drive (continued from 1st quarter)
Green Bay 7, Chicago 3
Gould 35 FG
Oh, are we not thrilled to see Nick Collins miss a tackle on the pass play by Forte to get the Bears deep into Green Bay territory. I suppose Green Bay's CB's can handle Chicago's wideouts, but like Wayne loves to mention, Desmond Clark makes a living on Packers LB's and safeties, and Forte just did there, too.
McCarthy won his challenge, which moved Chicago seven yards back to the 21 on that play. Still, it's unnerving.
Well, the Packers force a three-and-out with Johnny Jolly playing volleyball with Orton's 3rd down pass.
1st Quarter
12:33 p.m. 0:00 Bears' 2nd Drive
15 yards in two plays for Matt Forte - that's a very unsettling sign for Packers defenders, along with the fact they can't get help today from an ACL-ridden Nick Barnett.
Greg Olsen vs. Tramon Williams? Olsen makes a first-down catch where he takes advantage of the fact that he's Wilt Chamberlain to Williams' relative "Mini-Me" stature.
(Drive continues 2nd quarter.)
12:25 p.m. 2:28 Packers' 2nd Drive
Green Bay 7, Chicago 0
Rodgers-Jennings 3 yd TD pass
"31 dive" to Jon Kuhn bangs for a first down. Isn't it beautiful to watch a 270 pound dude blast up the middle and crash into tacklers, struggling for a first down? Just a work of muddy art.
What a sliding catch by Jordy Nelson! A 19-yarder and he slid into the middle of the field like Rickie Weeks going right toward home plate on a relay throw with the game on the line.
Jason Spitz nearly pulled out a lineman's dream by recovering a Driver fumble for a touchdown...alas, Driver was down at the three yard line.
No matter - perfect slant pattern by Jennings gives Green Bay the first lead. "Ridiculously easy," Larry says. And he's right.
12:19 p.m. 6:02 Bears' 1st Drive
Matt Forte crushing two Packers defenders to get a first down of 10 yards on 2nd down, destroyed by a holding penalty. Interesting to hear Wayne Larrivee use the words "my bad." Took years for him to figure out how the kids talk. (Not like I'm that hip, either.)
3rd and 7 and the Packers in nickel...and they should have been in the 50-cent piece defense after Greg Olsen caught a first-down pass. Orton is limping like I used to
Devin Hester pushed off on Al Harris as he made a great catch at the GB 35...Harris with blanket coverage. Great job by the D on the overall drive.
12:09 p.m. 10:47 Packers' 1st Drive
Green Bay starts off the game with a nice six-yard gain by Grant. We've been waiting all year for Grant to finally show up and produce (as well as the line to consistently run-block for him).
OOOOga...Chad Clifton is on the sideline and the training staff is looking at his left hand...OOOOga #2...Driver gets a holding penalty on another Grant run. (Good news - Clifton's probable to come back.)
WHAT A PLAY CALL on the draw with Grant to spring him for 35 yards on 2nd and forever.
What an unfortunate decision on 3rd down to throw to Lee for a high-percentage, low-yardage pass completion short of a first down. Again, blame the line for a lovely false-start penalty.
11:58 a.m.
The Packers start off the game on offense after winning the coin toss.
Pregame
11:11 a.m.
Larry McCarren states that WR Ruvell Martin and DE Jeremy Thompson are inactive, but DT Justin Harrell will go today. Kyle Orton will start at QB for Chicago.
9:23 a.m.
Our Bill Michaels reports that defensive tackle Justin Harrell is working out one-on-one with a trainer to see if he can go today..