Bears save season by beating Green Bay
The Bears had a great win tonight over the Packers, 27-20. This was supposed to be Brett Favre's night to shine. Fresh off a record-setting game, National TV, Four-and-Oh, John Madden's undying love, etc. But something happened. The Bears defense stepped up. The offense made plays when it had to.
At first, Favre was having his way with the Bears. His rating was a buck-forty, he was 19 of 20, and he had a TD. If not for Charles Tillman's two forced fumbles on the rookie James Jones, it very well could have been 21-0 after twenty minutes. As it was, it was the most lopsided 17-7 that you're ever going to see at the half.
Then, the defense decided to stop giving up yards. Before the last two minutes of the game, they only gave up one first down in the entire second half. That as much as anything was why the Bears were able to come back. Lance Briggs was a monster with sixteen tackles. Urlacher had a pick. Harris and Anderson were making plays on the line. Ayanbadejo forced a fumble on special teams (that Brad Maynard recovered!) McGowan had a pick on the last play. Just a swarming effort all around. It reminded me of the second half versus Arizona last year. The opponent's offense went a little conservative, and the Bears simply decided that they weren't going to lose this game on defense. Whatever Lovie said at the half, it made a difference because they were truly inspired.
And the offense did enough to win. Cedric Benson had a few nice runs against Green Bay's tough defense, but for the most part he was held in check. Still, no fumbles. Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark both had touchdowns and really nice days overall. Both of those guys are plusses at their positions, unlike the rest of the receiving corps, which is average at best. Check that. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, the wideouts are below average. Bottom third in the league for sure.
Anyways, finally, the Quarterback. Brian Griese was solid. He had one dumb pick that he floated on a first down, but other than that he was very efficient. He did enough for them to win. He didn't lose the game. He is, for lack of a better phrase, who we thought he was. Good enough to win.
So now the Bears are 2-3, two games behind the Packers. Still within shouting distance. Even if the Bears fail to win the division, the Wild Card is definitely within reach in the shoddy NFC. Have to take care of business next week against Minnesota. Losing to them would be brutal and would nullify this week's victory.
Bear down.