CHICAGO — Still doubting the Bears?
Jay Cutler threw for 221 yards, Brian Urlacher forced a key fumble and Chicago took advantage of a team-record tying 17 penalties by the Packers to beat Green Bay 20-17 on Monday night.
Robbie Gould won it with a 19-yard field goal with four seconds left. The Packers’ James Jones lost a fumble on a hit by Urlacher in the final minutes. Then Morgan Burnett was called for pass interference on Earl Bennett, setting up the winning kick.
Chicago is 3-0 and alone atop the NFC North. The Packers fell to 2-1.
“It’s fun, that is all you can ask for,” Cutler said. “The defense did a great job, we struggled the whole game, felt like we kind of were killing ourselves.”
The Bears kept insisting they were contenders through a sloppy preseason and less-than-inspiring opening victory over Detroit. Since then, they turned heads with a victory at Dallas last week, and stamped themselves as contenders by beating Green Bay - with lots of help from the Packers.
The Bears had tied it at 17 on a 25-yard field goal by Gould when Urlacher jarred the ball out of Jones’ hands after the receiver caught a pass from Aaron Rodgers near midfield. Tim Jennings recovered, giving Chicago theball on the Packers’ 46 with 2:18 remaining.
Soon after, another penalty cost the Packers in a big way.
On second down at the 33, Cutler tried to hit Bennett deep along the right sideline and Burnett basically hammered him, wiping out an interception by Nick Collins and putting the ball at the 9.
Three plays later, Chicago walked away with a victory and the only undefeated record in the NFC.
Devin Hester delivered his first touchdown return in three years when he ran back a punt 62 yards in the fourth quarter, giving the Bears a short-lived 14-10 lead.
Rodgers threw for 316yards and a touchdown and also scored on a 3-yard run that gave the Packers a 17-14 lead in the fourth quarter. Jermichael Finley had nine catches for 115 yards, but the sloppiness simply caught up with the Packers in the end.
Cutler completed 16 of 27 passes with a touchdown and interception. Johnny Knox had four catches for 94 yards.
Chicago held its longtime rival to 63 yards rushing, but the Bears had only 77 themselves. That turned it into an air game for much of the night.
The Bears wore throwback 1940s jerseys to honor the Monsters of the Midway. They also honored George Blanda, who died Monday, with a moment of silence before the game.
And they made a surprising move, holding out defensive tackle Tommie Harris for reasons that were not immediately clear.
A three-time Pro Bowl pick, Harris was benched for a game last season and suspended for one in 2008 because of detrimental conduct. He has also been limited by knee and hamstring injuries over the past four years, although he was not listed on the Bears’ injury report leading up to Monday’s game.
He has insisted he is healthy, but he is also off to a slow start.
Green Bay ..............7 3 0 7 - 17 Chicago.................0 7 0 13 - 20 First Quarter GB-Jennings 7 pass from Rodgers (Crosby kick), 4:26.
Second Quarter GB-FG Crosby 38, 4:41.
Chi-Olsen 9 pass from Cutler (Gould kick), :26.
Fourth Quarter Chi-Hester 62 punt return (Gould kick), 14:39.
GB-Rodgers 3 run (Crosby kick), 6:52.
Chi-FG Gould 25, 3:59.
Chi-FG Gould 19, :04.
Attendance-62,179.
GB Chi First downs .........................................21 18 Total Net Yards .................................379 276 Rushes-yards ............................... 15-63 18-77 Passing.............................................316 199 Punt Returns .................................. 1-10 3-93 Kickoff Returns .............................. 5-97 3-91 Interceptions Ret. ........................... 1-15 1-1 Comp-Att-Int .............................34-45-1 16-27-1 Sacked-Yards Lost ............................0-0 3-22 Punts ........................................... 3-50.0 2-48.5 Fumbles-Lost ....................................1-1 1-0 Penalties-Yards .......................... 18-152 5-38 Time of Possession .......................35:49 24:11 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-Green Bay, Kuhn 6-31, Rodgers 2-20, Jackson 7-12. Chicago, Cutler 3-37, Forte 11-29, Taylor 3-9, Knox 1-2.
PASSING-Green Bay, Rodgers 34-45-1-316. Chicago, Cutler 16-27-1-221.
RECEIVING-Green Bay, Finley 9-115, Driver 9-61, J.Jones 5-55, Jackson 4-27, Nelson 3-20, Kuhn 2-20, Jennings 2-18. Chicago, Olsen 5-64, Knox 4-94, Bennett 3-21, Forte 2-14, Hester 1-16, Clark 1-12.
MISSED FIELD GOALS-Green Bay, Crosby 37 (BK). Chicago, Gould 49 (WR).
Sports, Pages 19 on 09/28/2010