CHICAGO – All the experts who picked the Packers to reach the Super Bowl may not be ready to change their predictions this early in the season. But there’s a different team on top of the NFC.
The Bears ascended to that lofty plateau by rallying from deficits of 10-0 and 17-14 to stun Green Bay 20-17 in a classic first-place showdown Monday night at Soldier Field.
After the Packers took a 17-14 lead on quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ three-yard touchdown run with 6:52 left in the third quarter, the Bears tied the game on Robbie Gould’s 25-yard field goal with 3:59 to play and then won it on Gould's 19-yarder with just :04 remaining.
The victory gave the Bears (3-0) a one-game lead over the rival Packers (2-1) atop the NFC North and left Chicago as the only undefeated team in the NFC.
“I thought our guys played hard for 60 minutes,” said coach Lovie Smith. “I know that’s coach talk, but they did. We got off to a rough start. They had momentum early on, but the guys just kept fighting.”
Gould’s winning field goal was set up by a key takeaway. With the score knotted 17-17, middle linebacker Brian Urlacher stripped the ball from receiver James Jones on a 12-yard reception, and cornerback Tim Jennings recovered the fumble at the Green Bay 46 with 2:18 to play.
“We needed a play,” said linebacker Lance Briggs. “In situations like this, against teams like this, big-time players play big. They’ve got to play big.”
Urlacher wasn’t the only big-time player who played big. Devin Hester finally rediscovered his mojo on special teams. After his 28-yard punt return set up the offense’s only touchdown, Hester brought back another punt 62 yards for a score to give the Bears a 14-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. It was the 12th return TD of Hester’s career, but his first since the 2007 season finale.
“We’ve been waiting for Devin to come back and he was back tonight,” Smith said. “He was outstanding on that one touchdown run, but even before that it just felt like every time he went back there he had a chance to score. We’re tough when we have all three phases working like that.”
Julius Peppers was another star who delivered Monday night. On the opening possession of the second half, Peppers drew a holding penalty on right tackle Mark Tauscher that nullified Rodgers’ apparent 15-yard TD pass to tight end Jermichael Finley and then blocked Mason Crosby’s 37-yard field goal attempt.
“We have a lot of good football players on our team and the guys realize that,” Smith said. “We’re 3-0 because our top players, our marquee players, are playing that way.”
The Bears struggled early in the contest. After Gould missed a 49-yard field goal attempt on the game’s opening possession, Rodgers gave the Packers a 7-0 lead with a seven-yard TD pass to receiver Greg Jennings. Rodgers completed 4 of 4 passes for 62 yards on the drive. The Bears reached the Green Bay 25 on their second possession, but Cutler’s pass intended for Greg Olsen was intercepted by safety Derrick Martin in the end zone.
Crosby’s 38-yard field goal later gave the Packers a 10-0 lead with 4:41 left in the first half. The kick capped a methodical 14-play, 73-yard drive that burned 7:47 off the clock.
Hester then awakened his team and the crowd by taking a low punt and dashing 28 yards to the Green Bay 44, where he was brought down by punter Tim Masthay.
Cutler followed by connecting with Johnny Knox for 31 yards to the 13 and then hit a diving Olsen for a nine-yard TD on third-and-six, cutting the deficit to 10-7 with :26 left in the half.
Cutler made some clutch throws, but he didn’t perform as well as he had in the first two games of the season when he compiled an NFL-best 121.2 passer rating. Against the Packers, he completed 16 of 27 passes for 221 yards with one TD, one interception and an 82.5 passer rating.
“I didn’t play very well,” Cutler said. “I thought we were out of sync, missing throws I should have made. We didn’t play our best game and we won. That’s got to be a good sign. Offensively, we’ve got to get a lot better. I’ve got to play better. The defense did a good job of keeping us in there.”
The Bears defense allowed 379 total yards and failed to record a sack for the second straight week. But the unit delivered when the game was on the line.
“On the defensive side of the ball, guys hung in there,” Smith said. “We need to be able to get the quarterback down. But Aaron Rodgers is a good player. It’s hard to get him down. We kept the ball in front of us for the most part most of the game and came through with a big takeaway at the end.”
The Bears, who wore throwback uniforms to honor the Monsters of the Midway teams of the 1940s, improved to 3-0 for the first time since they went to the Super Bowl in 2006.
“On a night when we honored the Monsters of the Midway, it was good to see a team play 60 minutes of ball,” Smith said. “When you’re down a little bit, you have a chance to show your character. We have great leadership on our football team and the guys weren’t going to be denied.”
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