Grant leads Packers over Bears, 21-14
Photo 
Green Bay Packers running back Ryan Grant (25) is chased by Chicago Bears linebacker Nick Roach (53) and Kevin Payne (44) as he heads to the end zone for a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday.
CHICAGO — The way this one started, Ryan Grant and the Green Bay Packers looked as if they were going to run away with their fifth straight win. Aaron Rodgers sure thought they would.
Instead, they had to earn this one.
Grant ran for 137 yards and two touchdowns, and the Packers beat the Chicago Bears 21-14 on Sunday after letting their lead slip away.
Grant broke off a season-long 62-yard touchdown on the Packers' first play from scrimmage and scored the go-ahead TD in the fourth quarter after Nick Collins intercepted Jay Cutler.
"The way we started, I felt like we're going to go blow them out by two or three touchdowns," Rodgers said.
Instead, they wasted touchdown chances and settled for field goals, yet they did just enough to pull this one out and keep the momentum building as they prepare for a playoff run.
"We're playing better football," Grant said. "I think we're getting confidence. It's a legit confidence. We're playing better football."
Rodgers threw for 180 yards, Jermichael Finley caught five passes for 70, and Charles Woodson added his 44th career interception for the Packers (9-4), who have won five straight.
The Bears (5-8) lost for the seventh time in nine games and were eliminated from the playoff picture, according to STATS LLC. That makes it three straight postseason misses since the 2006 team's Super Bowl run.
Optimism soared after the big trade with Denver for Cutler, but the Bears plummeted after a 3-1 start.
Tied for the league lead entering the game, Cutler now has 22 interceptions after getting picked off twice. He did throw for 209 yards and two touchdowns even though Devin Hester missed the game with a calf injury, but it's hard to win when a team racks up 13 penalties for 109 yards.
It's not easy, either, when it runs for just 59 yards and averages 3.5 per carry, as the Bears did.
"Turnovers, penalties, every time it seemed like we got going something bad happened," Cutler said. "It's something that's happened all year to us. It's hard to be a good offensive team when that happens."
Cutler, who had four interceptions in a season-opening loss at Green Bay, threw a costly one with a 14-13 lead early in the fourth quarter. Collins picked off a pass to Johnny Knox and returned it 32 yards to the Chicago 11, setting up a 1-yard scoring run by Grant. Rodgers hit Jennings for the 2-point conversion, making it 21-14 with 12:39 left in the game, and the Packers swept the Bears for the first time since 2003.
Grant got things off to a good start when he broke off that touchdown run, but they settled for two field goals after stalling deep in Chicago territory while building a 13-7 halftime lead. That quickly disappeared after Rodgers fumbled the ball away as he dropped back to pass at the Chicago 29 on the first drive of the third quarter — a play he called "one of the more embarrassing" of his career.
He first caught the ball after it popped loose and tried to throw again, but it popped out. Anthony Adams recovered it, the Bears took over at their 44, and Devin Aromashodu spun for a 10-yard TD reception with Woodson draped on him to give Chicago a 14-13 lead with 9:35 left in the third — a surprising turn given the way this one started.
Grant broke through a hole on the left side on the Packers' first play from scrimmage and ran untouched into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
"It really opened up," Grant said. "(Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer) flew over the top. John (Kuhn) did a great job of covering him up. I saw that (Lance) Briggs kinda got locked in. Then, it was just me one on one with the safety. I think his angle was a little outside me, so I just used my wheels."
Rather than roll to an easy win, the Packers settled for two field goals by Mason Crosby on drives that stalled deep in Chicago territory as the lead reached 13-0 early in the second quarter.
Cutler finally gave the restless crowd something to cheer when he found Knox on the right side of the end zone with a 19-yarder that that made it 13-7 with 1:48 remaining in the half, capping an 80-yard drive.
"After starting the way we did, we got ourselves back in position," coach Lovie Smith said. "We got momentum back on our side, but normally in games like that there are a couple critical plays that really determine who wins and who loses and we didn't get it done. It's tough."
NOTES: Grant had a 66-yard run against the Bears two years ago. He now has 1,068, giving him more than 1,000 for the second straight year. ... B.J. Raji started for the Packers at nose tackle in Ryan Pickett's place. He got a stinger in the first half but returned. ... Aromashodu had eight catches for 76 yards in his first start with the Bears. ... Knox had five receptions for 83.
Dec 15, 2009 at 3:46 a.m.
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Cutler is a baby. He has a bloated ego, I can only guess Denver is glad he is gone. Cutler lost that game for them on Sunday. Glad he did.
Dec 14, 2009 at 6:21 p.m.
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I still laugh when I see that 0 in the Lombardi trophy column for the Vikings!
Dec 14, 2009 at 6:20 p.m.
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What a bunch of fools the Bears are for giving up all that they did to get Cutler. He is the biggest cry baby dirt bag in the NFL. His post game interview consisted of him blaming the lose on everyone but himself. The young guys need to execute better, they need to open up bigger holes for the run game, cant give up long TD runs to start the game. NOWHERE did he say anything like "I need to stop throwing to the other team". Which is a good thing for Packer fans. And the Bears gave him a big contract extension early in the year. BWAHAHAHAHA
Dec 14, 2009 at 2:42 p.m.
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Wish they would have beat up on them more. At least they covered :-)
Dec 14, 2009 at 2:14 p.m.
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the vikings will never see a lombardi trophy, so sorry brett that you hooked up with those losers.
Dec 14, 2009 at 2:10 p.m.
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any number of teams will take the wind out of the vikings sails/heads in the play offs. I would love to see the saints destroy them.
Dec 14, 2009 at 1:32 p.m.
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Another sorry Packers fan living in the past. All those teams on the Lombardi trophy have nothing to do with this season.
Dec 14, 2009 at 1:28 p.m.
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But hey, there have only been 43 Super Bowls
Dec 14, 2009 at 1:26 p.m.
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"I still laugh every time I see that "1" in the win column for Tampa Bay."
I still laugh every time I look for the Vikings name on the Vince Lombardi trophy
Dec 14, 2009 at 12:50 p.m.
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I still laugh every time I see that "1" in the win column for Tampa Bay.
Dec 14, 2009 at 12:47 p.m.
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curtaincall - I'm not sure where you get your football knowledge from, but the Vikings are one of the most complete and talented teams in the NFL hands down. They just demolished one of the top AFC teams, handled the Packers pretty easily twice, and lost to one of the best passing teams in the league (Arizona) with a depleted secondary. Now that Winfield is back, the secondary is nearly back to full strength, they have the top, if not a top 3 offensive line, arguably the best defensive line, one of the best running backs in the game, a true game manager at QB, and explosive wide receivers. You have to be dense to think that the Vikings will get "whooped" by the first team they meet in the playoffs. Oh, by the way, they'll have a first round bye because they'll be one of the TOP TWO teams in the NFC.
Dec 14, 2009 at 12:38 p.m.
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I don't here enough about bigby, jermichael finley is good, but no one has watched him play enough to know what he will really do, and hurt already.,tramon williams? penalty prone, nick collins I wish they played more.
Dec 14, 2009 at 12:36 p.m.
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the 'wooped' them? The vikings have the better record, and it was a home game for them, they should have won. The vikings will et 'wooped' the first real team they meet in the playoffs.
Dec 14, 2009 at 11:42 a.m.
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pat, the Vikings wooped the number 5 ranked Bengals yesterday. I'd define them as a good team.
Dec 14, 2009 at 11:28 a.m.
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curtaincall: what about Jermichael Finley, Atari Bigby, Tramon Williams, Nick Collins, and not to mention when Ted finally realized that Mark Tauscher could help the team resigning him?
Dec 14, 2009 at 11:19 a.m.
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Rodgers is great, Jennings is good, matthews is awesome. Hawk has not lived up to the hype. He is not consistent. The rest? They are works in progress. He has not done enough. If he had Rodgers would not hold the record for most times sacked this year.
Dec 14, 2009 at 11:12 a.m.
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Lets see Ted has done nothing to build the youngest team in the NFL.
Thompson joined the packers in 05 and has drafted these guys.
Rodgers, Jennings, Jones, Nelson, Raji, Matthews, B. Jones, Hawk - These players contribute weekly!
Oh yeah.. Signed a guy by the name of Chuck Woodson!!
Its a building process. Look at the Bears lack of draft picks next year. ROTFL!
Dec 14, 2009 at 11:10 a.m.
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I am assuming when you say some of the weakest teams you are of course including chicago. I think Lovie will be gone as well. I think Cutler may have been a huge mistake.
Dec 14, 2009 at 11:04 a.m.
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Same could be said for Minnesota. They are yet to play a very good team. Very weak division they play in. Very bloated egos as well.
Dec 14, 2009 at 10:13 a.m.
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Packers really seem to be catching all the breaks in the schedule. They have played some of the weakest teams (Cleveland, Detroit twice, St Louis) and they are catching many teams falling apart; like the Bears yesterday, and they have Pittsburgh next week (who has lost 5 straight). They get a very weak Seattle team at home after that. Then they go to Arizona, which may be a meaningless game for Arizona (they may have their playoff seed secure regardless of wining or loosing).
Looks like they should make the playoffs now. Will be interesting to see what they do when they play a real good team, in a big game situation. So far they have faltered the two times that has happened against Minnesota.
Dec 14, 2009 at 9:55 a.m.
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Lovie Smith is done at the end of the year. I don't see how Chicago can keep him. I know they've had key injuries this season, but that team should be better than it is, and I think that comes back to the head coach. His scheme is too conservative and isn't working. As for Thompson, I think he'll be back if GB makes the playoffs, and it's 50/50 if they miss. The team has very little depth at any position to make up for injuries and that's hurt them every year he's been there. I can't stand him and would like to see him gone, but he and Murphy are pals, so it could take a while to see a change there.
Dec 14, 2009 at 9:29 a.m.
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I have to wonder if Lovie will be there next year. I still would like to see Thompson canned, he has not done enough to build this team.
Dec 14, 2009 at 9:26 a.m.
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the bears suck. They have just fallen apart. Which is great for the Packers. I had to wonder what Lovie Smith is thinking when he challenges some of the things he challenges. Not just against the Packer's but other teams. I have always liked Lovie Smith, I don't know why he thinks he has to hate on us so much.
Go Pack!!!!!
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