Late TD pass lifts Packers past Bears in opener

By ASSOCIATED PRESS   Monday, Sept. 14, 2009
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Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers reacts after throwing a 50-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings during the second half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won 21-15.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers reacts after throwing a 50-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings during the second half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009, in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers won 21-15.

— Brett who?

Aaron Rodgers finally has his signature game-winning drive, throwing a 50-yard rainbow to Greg Jennings with 1:11 remaining to give the Green Bay Packers a come-from-behind, 21-15 victory over the division rival Chicago Bears in Sunday night’s NFL season opener.

Rodgers began 2009 with a bang, proving he can pull off the kind of late-game fireworks his predecessor, Brett Favre, once was known for in Packerland. Rodgers had a productive first season as a starter, but earned some criticism for coming up short at the end of several games last season.

“I was thinking, ‘We’re due. We’re due for one good drive,’ ” Rodgers said. “I told the guys, ‘Just give me one drive.’ ”

Rodgers’ big throw ruined the debut of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who had a career-worst four interceptions and finished the game 17-of-36 for 277 yards with a touchdown for his new team.

“There were a lot of failures,” Cutler said. “We’ve got to go back and look at it. I think we’re still going to be a good football team. There’s no need to panic.”

The Bears lost a big game to their division rivals and lost several key players to injury. Brian Urlacher left with a wrist injury in the third quarter after fellow linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa left in the first half with an injured knee. Backup cornerback Trumaine McBride also injured a knee, and tight end Desmond Clark left with a back injury.

Bears coach Lovie Smith said Urlacher dislocated his wrist, and no timetable has been set for his return.

“It’s pretty simple what happened tonight,” Smith said. “Any time that you have four turnovers, you’re normally not going to win the football game, especially against a good Packers team.”

With the Packers trailing 15-13 and facing third-and-1 at the 50-yard line, Rodgers faked a handoff and heaved a rainbow of a throw deep to Jennings, who ran in for the go-ahead score. Rodgers found Jennings again for a 2-point conversion.

“This was our chance to show that we can finish ballgames, we can win the close games, and we got it done,” Jennings said. “We didn’t get it done all game, but when it came down to it, when it counts and when it counted, we got it done.”

It’s another boost for the confidence of Rodgers, who appears to have the full support of Packers fans after the messy divorce between Favre and the Packers led to a trying 2008 and disappointing 6-10 record.

Replicas of Rodgers’ green No. 12 jersey dotted the grandstands Sunday night. and fans booed loudly as highlights of Favre’s new team, the division rival Minnesota Vikings, were shown on the stadium video board at halftime.

“It was important for us to get a win like this tonight,” Rodgers said. “It’ll definitely build our team character.”

Rodgers finished 17 of 28 for 184 yards on an otherwise off night for the Packers’ offense. But the Packers’ new-look 3-4 defense put Cutler under pressure and forced him into poor decisions.

After throwing three interceptions in the first half, Cutler settled down to lead Chicago to a touchdown and a field goal in the third quarter, giving the Bears a 12-10 lead.

But the Bears’ head-scratching fake punt attempt early in the fourth quarter—they apparently were trying to catch the Packers with 12 players on the field—gave the ball back to Packers deep in Chicago territory, and Mason Crosby hit a 39-yard field goal to give Green Bay a 13-12 lead with 10:10 left.

Smith took the blame for the fake punt, but wouldn’t say specifically who called it.

Cutler answered with a drive for a 21-yard field goal by Robbie Gould that gave Chicago a 15-13 lead.

PACKERS 21, BEARS 15

TEAM STATISTICS

Chi GB

First downs 18 12

Total net yards 352 226

Rushes-yards 31-86 22-76

Yards passing 266 150

Punt returns 2-15 2-14

Kickoff returns 5-124 4-124

Int.-returns 0-0 4-129

Passes 17-36-4 17-28-0

Sacked-yards lost 2-11 4-34

Punts 4-49.5 6-44.7

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 3-25 6-45

Time of possession 33:03 26:57

SCORING SUMMARY

Chicago 0 2 10 3—15

Green Bay 0 10 0 11—21

Second Quarter

GB—FG, Crosby, 52, 8:18. C—Safety, Manning, 5:52. GB—Grant, 1 run (Crosby kick), 4:36.

Third Quarter

C—Hester, 36 pass from Cutler (Gould kick), 10:14. C—FG, Gould, 47, 3:51.

Fourth Quarter

GB—FG, Crosby, 39, 10:10. Chi—FG, Gould, 21, 2:35. GB—Jennings, 50 pass from Rodgers (Jennings pass from Rodgers), 1:11.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Chicago: Forte 25-55, Cutler 3-16, Wolfe 3-15. Green Bay: Grant 16-61, D.Wynn 3-8, Rodgers 3-7.

PASSING—Chicago: Cutler 17-36-4-277. Green Bay: Rodgers 17-28-0-184.

RECEIVING—Chicago: Bennett 7-66, Hester 4-90, Knox 2-82, Clark 1-23, McKie 1-8, Olsen 1-8, Wolfe 1-0. Green Bay: Jennings 6-106, Driver 4-39, D.Lee 3-8, Hall 1-11, D.Wynn 1-8, Finley 1-6, Grant 1-6.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—Green Bay: Crosby, 49 (WL).

Attendance—70,920.

reader COMMENTS
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(33)
matthew516
Sep 15, 2009 at 1:11 p.m.
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bobb1951~ You ever find a job yet after blaming everyone else for your financial status??? At least you're able to find someone's dreams to chase since you don't have your own!

whythink
Sep 15, 2009 at 12:46 p.m.
Suggest removal

vatoloco
Ever notice Urlacher on the side line, he always has a mopey pouty face. What happen to the days when players played with some type of injury? Favre played with a broken thumb at one time. Woodson played with a broken toe at one time. Urlacher is weak.
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Some of you (I am assuming Packer fans) just have no clue about football or injuries.
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A broken finger versus a dislocated wrist that required surgery. The guy reportedly played most of the first half with the injury.
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Urlacher is anything but weak. He is one of the best LB's and a future HOFer.
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It is one think to dislike the opposing team but to talk smack about something you obviously know NOTHING about is just dumb.
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Real football fans, with real football knowledge can dislike a player while respecting his talent.
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Maybe some of you just don't know enough about the game to do that. You keep it simple, he plays for team X, so he sucks.

whythink
Sep 15, 2009 at 12:40 p.m.
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curtaincall
I just read as well Urlacher out for year. That is what he gets for the nasty hit to Rodgers . He sure can not stay healthy.
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Hey moron, "Nasy Hit?" Go watch some flag football if that was too "Nasty" for you.
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Boy, I miss when Packer fans used to cheer for guys like Cecil, now they cry about any hard hits. How pathetic!

whythink
Sep 15, 2009 at 12:38 p.m.
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mymaro
Jay Cutler? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!! 4 ints? BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!! Theres always next year right Bears fans? Or the year after that. They say hes like favre, I guess he is. Hes also as bad as Grossman. Guess thats why he wears number 6. Favre is #4 Grossman is #8. So he took a little of both and the average is #6.
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You are a football idiot!
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One game does not define a season or career. Culter played a horrible game, period. No excuses it happens to the best of them (remember playoffs in St. Louis for example?).
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Pack won one game and the bears lost one game. I don't think many are, OR SHOULD BE, predicting either to win the Superbowl and even so, it is ONE GAME.
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The bears went 13-3 one year while being swept by GB. I will take that any time.
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Nice win, congrats, but don't get ahead of yourself.

MrScott
Sep 14, 2009 at 5:31 p.m.
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Macdaddy - You are dead wrong. Minnesota is Minnesota today, not the Minnesota that had Moss, Williamson, etc. They drafted Harvin because he was the best talent on the board at the time, and they are using him largely as a special teams player, and a playmaker in the west coast offense, not as a deep threat. Favre doesn't have the arm strength to make deep passes on a consistent basis anymore, nor do they want him to. What you saw Sunday against the Browns you'll see for the rest of the season; short, precision passes with the running game stealing most of the show. Every team wants a receiver they can send over the top to haul in the deep pass, but that doesn't mean their offense is built around the deep ball. Minnesota is NOT, I will reapeat, is NOT a deep ball team, and you will not see them throwing many deep balls this season. There is NO way you can expect a team the runs the west coast offense to live and die by the long ball, not a chance. They are a run first offense, with short timing routes to pick up the extra yardage. The ONLY time you'll see them running deep routes is when they have an ideal matchup against a weak D-back which they can exploit. The Packers are more of a deep ball team than Minnesota is.

kiowamohican
Sep 14, 2009 at 3:50 p.m.
Suggest removal

I don't think I have ever seen two BAD teams hyped up the way this game was hyped. People actually believe both these teams are serious contenders. What you saw there was an average football team beating a below average football team.
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This week just drop a nuclear bomb on the Bungels getting the +9 against the Pack. I think I'll fly out to Vegas with a duffel bad stuffed with $$$$...Return back home with two duffel bags stuffed with $$$$$$$$.

Arodge12
Sep 14, 2009 at 3:44 p.m.
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Cutler kept throwing the ball to his number one receiver, Nobody

JCK
Sep 14, 2009 at 3 p.m.
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Some of you should try playing a game as violent and physical as football, fighting off 290-320 pound linemen with a wrist so badly dislocated that it requires surgery to repair sometime. I think you'll get a different perception of how "weak" Urlacher actually is.

Spunkmeyer
Sep 14, 2009 at 2:15 p.m.
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"Brett who?" - First sentence in an article about the Packers/Bears game. Looks like the media STILL can't move on. :)

jvldss
Sep 14, 2009 at 1:41 p.m.
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Matthew516 - Bears blowing the Packer's out- what game were you watching? AR over threw a wide open driver for 6, under threw a wide open jennings for another 6 and Crosby missed a FG. That's 17 points the Pack left on the table which could have easily been a blow out in the Packers favor if you care to play the shoulda, coulda, woulda game. Thank God we had Cutler completing more passes to the green shirts than the inept receivers in the white shirts.

JCK
Sep 14, 2009 at 1:28 p.m.
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This was a game that we would have lost last year. Winning it, ugly or not, was a significant step forward for the team.

lakennedy
Sep 14, 2009 at 1:21 p.m.
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futurerichguy: I AGREE! I almost had a heart attack on that call!
I think that there was a serious lack of communication within the bears organization yesterday...that one call to fake punt was monstrous, the challenge by Smith that there were too many players on the field left them with zero timeouts...no good. Good for us, though. I couldn't believe that georgous pass downfield by Rodgers in the 4th...on 3rd and inches, no less. I was totally expecting a run. Apparently the bears were too.

Macdaddy
Sep 14, 2009 at 1:05 p.m.
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MrScott, you may be right on some points, but you are dead wrong. Look at the Vikings draft picks over the last 10 years, and free agent acquisitions. They bring in speed guys who run fast and go long. Berrian, Harvin, Moss, Williamson, etc. They brought Brett in because he knows the offense and can deliver a deep accurate pass. Tarvaris and Sage can throw the underneath stuff all day long. They are paying 13 million so when they go Play-action to AP and the safeties come up, Brett can air it out. They just never needed to take a shot when they are playing the Browns.
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On a side note, Joe Thomas looked amazing.

MrScott
Sep 14, 2009 at 12:54 p.m.
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Macdaddy - Minnesota doesn't want a flashy passing attack, they run a west coast offense which is short, timing routes. They brought in Favre to manage a short passing game and bring experience to the team. They manage the game with Adrian Peterson and their defense. Offense sells tickets; defense wins games.

RetiredAirForce
Sep 14, 2009 at 12:30 p.m.
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I'd like to think karma was the reason for his injury...it could have been sweeter if he was run over by Rodgers or Grant.

curtaincall
Sep 14, 2009 at 11:59 a.m.
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I just read as well Urlacher out for year. That is what he gets for the nasty hit to Rodgers . He sure can not stay healthy.

gazettefan
Sep 14, 2009 at 11:58 a.m.
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The only reason one team won is because they were playing each other!

matthew516
Sep 14, 2009 at 11:45 a.m.
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Check it out! Even when they win, the Packer fans still have that "victim mentality"!! The way the Packers were thoroughly outplayed in the 2nd half, you guys should be counting your blessings. The only difference between you guys being blown out or not was the fact that Chicago has a legit QB with a group of very inexperienced WR'S who aren't on the same page, YET.

jvldss
Sep 14, 2009 at 11:40 a.m.
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Here Urlacher is out for the year - karma for the dirty hit on Rodgers, perhaps.

curtaincall
Sep 14, 2009 at 11:29 a.m.
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that was a horrible call on Al Harris. I was very happy for him when he got that pick.

futurerichguy
Sep 14, 2009 at 10:39 a.m.
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The officials really wanted the Pack to lose this one. I'm still fuming over that illegal contact call on Al Harris.

Macdaddy
Sep 14, 2009 at 9:52 a.m.
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The thing with Chicago and Minnesota is this. They all want the flashy passing attack, instead of a "game manager", when really a game manager with that great defense and running back would help them win more games than lose.

jvldss
Sep 14, 2009 at 8:52 a.m.
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"Looked like garbage" - it was an extremely tough physical, hard hitting game between two very good defenses. Both defenses were awesome last night and denied the offenses what they wanted to do. I thought both defenses played very well. If you were looking for a 42-38 shootout, I can understand your disappointment. But it was still a good, exciting close game that went down to the wire.

Macdaddy
Sep 14, 2009 at 8:42 a.m.
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neither team will finish behind Detroit. I promise you that

916WI
Sep 14, 2009 at 8:08 a.m.
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Both the teams looked like absolute garbage. If this is a preview of what is to come, they'll both be at the bottom of the division.......

jvldss
Sep 14, 2009 at 7:54 a.m.
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Cost to acquire your franchise QB - your starting QB PLUS two first round picks.
Watching Chicago's franchise savior blow up in throwing four picks in a loss to the Pack - PRICELESS.

I guess there was a reason "pro bowl" Cutler was second in the league in picks last year.

All we need is a right tackle (call Tauscher today TT) and sky is the limit.

curtaincall
Sep 14, 2009 at 6:58 a.m.
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These night games are real kickers anyway, but then the last second stuff is crazy. Just glad they won.

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