Two quarterbacks and two teams going in different directions trotted into Lambeau Field on Sunday.
Rex Grossman, the Bears' newly installed starter, was taking over a team that had started 9-4 in his absence and had a chance to clinch a division title and a spot in the playoffs. On the other side of the field, the Packers' Brett Favre was coming off a 48-3 loss to the Ravens, a rout that sent Green Bay to 3-11 and only intensified the questions surrounding his possible retirement. Favre, a future Hall of Fame quarterback with seemingly nothing to prove, seemingly had everything to prove against the Bears.
Doing little to make coach Lovie Smith think twice about his decision to bench Kyle Orton midgame last week against the Falcons, Grossman led the Bears to a 24-17 victory over the Packers and the National Football Conference North title -- their first division crown since 2001. Thanks to the Redskins, who beat the Giants on Saturday, and the Cowboys, who beat the Panthers, the Bears are also celebrating a first-round bye in the playoffs.
PHOTO: AP
Although Grossman put in a creditable performance, completing 11 of 23 passes for 166 yards with a touchdown and an interception, it was the Bears' defense that sealed the game.
With the Packers at their 11-yard line in the third quarter, Favre looked for fullback William Henderson to the right. Lance Briggs, a linebacker, stepped in front of a backpedaling Henderson, intercepted and jogged in for the touchdown. Chicago led, 24-7, and the victory seemed all but sealed.
The Packers rallied in the fourth quarter, with Antonio Chatman returning a punt 85 yards for a touchdown and Ryan Longwell kicking a 26-yard field goal to make it 24-17.
never say die
Favre, who finished 30 of 51 for 317 yards, led a last desperate rally. His 56-yard completion to Donald Driver put Green Bay on the Chicago 35-yard line with less than a minute left. He spiked the ball on the next play, then was sacked twice and was intercepted for the fourth time in the game as the clock ran out.
Considering that Orton had led the Bears to the verge of a division title, the decision to start Grossman -- a third-year quarterback with six career starts and two seasons short-circuited by injuries -- stirred little controversy. In rising to the top of their division, the Bears had relied on a stout defense and a solid running game led by Thomas Jones.
During the week, Smith promised more of the same, telling reporters that he saw no reason to change. "We're a running football team," he said on Friday.
But on the Bears' opening drive, they were anything but. Grossman showed no rust, completing 5 of 6 passes for 65 yards, including a 12-yarder to Muhsin Muhammad to give the Bears a 7-0 lead. On the drive, Jones rushed four times for a total of three yards.
On defense, it seemed the Bears had little reason to fear the Packers and the once-formidable Favre. Twice, the Bears declined penalties that would have given the Packers a second-and-long, challenging the Packers into a third-down conversion. Rarely did the Bears need to rush more than four linemen, leaving middle linebacker Brian Urlacher free to roam and Favre with little more than the sidelines to work with.
Several times, Favre overthrew his open receivers, and he did it on a pass to Driver in the end zone with the score tied at 7-7. Two plays later, Ryan Longwell, the Packers' usually reliable kicker, missed a 39-yard field goal attempt to the right -- his first of two misses from that distance.
The Bears' offense struck quickly. Grossman heaved a 40-yard pass that Bernard Berrian pulled in before he was tackled at the 28-yard line for a 44-yard gain. After a roughing-the-passer penalty on Michael Montgomery, a Packers defensive end, the Bears had a first-and-goal at the 9.
Two plays later, Jones punched the ball in from the 2-yard line for a 14-7 lead.
Grossman and Favre traded interceptions after that, but Grossman was doing little to disprove the Bears' faith in him.
As the crowd filed in before the game -- many fans wearing orange hunting overalls on the 28-degree night -- it could muster only a few boos for the Bears, the Packers longtime rivals.
For years, the rivalry had taken on a lopsided feel -- unlike the always close games between the Packers and Vikings. Favre's career record against the Bears stands at 21-7. But when it was over Sunday, the Bears fans in attendance cheered with the knowledge that their team had swept the season series with Green Bay for the first time since 1991, the year before Favre joined the Packers.
Ravens 30, Vikings 23
At Baltimore, Kyle Boller went 24-for-34 for 289 yards and three touchdowns, and the Baltimore Ravens eliminated the Vikings (8-7) from the postseason hunt. The Vikings loss gave the New York Giants (10-5) a playoff berth.
Baltimore (6-9) trailed 20-17 before Boller threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mason with 14:47 left. Then, after Minnesota punted from the Ravens 38, Boller directed a 68-yard drive that produced a 38-yard field goal by Matt Stover with 1:55 to go.
Any chance the Vikings had of winning their fourth straight road game vanished when quarterback Brad Johnson fumbled on a sack by Adalius Thomas.
Baltimore turned it into a field goal with 1:03 remaining, and the Ravens followed Paul Edinger's 46-yard field goal by recovering the ensuing onside kick.
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