Chicago Bears spoil Brett Favre’s return to Green Bay Packers

The Bears spent most of the night in the nickel defense, as Bryce Callahan played 74 snaps.

It’s clear Rodgers is not in sync with his receivers.

Cornerback Tracy Porter emerged as a hero from a blue-collar defensive effort, intercepting Rodgers with 3 minutes, 19 seconds to play.

In his first year in Chicago, coach John Fox has instilled confidence in his team that it can hang tough in close games. “It speaks a lot about the players and what kind of character and what kind of players we have on that side”. “We’ve won some and we’ve lost some”, Cutler said.

Two things we took note of there. “I lost feeling in my hand for a good part of the third quarter”, Rodgers said. He did have to do all his handing off with his right hand and said he was still waiting for the feeling to return to a couple of his fingers.

Rodgers completed just 22 of 43 passes for 202 yards with a touchdown and an interception on Thursday, resulting in a meager 62.4 passer rating – his lowest at Lambeau Field in his career.

In his four previous games at Lambeau Field, all losses, Cutler had thrown 12 interceptions.

After leading the league in points last season, Green Bay is scoring about seven points less per game this season.

On a night Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre saw his jersey retired in an emotional ceremony in front of adoring Packers fans, Houston didn’t bother hiding his admiration for Favre, sneaking a hug as Favre exited the field after halftime and calling him “legendary, the original gun slinger” after the game. That’s not to say that Fox deserves to win the award but he certainly does deserve to be mentioned among potential candidates.

The Packers lost to their historical rivals the Bears on Thanksgiving prime-time television, after a last-second Green Bay drive fell victim to two dropped end zone passes.

“Difficult loss this evening”.

“Every game is big, but we’re in the playoff hunt and this game was huge”, Porter said. Then the Packers caught a break after Cutler mishandled a shotgun snap on third-and-11 to set up a punt.

It put ball security at a premium. Cutler cashed in on Chicago’s next drive by finding Zach Miller for a 3-yard touchdown pass that tied it at 7 with 6:03 left in the half.

“We didn’t get it done tonight and really I think one of the biggest factors was handling the football”, McCarthy said. “We all had confidence we were going to stop them”.

The Packers’ most productive player on offense was running back Eddie Lacy, with 139 yards from scrimmage (105 rushing, 34 receiving and a TD), but he was guilty of being sloppy as well and it landed him on the bench for the final two series of the first half. Chicago would take a 14-10 lead on a 1-yard plunge by rookie running back Jeremy Langford.

The confusing aspect of it is why the Packers ran the ball only 24 times against Chicago, especially considering that Lacy and Starks combined for 144 yards on the ground. He has missed five games this season with groin and shoulder ailments.

But a season after coming up to Lambeau Field and losing its dignity, the Bears defense made its latest argument for respectability under coordinator Vic Fangio. The Bears are looking at no worse than an 8-8 record, but could finish as well as 9-7, perhaps even 10-6.