At last, Bears aren’t lost with Jay Cutler vs. Packers, Aaron Rodgers

Both Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers have a lot to be thankful for, and play for in this pivotal division matchup.

Much like many Bears defenders, Porter has bounced between teams, playing for Bears coach John Fox in Denver, for Oakland and Washington before landing in Chicago’s lineup in Week 3. “And, that’s something that we’ve got to… like I said, we’re running out of time, we’ve got to find a way to turn it around fast”. “That’s the last thing we talked about”.

Injuries: Aaron Rodgers suffered a very scary moment in this one, when he banged his left shoulder on a Bears player’s helmet after a botched shotgun snap.

Rodgers said that he lost feeling in his hand after the hit for the rest of the quarter and into the fourth quarter.

“Every game is big, but we are still in the playoff hunt so this game was huge”, said cornerback Tracy Porter, who intercepted Rodgers and broke up four of his passes, including one in the end zone on a third-and-goal from the Bears’ 8 with 36 seconds remaining.

That was particularly noticeable in all three drives in the fourth quarter when Bears pass rushers displayed discipline on the edge while continuing to apply pressure.

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

“I’m obviously going to have to make sure my preparation is as high as it’s ever been because we need to get on the same page, the passing game”, Rodgers said.

Chicago (5-6) has won three of its last four. He has made plays on special teams regularly this year, and his ability to stretch the field needs to be emphasized on this Packers’ team who refuses to throw the deep ball anymore.

The Lions (4-7) have won three straight this season and three in a row in their annual Thanksgiving game.

The highlight of the night for Green Bay turned out to be the return of Favre, whose name and No. 4 was unveiled at halftime next to the team’s other retired numbers.

With veteran James Jones also getting shutout on his six targets, the question was posed to McCarthy Friday if the Packers might be better off giving second-year receiver Jeff Janis more snaps. He is recovering from two strokes and a heart attack.

“I mean that with all due respect”, Favre said. “I don’t know the final numbers, but we would’ve probably liked to have a few more attempts”.

“(This) was more than likely his last time to be here”, Favre said. “I really don’t like that guy”. Opposing defenses approach the Packers offense much differently with Lacy in the backfield, opening up more opportunities in the passing game as a result.

Cutler finished 19 of 31. “Our margin for error isn’t that great”, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler said. That’s not to say that Fox deserves to win the award but he certainly does deserve to be mentioned among potential candidates.

They did it by turning Rodgers away in a situation that easily could have gone the way of the one at the end of 2013, when Rodgers and Randall Cobb ripped out the Bears’ hearts with a late-fourth-quarter touchdown.

Lacy’s ball security issues continued; he lost a fumble deep in Bears territory, a play that got him benched briefly. His forced fumble on Eddie Lacy led to the first Bears TD.

In the second, the Bears got rolling on a 3-yard hookup from Jay Cutler to TE Zach Miller to tie it up.