Packers get in by shutting down Bears' offense

GREEN BAY, Wis. — In a game that meant nothing to them aside from the opportunity to eliminate their oldest rival from the postseason, the Bears went all out Sunday but came up short, especially on offense.

The 10-3 loss to the Packers (10-6) allowed their North Division foes to snag the sixth and final playoff berth in the NFC, but it cannot be blamed on a defense that was outstanding.

The Bears allowed just one Packers drive of more than 39 yards. That was the five-play, 75-yard drive at the start of the fourth quarter that made the difference in the game.

There's no denying the Bears gave a superb effort, especially considering they had nothing to gain, and the Packers were playing for their postseason lives.

But there's no denying the Bears' offense, particularly the passing game, took a step back — maybe a couple of steps.

“If we lose, it's a step back,” center Olin Kreutz said. “We have two weeks to learn from it and then get ready for the next opponent.

“It was a playoff atmosphere, and they were coming after us from the start of the third quarter. They sent everything at us. All the credit goes to them for shutting us down our offense.”

The Bears finished the regular season 11-5 and still get a bye this weekend as the No. 2 seed before they host their first playoff game Jan. 16 at noon.

They hope that will provide ample time to do some rehab on an offense that managed just 227 total yards and allowed 6 sacks of quarterback Jay Cutler, who threw 2 interceptions and played one of his worst games of the season.

The only times the Bears generated less offense this season was in the 36-7 loss to New England three weeks earlier and the 17-3 demolition at the hands of the New York Giants in Week 4.

“We're not happy with the offensive performance,” said tight end Greg Olsen, who caught 5 passes for 29 yards but dropped what would have been a 25-yard reception early in the second half.

“We made a lot of mistakes: communication, sacks, turnovers, missed blocks, drops. Mine was crucial at that point in the game. That was a good defense we played, but we shouldn't just score 3 points.

“When our defense holds that kind of team to 10 points, we're doing them a disservice by not doing a better job. So this one falls on us.”

While the Bears' offense was going three-and-out on four consecutive possessions, starting early in the third quarter and including an end-zone interception and 2 sacks, the Packers finally put together their only sustained drive.

With the game tied at 3-3, quarterback Aaron Rodgers found Donald Driver all alone in the middle of the Bears' secondary for a 21-yard gain.

On the next play Rodgers hooked up with Greg Jennings, who beat Bears safety Danieal Manning, for a 46-yard gain to the Bears' 1-yard line.

Rodgers' flip to tight end Donald Lee on the next play, with 12:42 left in the game, stood up as the game-winner.

Buried back at their own 2-yard line with 4:49 remaining, the Bears mounted their longest drive of the day, reaching the Packers' 32 with 20 seconds left before Cutler overthrew Devin Hester and was picked off by Packers safety Nick Collins.

The Packers' secondary, especially cornerbacks Charles Woodson and Tramon Williams, took away the Bears' passing game when the front seven wasn't getting after Cutler.

Bears wide receivers Hester and Johnny Knox combined for 1 catch and 16 yards, and that catch came in the final minute. Knox was targeted eight times without a catch, and Hester was targeted five times.

“I can't sit here and say that everything that happened to us was something that we did wrong,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “You have to give them a lot of credit. They have a good football team. They're going into the playoffs. So a lot of the things that happened today were them.”

The half-dozen sacks of Cutler accounted for minus-51 yards, and at least half of them could have been avoided if the quarterback threw the ball away instead of holding it too long.

Cutler's first interception came in the third quarter with the Bears nursing a 3-0 lead with an opportunity to pad it.

Cornerback Charles Tillman made a spectacular diving interception of a Rodgers pass intended for Jennings, and then he popped up and zigzagged 42 yards through the Packers to give the Bears the ball on the Green Bay 15.

That opportunity was frittered away when guard Roberto Garza was flagged for holding. Then, on third-and-19, Cutler made a horrible decision, lofting a pass in the direction of Knox, who was double-covered in the end zone.

Safety Charlie Peprah's interception ended the Bears' threat.

“My leg got clipped a little bit when I let it go, so it kind of fluttered on me,” Cutler said. “Johnny ran a great route. If I would have been able to put it on to him, it would have been 6.”

•Follow Bob LeGere's Bears reports via Twitter@BobLeGere. Check out his blog, Bear Essentials at DailyHerald.com.