For Bears, it's wait until next year
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Bears proved they could run the ball on the Packers all night, and that they could stuff the Green Bay running game most of the time.
But the Bears, like most of the NFL, had no clue how to stop Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the odds-on favorite for this year's MVP award.
For the first time in his NFL career, Rodgers threw 5 touchdown passes, which was way more than Green Bay (14-1) needed to clinch homefield throughout the playoffs and eliminate the Bears (7-8) from postseason consideration.
The Packers' 35-21 victory was their most lopsided pummeling of the Bears since they won 37-3 in 2008.
Rodgers completed 21 of 29 passes for 283 yards and a passer rating of 142.7, just shy of the highest mark possible (158.3). That trumped the 199 rushing yards the Bears piled up on 42 attempts, for a 4.7-yard average, which couldn't prevent the losing streak from reaching five games.
Is Rodgers the best quarterback in the NFL?
“Yeah, I said that last year, too,” said Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. “He knows where to go with the football, he doesn't make mistakes, and he runs well.”
After playing it conservatively in the first half — running 25 times for 126 yards while throwing just nine times — the Bears opened it up just a bit on their first possession of the second half.
Quarterback Josh McCown, making his first start in more than four years, touched in a short slant to Earl Bennett, who eluded and outran Packers defenders down to the Green Bay 1-yard line.
Kahlil Bell, who went over 100 rushing yards four plays earlier, then swept left but fumbled into the end zone. Fortunately for then Bears, guard Edwin Williams snatched the loose ball off the ground for a touchdown, cutting the Packers' lead to 14-10 with 11:45 left in the third quarter.
Bell, who had another fumble that was recovered by McCown, started in place of Marion Barber (calf), who was not missed. Bell (121 yards on 23 carries) demonstrated that he should have a significant role in the Bears' offense next year, whether coordinator Mike Martz is back or not.
And McCown proved to be a lot more deserving of future playing time than Caleb Hanie, the starter in the previous 4 Bears losses.
McCown did not play football last season and completed 1 pass in 2009, but he showed better touch and a more confident pocket presence than Bears fans have seen lately. He finished 19-for-28 for 242 yards and a passer rating of 76.8.
“I tried to give the team a spark,” McCown said. “But the offensive line, that's what really gave us the spark. We were able to pound them (on the ground). I felt comfortable. Mike (Martz) and (quarterbacks coach) Shane Day did a heck of a job getting me ready.”
But after Williams' first career TD, Rodgers needed just four plays to take his team 80 yards. The score came on a 55-yard bomb to Jordy Nelson, who made Bears safety Major Wright look sick.
While Nelson was sprinting past him, Wright got his feet tangled and then trailed him by several yards as Nelson gathered in Rodgers' perfectly placed pass and put the Packers up 21-10.
The Bears controlled the clock in the first half, and it was an effective strategy, but it wasn't nearly enough to offset the Packers' passing game, even though McCown was effective throwing when the Bears decided to open it up.
“I think he did an amazing job,” Bell said. “He found open receivers, hit them in stride, he made amazing plays with his legs (38 yards on 8 scrambles). It's just encouraging. But being knocked out of playoff contention is kind of disappointing.”
Rodgers staked the Packers to an early lead as he came out on fire, going 8-for-8 for 70 yards on the first possession, which culminated in a 2-yard TD pass to tight end Jermichael Finley.
Then, after the Bears' only first-half score, a 35-yard Robbie Gould field goal, and even though the Chicago defense had forced three straight three-and-out possessions by the Packers, Rodgers and the offense snapped to life.
They zipped 65 yards in seven plays, using just 100 seconds to extend their lead to 14-3 on Rodgers' 3-yard slant to James Jones in front of Zack Bowman, starting in place of benched Tim Jennings.
Asked if he could have provided the same spark a couple of weeks earlier, before the Bears fell out of serious playoff contention, McCown wouldn't speculate.
“That's hypothetical,” he said. “All I know is what I had right here, this night. I just know my number was called (Sunday) night, and I went out and played as hard as I could.
“The bottom line is, we still came up short.”
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