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Imrem: Turns out the joke is on the Green Bay Packers

Despite all their faults, the Green Bay Packers do have a sense of humor.

It's a dark sense of humor. It's a dark and nasty and twisted sense of humor.

How else can you characterize what the Packers perpetrated on Thanksgiving night in Lambeau Field?

Brett Favre's No. 4 jersey was retired at halftime of a game against the Bears.

Dark and nasty and twisted indeed.

It's as if the Packers didn't think Favre had tormented the Bears and Bears fans enough.

As a member of the Packers, Favre won 22 of 32 games against the Bears between 1992 and 2007.

Funny, huh?

Well, the Bears weren't laughing until the final gun went off.

By then the Bears pulled off a 17-13 upset over the Packers in weather just as dark and nasty and twisted.

This was a rare Bears victory over the Packers, especially in Green Bay, especially against quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

"It wasn't about who we were playing or where we were playing," Bears head coach John Fox said, "it was about us."

These were difficult conditions for the Bears, not just a heavy rain but the emotions in the building for the Favre festivities.

But the Bears ruined Green Bay's special night for quarterbacks when Jay Cutler outplayed Rodgers for a change.

Cutler threw for only 2 fewer yards on 12 fewer passes and registered a decisive edge in quarterback rating.

The Bears' defense won this game, however, playing well throughout and then stopping the Packers inside the 10-yard line in the final minute.

"Defensively … you gotta hand it to them," Cutler said of the Bears. "We have to give them a lot of credit."

After a slow start marked by too many penalties, the Bears held up just fine by letting the Packers make just enough mistakes to make the difference in the outcome.

The Packers gave the Bears a few narrow openings, and the Bears, no, they didn't burst through but it was more like they sneaked through.

The victory gives the Bears a 5-6 record and enables them to remain on the fringes of the NFC playoff race with the schedule easing a bit.

What a difference from last year, when the Packers beat the Bears 55-14 in Green Bay and from this season's opener when the Packers prevailed 31-23 in Soldier Field.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Cutler said. "The guys know that. We have to get better."

Maybe so, but the Bears were good enough on this night to take the air out of Lambeau Field and out of Rodgers' passing game.

How ironic considering that the Packers' greatest of quarterback greats all were in Lambeau Field on Thursday night - Bart Starr, Favre and Rodgers.

Starr is an 81-year-old struggling with health issues, Favre is a semifinalist for the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, and Rodgers is trying to win his second Super Bowl with the Packers.

Still, their presence and karma weren't enough to inspire the Packers to victory over the inspired Bears.

"It was a hard-fought game," Bears tight end Zach Miller said. "A great night, great atmosphere, crazy conditions."

And a tremendous victory for the visitors.

This really was a dark and nasty and twisted joke that Packers tried to pull on the Bears but Green Bay turned out being the punch line.

As they say, one fan's football comedy is another fan's football folly.

Someone must have said that somewhere Thursday night, right?

mimrem@dailyherald.com

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