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Rozner: Bears derail Green Bay celebration

If Chicago Bears fans weren't full by halftime of Thursday night's game, the Packers stuffed the Brett Favre retirement ceremony right down their throats on Thanksgiving night.

And it was no accident.

It's something you do intentionally to your closest rival, even though it wasn't much of a contest during the years Favre was starting 253 straight games.

After taking over for Don Majkowski in 1992, Favre didn't miss a game while the Bears went through no fewer than 23 quarterbacks before Favre departed Green Bay after the 2007 season.

In order, they were Jim Harbaugh, Peter Tom Willis, Will Furrer, Steve Walsh, Erik Kramer, Dave Krieg, Shane Matthews, Steve Stenstrom, Rick Mirer, Moses Moreno, Cade McNown, Jim Miller, Chris Chandler, Henry Burris, Cory Sauter, Kordell Stewart, Rex Grossman, Chad Hutchinson, Craig Krenzel, Jonathan Quinn, Kyle Orton, Jeff Blake and Brian Griese.

If you remembered some of those names as NFL players, let alone professional quarterbacks, it's either an impressive recall display or a masochistic desire to relive the pain of an ugly era.

There were also the Packers' seven division titles, four NFC championship games, two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl victory - and that doesn't even include Favre's time in Minnesota.

Yeah, the Packers waited for the right opportunity to remind the Bears of what Favre did to them during those 16 years, and that chance came on national TV Thursday night.

It's not as if anyone in Chicago needed reminding, especially after Aaron Rodgers took over from Favre and wasted little time becoming the best player in football, while Jay Cutler arrived in Chicago in 2009 and played his first game in - of all places - Green Bay.

That memorable Sunday night included 4 interceptions and a 43.2 QB rating as the Packers held on for a 21-15 victory. Since he joined the Bears, Cutler was 1-11 against Green Bay heading into Thursday night with 15 TDs, 22 INTs and a 67.2 QB rating.

Obviously, it wasn't all Cutler's fault, but the Packers haven't been shy about claiming that they believe when push comes to shove, Cutler will give the Packers the football.

But Cutler - for the most part - has been a different quarterback this year, taking what the defense is offering and not forcing throws into triple coverage, while the Packers had an awful month of football before taking down Minnesota last Sunday.

So the Bears went to Lambeau Field on Thursday night thinking this could be different from so many previous meetings, and though Cutler looked shaky from the outset and the Bears got off to a very slow start in a driving rain, they took advantage of an Eddie Lacy fumble to get on the board and tie the game at 7-7 in the second quarter.

Trailing 10-7, they got the ball back with 1:51 remaining in the first half and walked down the field, scoring with 30 seconds left to take a 14-10 lead, before Rodgers led the Packers into field-goal position and Green Bay cut the deficit to 14-13 heading into the Favre ceremony.

A far cry from the 42-0 Packers lead at the half a year ago that put an unofficial end to the Bears' season and put Marc Trestman on the clock, it was merely more evidence of what coordinators Vic Fangio and Adam Gase have been able to manage in 2015 with a lineup of misfits and third-stringers.

The Bears' offense struggled with the Green Bay blitz and numerous penalties on both sides of the ball cost the Bears field position throughout the game.

But the Bears were hanging tough through the third quarter and took the slimmest of leads into the fourth, when a Robbie Gould field goal gave them a 17-13 lead early in the final period.

The Bears could not pad the lead or run enough time off the clock, so Rodgers got the ball back with no timeouts and 2:45 to play with a chance to win the game.

Starting from his own 20, Rodgers moved the Packers all the way down to the Bears' 8-yard line, but the defense forced 4 incompletions and the Bears held on for a 17-13 victory.

On a night when Brett Favre and Bart Starr dominated halftime and became the story of the day, the Bears shut out the Packers in the second half and found a way to steal the show.

For a Bears fan, Thanksgiving doesn't even begin to describe it.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Hear Barry Rozner on WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.

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