Smith says the race is just starting

GREEN BAY, Wis. - As awful as the Bears looked against the Packers, both teams are tied - along with the Vikings - for first place in the NFC North at 5-5.

"You can say that we're starting over again, if you look at it that way, and that's what we're going to do," said Bears coach Lovie Smith. "We have veterans in the locker room. We've been down before, and now it's a critical stage. We'll step up, get some things corrected and go from there."

The remaining schedule includes three games against teams with 5-5 records - the Vikings, Saints and Packers - including the last two at home.

Next up is a road game at the Rams, who are 2-8. The Bears also host the 4-6 Jaguars on Dec. 7 and finish on the road against the 3-7 Texans.

Asked what made him hopeful of being able to bounce back after a devastating defeat, Smith said: "Knowing who we have, and just knowing the history behind this football team. We've won a lot of games. The race is just starting. Nobody has an advantage.

"This feeling that we have right now, believe me, we don't like it, and we want to do something about it, and that's a good thing as we go forward."

Who me? Packers 6-foot-1, 330-pound defensive tackle Colin Cole was penalized 15 yards for flattening Devin Hester after the kick returner ran out of bounds at the 32-yard line. Cole wasn't even in the game at the time, but he claims he got a bad call.

"They saw a little guy (Hester) running toward the sideline who came to an abrupt halt," said Cole, who raised his arms up as Hester ran into him. "I think most anybody in here is going to say it's a bad flag. He was coming out of bounds. At the last moment I noticed he was going to run directly into me. He ran into me. He fell backwards. I don't know what they expect to happen. If I had jumped to the side, he could have run into somebody a little older than I am and caused somebody harm. It's best that I took it on and didn't let anybody else behind me get into danger."

Platoon system: Nate Vasher and Corey Graham alternated series at the right cornerback spot, with Danieal Manning returning to nickel back, where Graham had played the previous two weeks.

Vasher is in danger of losing his starting spot to Graham, who has been the more physical player and provided more run support. Vasher said he wasn't surprised by the distribution of playing time.

"It's been like that all week (in practice)," he said. "Just trying to shake things up and see how it worked out."

Hunter Hillenmeyer returned after missing two games with a thumb injury, but Nick Roach started ahead of him at strongside linebacker.

By the numbers: Sunday's game showed how far Devin Hester has to go to become a go-to receiver in the NFL. Playing against the Packers' outstanding trio of Charles Woodson, Al Harris and Tramon Williams, Hester had 1 catch for 7 yards. ... The Bears had scored on their game-opening drive in six of the past seven games (3 touchdowns and 3 field goals), but they managed just 1 first down before punting on their opening possession Sunday. Their 30 points on opening possessions were second best in the NFL after 10 weeks. Last season the Bears scored just 17 points on game-opening drives for the entire season.

Sitting it out: Bears inactives were cornerback Marcus Hamilton, running back Kevin Jones, offensive tackle Fred Miller, defensive tackles Matt Toeaina and Anthony Adams, defensive end Ervin Baldwin and wide receiver Earl Bennett. Caleb Hanie was the third quarterback.