0 through three quarters on Monday night in the coldest game on record at Soldier Field while trying to wipe their rivals out of playoff contention.
Rodgers hit Greg Jennings midway through the second quarter to break a scoreless tie and added a 17-yarder to Ryan Grant that made it 14-3 later in the period as the Packers heated up on a frigid night.
With their playoff hopes flickering, the Bears made it a four-point game on Kyle Orton’s 3-yard pass to Greg Olsen early in the third quarter after Brad Maynard’s punt deflected off a Green Bay player, keeping the drive going.
But Charles Woodson picked off Kyle Orton near midfield and returned it to the Chicago 30 late in the third.
The gametime temperature was 2 degrees, a record low at Soldier Field, and the wind chill was a numbing minus-13. The big freeze came after the Bears (8-6) got some big breaks over the weekend, with NFC North leader Minnesota losing along with Dallas, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia. That kept Chicago in the running for both the division title and a wild-card berth, but on a frozen field, both teams had trouble warming up.
ers took control with Rodgers leading the way.
He was 20-of-31 through three quarters and his lone glitch was an interception by Alex Brown near midfield after a blitzing Danieal Manning tipped the pass late in the first quarter. The Bears went nowhere, and the Packers (5-9), who have lost four straight since that win over Chicago, then drove 91 yards to the end zone. Rodgers’ 7-yard pass to Jennings capped the drive, making it 7-0.
The Bears wasted little time cutting into the lead.
Manning returned the kickoff 70 yards – the last 20 with Jarett Bush clutching his jersey – to set up a 31-yard field goal by Robbie Gould. It was the fourth return of 50 or more yards in the past three games for Manning.
After seeing their lead shrink to 7-3, the Packers saw Donald Driver get helped to the sideline with a knee injury after he crashed to the field lunging for a deep pass to start the next drive. He returned in the second half, but while he got help, the Packers charged on, driving 58 yards to take a 14-3 lead.
Grant finished it with a 17-yard reception, running over Chicago’s Craig Steltz on the way to the end zone.
Clark caught a 21-yard pass, and Orton found Olsen in the back of the end zone to cut it to 14-10 four minutes into the third.
Green Bay’s Mason Crosby missed a 46-yard field goal with 3:31 left in the third, moments before Woodson intercepted Orton.
The Bears’ quarterback was 8-for-16 with 76 yards, and Matt Forte had 20 yards rushing on 11 carries through three quarters.
Chicago played the second half without safety Mike Brown, who left the game with a calf injury, and also lost Kevin Jones to a hamstring problem.
The Bears haven’t won more than two in a row since the 2006 Super Bowl season, and even if they take this game and beat Houston on Sunday, there’s no guarantee they would make the playoffs. Minnesota would clinch the division with a win over the New York Giants, and the wild-card odds are even longer. The Bears would need Dallas to lose to or tie Philadelphia and have Tampa Bay lose to or tie Oakland.
A loss wipes the Bears out of playoff contention, something they certainly did not expect after stumbling to 7-9 last season. But their playoff hopes were hanging because of inconsistent play and losses to Carolina, Tampa Bay and Atlanta in which they blew late leads.
Their worst performance was at Green Bay.
ee-way tie for the division lead, but they stumbled just as they entered the race and fell out of contention.
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