Stayin’ Alive: Bears get much needed win over Pack in OT.

The Chicago Bears must have been on Santa’s “very nice list” this year. Not only was Chicago given the gift of a possible playoff spot with four teams losing in Week 16, but they also took advantage of many opportunities given to them in their Monday night 20-17 overtime victory over the rival Green Bay Packers; despite an overall lack-luster performance. With this victory, the Bears (9-6) have stringed together three consecutive wins for the first time since the 2006 season, and their second straight overtime win this year.

The offense really didn’t get a chance to get into a rhythm until late in the game, and never had the lead until the end of overtime. As for the defense, the same problems that they have battled all season seemed to occur once again. The inability to stop the pass, especially on third downs, was the Achilles’ heel for the Bears. Green Bay’s receivers exploited the Bears over the middle throughout the game, resulting in Aaron Rodgers’ 260 passing yards and two touchdowns. But the things that gave Chicago a fighting chance were due to the play of the special teams. Early in the third quarter, the Packers muffed a punt, which was recovered by the Bears, giving them another chance to score—which happened when Kyle Orton connected with Greg Olsen for a three-yard touchdown, cutting the score to 14-10. The two biggest plays came after rookie Matt Forte’s game-tying touchdown. After an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for an Adrian Peterson horse collar tackle, Green Bay got into field goal range to put the game away. But an Alex Brown blocked field goal forced overtime. And the special teams play that counted the most was Robbie Gould’s overtime game-winning 38-yard field goal.

Although being shut down in the first half, Forte did amass 101 total yards from scrimmage (73 yards rushing and 28 yards passing) and a touchdown. The NFL Rookie of the Year candidate became the Bears’ all-time leading rookie rusher, surpassing Anthony Thomas’ total of 1,183 yards. Orton had a subpar game completing only 14 of his 27 passes for 142 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, while Olsen led the team with 49 receiving yards an a touchdown.

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Defensively, Brown had the team’s only interception, while the pass rush was unable to record a sack on Rodgers. Three of the top four tacklers for the Bears were in the secondary—Corey Graham (9), Kevin Payne (8), and Mike Brown (6).

With the final week of the regular season approaching, the Chicago Bears are in the same predicament that they were in for the past three weeks. Without a win, the Bears’ playoff chances will die. But unfortunately, a win alone won’t get them into the playoffs. Either a Minnesota Vikings loss coupled with a Chicago win , or losses by the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coupled with a Chicago win will get them into the postseason. Things won’t be easy since the Bears will be finishing up the regular season on the road when they face the Houston Texans.

By Clyde A. Speller
ProFootball-fans.com Chicago Bears Correspondent