The last time the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers met each other, Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone on the first drive and hugely altered the rest of the Packs’ season. The Packers would lose that game and didn’t see another win until Week 14 against Atlanta as they attempted to win games with Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzien, and Matt Flynn behind center.
Flynn did manage to sneak away with two wins, however, edging both the Falcons and Cowboys by a single point to set up the ultimate revenge game of the season: Aaron Rodgers’ first game back in seven weeks, against the team that took him out, for the NFC North championship.
Not only did the Packers get Rodgers back, they also got his top target, Randall Cobb, back in a uniform for the first time since October 13 when he fractured his tibia in a game against the Ravens. Things didn’t start out like a cheery reunion, however, as Rodgers marched Green Bay down the field with a 14-play drive that lasted nearly eight minutes, only to be picked off in the endzone by Chris Conte.
The Bears fired back with a strong drive of their own but saw more success as Jay Cutler targeted Brandon Marshall often to set up a four-yard pass to Matt Forte for a score.
On the Packers side, things went from bad to worse as Rodgers marched the offense down 55 yards, only to be picked off on the second straight drive.
The Packers defense stepped up, however, forcing punts on the Bears’ next two possessions. The Pack finally got on the scoreboard with a 49-yard drive that resulted in a Mason Crosby field goal. On the next possession, Aaron Rodgers was hit hard from behind and the ball fluttered and fell next to wideout Jarrett Boykin. Although both teams thought it was an incomplete pass, everyone on the sideline yelled at Boykin to take the ball into the endzone and the play was ruled a fumble recovered by the Packers for a touchdown.
On the Bears’ next drive, the Packers forced an Alshon Jeffery fumble and added another Crosby field goal to go up 13-7 as the first half came to an end.
To start the second half, Devin Hester returned a punt for 49 yards to set up a quick 30-yard, Matt Forte-only drive that was capped off with a five yard touchdown run.
The Packers wasted no time getting that score back as James Starks broke a 41-yard run en route to a three-minute, seven-play, 80-yard drive that ended in a seven-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb to put Green Bay back up 20-14. Apparently Aaron Rodgers had spent his halftime shaking off the rust.
After a quiet first half, the game turned into a downright shootout as the very next Bears drive saw Jay Cutler connect with Alshon Jeffery for a 67-yard pass that set up a one-yard touchdown run by Matt Forte to put the Bears back up. After forcing a punt by Green Bay, the Bears marched down the field again as Cutler completed a 33-yard pass to Forte and orchestrated a 68-yard drive that was capped off by a five-yard score to Brandon Marshall.
A shootout inherently has two sides, however, and Aaron Rodgers was right back at it on the next drive. Rodgers completed a 34-yard pass to Jordy Nelson and a 22-yarder to Andrew Quarless as the Pack marched 77 yards to set up a six-yard Eddie Lacy touchdown run to get back within a point of Chicago.
The Packers found themselves down 28-27 with just over 40 seconds remaining in the game with eight yards to go on a fourth down. After a near fumble by Aaron Rodgers, Chris Conte, who had intercepted Rodgers on the first drive of the game, blew his coverage on Randall Cobb who broke free for a 48-yard touchdown reception to send the Packers to the playoffs and cap off a wild NFC North championship game that saw five lead changes.
The Packers won 33-28 and will face San Francisco at home next week.
