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 The loss wiped out the Packers' shot at home-field advantage throughout
the playoffs.
The Packers needed to win this game, beat Detroit next week and have
Dallas lose to Washington to capture the No. 1 seed. Instead, it goes to the
Cowboys, with Green Bay locked in at No. 2.
Favre was at his worst on a bone-chilling, windy and at times snowy
afternoon, and the Packers (12-3) took their most lopsided loss of the
season.
He passed for just 9 yards in the first half and 153 overall, giving him
4,058 this season and putting him over the 4,000-yard mark for the fifth
time.
He was 17-for-32 and threw two interceptions. Alex Brown picked him off
on the first possession of the third quarter, setting up a touchdown that
made it 21-7, and Urlacher ran one back 85 yards early in the fourth.
But Favre, who left Soldier Field in tears after leading the Packers to a
win last New Year's Eve, wasn't the only one to have a rough afternoon. The
Bears blocked two punts by Jon Ryan, who also dropped a snap and booted a
9-yarder.
The Packers had gone 12 years and 929 punts without a block before
Darrell McClover knocked one down in the second quarter. More damaging was
Charles Tillman's block midway through the third quarter. Corey Graham
recovered at the 7 and ran it in for a 28-7 lead.
Early in the fourth quarter, Urlacher juggled the ball after it hit his
chest and then returned it 85 yards up the right sideline.
[to top of second column]
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The Bears (6-9) had little to celebrate this season, but they got some
consolation by knocking off their archrivals twice.
Peterson carried 30 times and scored on an 8-yard run in the final minute
of the second quarter that gave the Bears a 13-7 lead.
Kyle Orton was steady if not spectacular, going 8-for-14 for 101 yards
and a 3-yard touchdown pass to Desmond Clark in the third quarter.
Green Bay's Ryan Grant ran for 100 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown
run in the second quarter, but with the gametime temperature at 16 degrees
and a gusty wind, the Packers never got going.
Favre was 2-of-7 in the first half, and Brown, starting for the injured
Mark Anderson, quickly put to rest the notion Favre would turn things around
in the second half when he picked off a pass at the 35.
That set up the touchdown pass to Clark. And things just got worse for
him and the Packers, who were missing a key part of their run defense, with
defensive tackle Ryan Pickett nursing a groin injury. Justin Harrell started
in his place.
Chicago was without Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs (hip), cornerback
Nathan Vasher (groin) and defensive tackle Darwin Walker (sprained elbow).
[Associated
Press; By ANDREW SELIGMAN]
Copyright 2007 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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