Bears Fend Off Late Packers Charge in 17-13 Thriller at Lambeau

Both players missed the team’s game on Sunday with leg injuries, but both were declared active by Chicago ahead of their Thanksgiving showdown against the Green Bay Packers

Coming in as sizable underdogs, the Chicago Bears didn't play like it as they stunned the Green Bay Packers by a score of 17-13 on an emotional night at Lambeau Field. 

The Packers got the ball to start the game in rainy conditions, but they were unable to get much going after an Eddie Lacy run early in the drive. Bryce Callahan made a big play on third down to keep Randall Cobb short of the line, and Lacy was stuffed on fourth down as the Packers went for it to force the turnover on downs.

The Bears were unable to take advantage of the opportunity as they went three-and-out on their opening drive, but their defense continued to stand firm against Aaron Rodgers. Davante Adams did help out by dropping a surefire first down in Bears territory, and Green Bay punted the ball away.

After an illegal contact penalty on Tracy Porter erased a potential interception, the Packers took advantage and took the lead. Eddie Lacy grabbed a reception on a screen pass, and after evading several defenders he crossed the goal line. Officials did have to review the play as Lacy flipped the ball away as he crossed, but it was upheld as the Packers grabbed a 7-0 lead.

It appeared that the Packers were on their way to another successful drive as Lacy picked up a first down, but Chris Prosinski knocked the ball out of the running back’s hands, and Lamarr Houston recovered it to give Chicago great field position. After two Marc Mariani first downs, the Bears got the score as Zach Miller was left wide open and hauled in a pass to knot things up at 7-7.

The Packers got a massive kick return out of Jeff Janis to give themselves great field position, but the Bears’ defense held up remarkably well. Prosinski made another big play to keep James Starks out of the end zone, and Bryce Callahan knocked a pass away from Randall Cobb in the corner of the end zone to force Green Bay to set up a field goal from Mason Crosby to put the Packers up 10-7 with two minutes left in the first half.

Right on cue, the Bears’ offense sparked back to life, and after a huge kick return from Deonte Thompson they marched right down the field for a go-ahead touchdown. Marquess Wilson made a big play to gain 19 yards and bring the Bears to the one-yard line, and Jeremy Langford dove across the goal line to put Chicago up by a 14-10 margin with 30 seconds remaining in the half.

The Packers did manage to move the ball down field quickly thanks to a completion to Cobb, and they got a late field goal from Mason Crosby to make it a 14-13 game at halftime.

After penalties derailed the Bears’ first drive of the second half, the Packers got the ball and quickly got into Chicago territory. A bad snap ended up killing their momentum however, and Rodgers went off the field holding his left arm as Green Bay was forced to punt the ball away.

The Bears then did what they’ve been doing a lot over the last few weeks, putting together an extended drive and moving deep into Green Bay territory. Wilson picked up a first down on a screen pass to cross midfield, and then Alshon Jeffery got in on the action as he got the ball down to the Packers’ three-yard line. Unfortunately that was as close as Chicago could get, and a short field goal from Robbie Gould made it a 17-13 game with 12 minutes to go.

The Packers’ offense continued to struggle as they attempted to stage a comeback. They were robbed of one potentially great play as a pass to Cobb was blown dead on a neutral zone infraction by Chicago, but they couldn’t overcome the call as Rodgers was sacked by Willie Young to force another punt.

After the Bears punted the ball away, it looked like the Packers were staging a comeback, but Tracy Porter had other ideas. Following two first down runs by Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback threw a pass toward Adams, but it was intercepted by Porter to give the Bears the ball at midfield with three minutes and change left to play in the game.

The Bears had to punt the ball away at the two-minute warning after forcing Green Bay to use all three of their timeouts, and although the Packers got down into the red zone, they couldn’t get the job done. Porter broke up a pass to James Jones on third down, and Callahan did the same on fourth down as Adams missed what would have been a winning catch for Green Bay.

The Bears will look to get back to the .500 mark next week when they take on the San Francisco 49’ers at Soldier Field.

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