Things appeared that they would get even worse by facing Brett Favre and his 5-0 Packers on Sunday night, but the Bears may have just resurrected their season. There’s nothing nicer than taking one away at Lambeau Field. Here is what I saw in the game:

Offense: Griese’s first game was a bust and I said his biggest test would be against Green Bay, which would help to evaluate him going forward. I’ll be the first to admit it, but Griese looked damn good. Against Green Bay, he did what he does best, manages the game. Unlike the game against Detroit, he didn’t force the pass and try to make something happen. Instead, the majourity of his passes were dead on and it seemed as if he continually gained confidence as the game went on. What made me most impressed was his ability to take what was given, especially being able to throw the ball to other receivers on the field. Rashied Davis, Muhsin Muhammad, and even Mark Bradley. The touchdown pass to Greg Olsen was a beautifully thrown ball and was placed where Olsen was able to exploit the defender. The pass in the fourth quarter, after the 15 yard facemask on Barnett, was a bad ball and shouldn’t have been thrown. Didn’t understand the call there as it was first down and the ball should have been run on the ground. Right off the bat, it looked as if Benson would continue to disappoint with meager gains. In the second quarter he seemed to be running at full speed and added a nice touchdown. He went back a step in the third and fourth quarter, but I’ll say some of that was due to the run plays called. Someone needs to tell him to run north and south instead of east and west. At certain points he seems to not put the hammer down and easily is grasped at the line of scrimmage. How about John St. Clair? I thought he did excellent against Gbaja-Biamila with Tait sitting it out. Finally, the Bears mix in Greg Olsen and we all saw how much he can do on the field, especially catching the football. Ron Turner did an excellent job in mixing Clark back into the personnel on the touchdown due to Clark being an excellent blocker.

Play of the Game: Great call by Ron Turner to use the tight end pop pass on 3rd and 2 in the fourth quarter. Green Bay figured that the Bears would continue to be conservative and try to run the ball in order to set up a long field goal by Robbie Gould.

Grade: B

Defense: The Bears defense looked lethargic in the beginning of the game and were bailed out by Peanut Tillman with two strips on James Jones. Who knows how the game would have carried out without those turnovers. The Packers did an outstanding job of isolating Urlacher which allowed the running game to excel in the first half with 341 total yards. It definitely looked bleak going into the second half. Danieal Manning Jr. once again looks lost out there, however, he was forced into cornerback. Still, with his speed, its unexcusable to get beat by Greg Jennings on the first step of the route which led to a touchdown. The Packers kind of helped out the Bears with becoming conservative beginning late in the third quarter and it seemed as if they tried to run the screen, draw, and play action draw continually without success. I was a little surprised to see the Packers dumping the ball underneath instead of going after the secondary in the latter half of the game. I will say that the secondary did a great job (in the second half) by not allowing any deep routes to become open even with Favre moving around in the pocket just like Tony Romo did two weeks ago. Instead of faltering like they did in Detroit, they shut down Brett Favre and the offense. Only 79 yards passing in the second half by Favre is definitely something to write home about. The Bears did an excellent job of keeping Donald Driver out of the mix with only 51 receiving yards and more importantly, no touchdowns.

Play of the Game: The two strips by Peanut Tillman. Who knows how this game would have turned out. Both strips were deep inside the Bears side of the field.

Grade: A…The defense started slow early, but kept pushing and never gave up. They shined on stage when they needed to.

Special Teams: Hester wasn’t allowed to do anything by Mason Crosby kicking the ball short. On punt returns Hester never seemed to get going and tried to create things on his own which led to Green Bay being able to shorten any gaps in the return. Robbie Gould was his usual self adding two field goals and Brandon Ayabandejo’s strip on Charles Woodson may have been one of the bigger plays in the game. Not only does he strip it, but Brad Maynard keeps attention and picks up the ball before going out of bounds.

Grade: B+

Overall: The Bears knew this was a must-win and they did everything right in the second half. Somehow over the last few years, the Bears have been able to make Favre look human. The offense looked a lot more crisp and maybe Griese has shed the rust from being on the sidelines. I’ll say this, with Grossman in the game, the Bears lose. The Bears did the opposite of what they haven’t done for a while, win the turnover game. What a great pick me up after the Cubs flop in the NLDS. I’m sure all of Wisconsin really hates us now.

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