Bears/Packers Running Diary - 2nd Half

3rd Quarter

9:14 - Got a little too comfortable watching Family Guy so I missed the beginning of the half. D’OH!!

9:15 – After moving the ball well to start the half the Bears have a stupid delay of game penalty on 3rd and 7. They appear to run the play that would have gotten them the first down on 3rd and 7, but are a few yards short on 3rd and 12 and have to try a FG instead.

9:17 – 44-yarder is perfect and it’s back to a one possession game for the Bears. Packers 17-10.

9:19 – Wonderful, let’s give Favre a short field after a 65 yard run back on the ensuing kickoff. 1st and 10 for Green Bay at the 35.

9:21 – Michaels just said that Green Bay is averaging about 50 yards a game. But a little more than halfway through this one and they’ve already broken 100 and are well on their way for more.

9:24 – Suprisingly the Bears hold strong on 3rd and 1 and force a Green Bay field goal. Still waiting for the Bears to block one because they’ve done it once in every game so far. No dice….Crosby is good from 37 to make the deficit ten again. Packers 20-10.

9:27 – How much longer is Schick going to run that Quatro commercial with the old guy who wants to see if it is “really off the hizee.” Isn’t that commercial like four years old now?

9:29 – You know, after watching him steamroll people a year ago, Benson seems to be afraid to stick his head in there these days. Granted the holes he was used to a year ago aren’t there, but he needs to run tougher than he has because it isn’t going to automatically happen.

9:31 – Andrea Kramer reports that Thomas Jones has been shown the door because he and Benson couldn’t co-exist. I believe that was Benson’s fault more than anything because he was constantly running his mouth in public about not getting the playing time he deserves and everything. The thing that bothers me even more is that now that Jones is gone, Benson can’t seem to play his way out of a wet paper bag. You’d think that making the trade would give Benson peace of mind and motivate him. Hasn’t been the case just yet.

9:39 – The show Phenomenon looks interesting. I like Criss Angel’s show on A&E and am interested to see what he will be doing on a network TV stage.

9:40 – Greg Jennings has gone to the locker room and his return is questionable. That sounds promising for the Bears.

9:41 – Brett gives the Bears a gift by making a Favre ’06 throw that he should have thrown away. Urlacher picks it off and the Bears are 1st…..GREG OLSEN!! TOUCHDOWN BEARS!! Gotta love that. The rookie catches his first TD as a pro by winning the jump ball in the end zone. Could the momentum be shifting? Packers 20-17.

9:47 – After a Green Bay three and out, an injury timeout for a Green Bay player gives me time to do this: Please God, let them kick it to Hester. PLEASE!! (Sigh) Bad connection, punter kicks it out of bounds. Madden and Michaels joke that Ryan would be better served kicking it to Sheboygan (wherever the hell that is), looks like he tried.

9:52 – Brad Maynard comes up with the heads up play and recovers the Charles Woodson fumble on the punt return. 1st and ten Bears in Green Bay territory.

9:53 – End of Three and we’ve got ourselves a ballgame: Packers 20-17.

4th Quarter

9:57 – Dammit!! Chicago “plays it safe” on 3rd and 9 with a draw setting up a game tying field goal attempt. Lucky for us, it’s good. I don’t want the Bears playing it safe. I’m tired of watching them playing not to lose, I want to see them playing to win. And I believe that until they do that, they are going to continue to struggle. Tied 20-20

10:01 – Thank you for reminding me that my team has trouble finishing in the 4th quarter NBC. SHUT UP!!

10:03 – The Bears are playing much better now. Keeping Green Bay deep in their own territory and forcing the three and out again. They finally kick to Hester but have great coverage and he goes nowhere. Grrrrrrr.

10:07 – Up field Benson!! Cut it UP field, quit waiting for the hole to open up and just make one damn you!!! You’d think he’s a frail 150 pound back watching this guy run half the time.

10:09 – Just when I was about to mention how the Bears have not turned the ball over yet….Griese throws a pic. It’s another one of those tip drill pics, but a pic nonetheless. Right after the Bears caught a break with a facemask penalty. Now it’s up to the defense to make it like it never happened.

10:13 – And indeed they do. Green Bay goes nowhere and have to punt the ball away.

10:14 – I love having Devin Hester on my team, I really do. He’s just so damn dangerous when he has the ball in his hands. It’s like getting to open a Christmas present every time it’s time for him to get the ball. When the opponent kicks away, that like getting socks. And when they kick to him, you don’t care what you’re getting, you just know it’s gonna be good. After getting socks for most of the game, the Packers finally give Hester a shot and he makes more out of it than he should have and gets the Bears just past midfield again.

10:19 – Madden and Michaels finally agree with me that the Bears are playing not to lose on offense. It couldn’t be more obvious right now. They’ve fallen back into the whole run, run, pass, punt offensive formula. Like I said before, until the Bears start playing to win, they will not. Especially against this team.

10:21 – Best sign of the night: A Packer fan holding a sign saying “My Girlfriend has one major flaw” with an arrow pointing at her…..and she’s wearing a Bears t-shirt. Sounds like my kind of girl.

10:22 – Green Bay is really starting to rack up the penalties now and it’s keeping them in long down and distance situations.

10:24 – Favre is tired of getting hit. He’s reading his tackle Chad Clifton the riot act after he let Mark Anderson come in untouched, forcing an early throw (an incompletion) and in turn, another three and out.

10:28 – 25 carries, 56 yards. That’s the tale of the tape for Benson with 3:30 to go in the 4th quarter. Oh yeah he’s also got a 10 yard TD in there. Take that away and you’ve got 24 carries for 46 yards. Awesome. Is my contempt for Benson TOO obvious or is it just me?

10:31 – Packers challenge the spot of the ball after an Adrian Peterson run that seemed to gain a first down. The gamble by McCarthy……does NOT pay off. Well actually, they won the challenge and the ball gets moved back but it’s still enough for a first down. Phew!! That was HUGE!!

10:35 – I’m starting to get nervous now. The Bears are trying to drain the clock dry while getting themselves into field goal range. It’s 3rd and 2 with 2:11 to go and this play will determine quite a bit.

10:37 – YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! TOUCHDOWN BEARS!!! What did I say?!

WHAT!

DID!

I!

SAY!

As long as the Bears play not to lose, they will not win. On 3rd and 2 the Bears throw the ball downfield on a play action pass to Desmond Clark and he races in for the go-ahead score. HELL YEAH!! That's how you play to win beeotch!! Bears 27-20.

10:39 – Two minute warning. Packer ball, down a score. Now this is football baby!!

10:41 – Here we go. 1:58 Packers on their own 27, one timeout. I’m so freaking nervous right now!!

10:42 – Tillman nearly ends the game but can’t hang onto the interception. Hopefully that won’t come back to hurt us.

10:44 – After dinking and dunking the ball down the field, Green Bay has the ball at the Chicago 30 with :13 to go and have called their last time out. Now’s the time for the defense to make a play. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SOMEONE MAKE A PLAY!!!

10:46 – Incomplete :08 to go. 3rd and 1.

10:46 – A hail mary pass ends with…….AN INTERCEPTION BY BRANDON McGOWAN!!! OH YEAH!! The pic coincidentally ties George Blanda’s record for most pics thrown in a career for Favre. Glad we could help out with that Brett. Oh, by the way....BEARS WIN!! BEARS WIN!!

10:50 – To recap: The Bears came back with 17 unanswered points after falling behind 20-10 to win this one. The Bears also win the turnover battle for the first time all year by forcing five and only giving up one. If I had to pick an MVP for this game I would pick Charles Tillman because his forced fumbles early in the game killed Packer drives that would have no doubt become points for Green Bay. It kept the Bears in the game and gave the offense some time to get themselves in a rhythm. And it looks like NBC agrees with me and names him the Horse Trailer Player of the Game. The Bears improve to 2-3 and Green Bay slips to 4-1. With Minnesota coming to town next week, the Bears have a great chance to get to .500 before their trip to Philly. Man am I gonna sleep well tonight. It wasn’t pretty, but it was pretty-ER than the way that they have been playing and they got a win against Green Bay, gotta love that. Lovie remains unbeaten in Lambeau and the Bears have a pulse again, awesome.

Well, that’s gonna do it for this edition of my running diary. Leave your comments here on this thread; I’d love to hear what you guys have to say about this. I tried to cut down on the play-by-play and give more analysis and such. I hope you guys read it that way.

Final Score: Bears – 27, Packers – 20