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| Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb catches the game-winning touchdown pass in Green Bay's 33-28 win over the Chicago Bears. |
In the final week of the 2013 NFL regular season, the Green Bay Packers faced off with their arch nemesis, the Chicago Bears, in a game where the winner would clinch the NFC North division title to earn a spot in the NFL postseason while the loser would have their season ended.
After the first two months of the season, it did not look like there would be a winner-take-all game for the NFC North as the Packers jumped out to a 5-2 start thanks to quarterback Aaron Rodgers who threw for 2,191 yards and 15 touchdowns during that span.
But in the first quarter of the Packers' week 9 game with the Bears, Rodgers fractured his right collarbone after he landed on his shoulder following a quarterback sack by Chicago linebacker Shea McClellan.
Rodgers would be lost for two months as the Packers would go on a five-game winless streak as they fell to 5-6-1 as the month of December rolled around.
But comeback wins over the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys would keep the Packers in the race for the NFC North title as Green Bay fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers 38-31 in their penultimate game of the regular season to as the Packers prepared to travel to the Windy City to take on the Bears in their 2013 regular season finale with a 7-7-1 record.
The Bears had endured an up-and-down season in 2013 as they came into the final week of the regular season with a 8-7 record under first year head coach Mark Trestman who was brought in from the Canadian Football League in hopes of improving the Chicago offense.
With an lineup that featured quarterback Jay Cutler, running back Matt Forte, and wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Alton Jeffrey, the Bears' offense did improve as they scored 417 points up to this point, the first time the Bears had scored at least 400 points in a season since their run to the Super Bowl in 2006.
However, the Bears' defense had collapsed having given up an average of 29.6 points per game, a massive increase from the year before where they had given up just 17.3 points per game.
To make matters worse for the Bears' defense, Rodgers would be returning as the Packers' starting quarterback as the two old rivals prepared to meet for the 188th time with the NFC North division on the line.
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| In his first game in two months, Aaron Rodgers completed 25 of 39 passes for 318 yards while throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions. |
The Bears would get the ball to start the game as all-world kick returner Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff 39 yards that with a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Packers linebacker Victor Aiyewa put Chicago at the Green Bay 42-yard-line.
However, the Packers defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball at their 20-yard-line as Rodgers looked sharp in his first game action in two months as he completed six of his first seven passes for 39 yards to lead Green Bay to the Chicago five-yard-line.
But the Packers could not punch into the end zone as on 3rd & goal, Rodgers would be picked off by Bears free safety Chris Conte in the end zone to give Chicago the ball back at its 20-yard-line.
From there, the Bears would drive 80 yards in eight plays as Cutler connected with Brandon Marshall on two passes for 50 yards to help set the quarterback's four-yard touchdown pass to Forte to give Chicago a 7-0 lead with 2:12 to go in the first quarter.
The Packers would begin their next possession at their 19-yard-line as running back James Starks carried the ball three times for 16 yards plus caught a seven-yard pass to advance Green Bay to its 42-yard-line as the first quarter came to an end.
Rodgers would then hit Jordy Nelson for 32 yards to begin the second quarter as the Packers had a 1st down at the Bears' 26-yard-line when Rodgers was intercepted again, this time by cornerback Tim Jennings to end the drive and give Chicago the ball at their 20-yard-line.
The Bears would go three-and-out to give the Packers got the ball back at their 36-yard-line as a 26-yard pass from Rodgers to Nelson would help set up a 33-yard field goal by Mason Crosby to put Green Bay on the board and cut the Chicago lead to 7-3 with 8:04 left in the second quarter.
After another Chicago three-and-out, the Packers would start their next drive in Bears territory at the Chicago 41-yard-line as five plays for 24 yards put Green Bay at the 17-yard-line when the strangest play of the game occurred.
Rodgers would drop back to pass as Bears defensive end Juilus Peppers came in and hit Rodgers just as he was about to throw the ball, causing the ball to fly forward to the Chicago 15-yard-line as most assumed that it was an incomplete pass.
Packers wide receiver Jarrett Boykin would pick up the football and run into the end zone as the officials never blew the whistle as they ruled that Peppers had hit Rodgers' arm before the ball went forward, making it a fumble and a touchdown for Green Bay.
The Bears would challenge the ruling but replays confirmed what the officials had ruled as the Packers took a 10-7 lead with 3:34 left before halftime.
The Bears would begin its next possession at their 15-yard-line as three straight running plays picked up 15 yards until Cutler put the ball in the air and completed a 12-yard pass to Alshon Jeffrey only for Packers cornerback Tramon Williams to hit Jeffrey and force a fumble that was recovered by strong safety Morgan Burnett to give Green Bay the ball at the Chicago 28-yard-line and 1:47 left in the first half.
A three-yard run by Eddie Lacy and a 16-yard pass from Rodgers to Nelson would put the Packers at the Bears' nine-yard-line with a 1st & goal as two incomplete pass and a run by Lacy that went for no gain would force Green Bay to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Crosby to extend their lead to 13-7 with seven seconds to go before halftime.
The ensuing kickoff would run out the remaining time in the first half as the Packers went to the locker room ahead 13-7 and set to get the ball to start the second half.
The Packers would go three-and-out on their initial possession of the second half to punt the ball back to the Bears when Hester struck again as his 49-yard return gave the Chicago offense the ball at the Green Bay 30-yard-line.
The Bears would then ride the legs of Forte as he carried the ball five straight times with his last carry being a five-yard touchdown that with the extra point gave Chicago a 14-13 lead with 10:51 to go in the third quarter.
The Packers would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line as the drive began with a 17-yard run by Lacy followed by four straight runs by Starks for 51 yards to put Green Bay at the Bears' 12-yard-line when Rodgers completed a five-yard pass to James Jones, then found Randall Cobb, who was playing in his first game since Week 6 when he broke his right fibula, for a seven-yard touchdown to give the lead back to the Packers at 20-14 with 7:32 left in the third quarter.
The Bears would start their ensuing possession at their 26-yard-line as Forte would run twice for six yards to set up 3rd & 4 when Cutler went deep and hit Jeffrey for a 67-yard completion to put Chicago at the Green Bay one-yard-line where Forte would punch it for the touchdown to put the Bears back on top 21-20 with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter.
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| Bears running back Matt Forte carried the ball 22 times for 110 yards and scored two touchdowns while catching four passes for 47 yards and scoring another touchdown. |
After the Packers punted on their next possession, the Bears got the ball back at their 32-yard-line as Cutler would hit Marshall for nine yards before handing the ball off to Forte on back-to-back plays which gained 18 yards to put Chicago at the Green Bay 41-yard-line.
Forte would then catch a 33-yard pass from Cutler to put the Bears at the Packers' eight-yard-line as two runs by Forte for three yards would set up 3rd & goal for Chicago as the third quarter came to an end.
The final 15 minutes would begin with Cutler finding Marshall in the right corner of the end zone for the five-yard touchdown to extend the Bears' lead to 28-20.
The Packers would get the ball back at their 23-yard-line as they would 77 yards in six plays as Rodgers completed passes of 34 yards to Nelson, 12 yards to Jones, and 22 yards to Andrew Quarless to help set up a six-yard touchdown by Lacy to cut the Bears' lead to 28-26.
Interestingly, McCarthy did not go for two and instead had Crosby kick the extra point to make it 28-27 in favor of the Bears with 11:43 left in the fourth quarter.
The Bears would hold the ball for over five minutes as they drove from their 26-yard-line to the Green Bay 45-yard-line before punting the ball back to the Packers, who would take over at their 13-yard-line with 6:24 left in regulation and needing just a field goal to retake the lead.
The drive would begin with Lacy running for two yards followed by the rookie running back catching a seven-yard pass from Rodgers before being stopped for no gain to set up 4th & inches when McCarthy decided to go for the 1st down instead of punting the ball back to the Bears.
The gamble paid off as fullback John Kuhn picked up the yardage needed to give the Packers a fresh set of downs at their 23-yard-line with 4:18 left to play.
Rodgers would then complete a seven-yard pass to Jones which was followed by an incomplete pass to set up 3rd & 3 when Rodgers scrambled for five yards to pick up another 1st down at the Green Bay 35-yard-line.
A seven-yard pass to Nelson followed by two runs by Lacy for two yards would set up another 4th & 1 this time as the two-minute warning hit.
Once again the Packers would go for the 1st down and once again they would convert as Rodgers hit Nelson for six yards to give Green Bay a fresh set of downs at the 50-yard-line.
A run by Lacy for two yards and two incomplete passes would set up a 4th & 8 at the Bears' 48-yard-line with 46 seconds and the Packers needed to convert their third 4th down of the drive.
Facing an all-out blitz, Rodgers would fire the ball downfield when he found Cobb wide open at the Bears' 10-yard-line, who would then run into the end zone for a shocking 48-yard touchdown to give Green Bay a 33-28 lead with 38 seconds to go as the Packers would go for two and failed to convert.
The Packers would have to survive another return by Hester as his 24-yard return gave the Bears the ball at their 40-yard-line with 31 seconds left to pull out a miracle.
After completing a 15-yard pass to Marshall, Cutler would throw two straight incomplete passes to set up 3rd & 10 from the Packers' 45-yard-line with ten seconds to go when he fired a desperation pass for Jeffrey in the end zone only for Green Bay cornerback Sam Shields to intercept it as time ran out to secure the 33-28 win for the Packers and the NFC North division championship.
Two weeks after the heartbreaking loss to the Packers, the Bears fired their defensive line and linebackers coaches in hopes of improving the defense.
However, things did not improve as the defense gave up over 6,000 yards of total offense and allowed 442 points including back-to-back weeks where their opponents scored at least 50 points as the Bears finished with a 5-11 record which resulted in Trestman's dismissal.
As for the Packers, their season would come to an end one week following their incredible win over the Bears as they fell to the San Francisco 49ers 23-20 in the wild card round of the NFC playoffs as Phil Dawson made a 33-yard field goal as time expired to eliminate Green Bay.
