Chris Penn had never played with Curtis Conway before Sunday. But Conway made a memorable first impression.
Penn, who tied his career high with seven catches, scored the potential game-tying touchdown on a 22-yard pass from Erik Kramer in the fourth quarter. But in the huddle, Kramer wasn’t the only one making a call.
“Even on that last play, he (Conway) looked at me and winked and said, `I’m going to hold (occupy) the safety for you,’ ” Penn said. “He knows what he’s doing. A guy with that many catches, that many yards, he’s nice for me to look up to and model myself after.”
Conway finished with five catches for 77 yards in his first action since he broke his collarbone in the Aug. 16 exhibition game against Arizona. His day included catching the team’s longest pass of the season (37 yards) and carrying once on an end-around for 6 yards.
Not exactly a quiet return to an offense that has sorely missed him.
“I wanted to come back and when I came back I wasn’t going to hesitate to do anything,” Conway said. “That’s just the type of player I am. I’m not going to go out and baby the shoulder. I was going to go all out.”
Conway’s presence was felt everywhere. His leadership in the huddle gave the offense a boost. The threat he posed gave Kramer a weapon Bears quarterbacks have lacked. Even the offensive line, which had its first sack-free game of 1997, was helped by Conway.
“With Erik back and Curtis back and playing so well,” offensive line coach Tony Wise said, “the line appears to play better because everybody else is playing so well.”
Rough stretches: The Bears’ eighth straight loss (including the final game of last season) tied the team record for consecutive losses set by the 1968-69 teams and the 1978 club.
Official misconduct: Bryan Cox railed at perceived favorable treatment accorded the Packers the first time the teams met this year. Sunday it was Conway who questioned what officials were seeing and calling.
“Super Bowl champs, that’s all I’ve got to say,” Conway said. “You know they’re going to get most of the calls. We got held all day. On the first one down the field, my jersey was clearly off my shoulder pads and we didn’t get a call. But that’s the politics of the game.”
War of words: The Sept. 1 Bears-Packers game produced $34,500 in fines for fighting and some hard feelings over perceived cheap shots by both sides. But the anticipated resumption of hostilities never materialized beyond a couple of minor encounters.
“There were a couple of things said early,” said defensive tackle Carl Simpson, one of those fined in the first game. “I said a couple of things to some people. But there wasn’t really too much.
“Even though they’ve beaten us so many times, I think they’re starting to respect us more. We’re playing. We’re just not winning.”
Lost time: Delays in getting off two third-quarter plays cost the Bears dearly with two wasted timeouts. On first and goal from the Packers’ 7-yard line, the Bears used timeouts that they could have used in the game’s final moments when they prepared for a two-point conversion, which failed.
“We weren’t going to be able to get the plays off,” quarterback Erik Kramer said. “I hated to have to burn it. But it seemed like the thing to do at the time because they were both critical situations.”
Huh? Bryan Cox has been resolute in his stance that the Bears have maintained a good attitude and not given up this season. But he seemed to send mixed signals after Sunday’s game.
“This is the first positive in a long time as far as guys not quitting,” he said, “because we have given up a lot of points in the second half.”
Hurts: Guard Chris Gray, making his first start as a Bear, sprained a knee and will be out for four weeks. Running back Raymont Harris sustained a concussion but stayed in the game.
Tackle or penalty? Special-teams specialist and safety Marlon Forbes was called for unnecessary roughness on Antonio Freeman in the second quarter, giving the Packers the ball on the Bears’ 13 and leading to an eventual 2-yard touchdown pass from Brett Favre to Mark Chmura for the Packers’ first score.
“I thought it was a pretty good tackle,” Forbes said. “I felt pretty good about it until I saw the yellow thing on the ground.
“I asked (the official) what was the roughness for because I actually thought it was on somebody else. I looked around and he said `Roughness 46.’
“And I said `Roughness? For what?’
“And he said, `You dumped him.’
“So I said, `I don’t understand what you mean.’
“And he said, `You can’t dump him.’
“And I said, `I tackled him. It wasn’t like he was on the ground and I picked him up and threw him back down.’ I still have no idea what he was talking about.”
As expected: So the Packers entered Sunday’s game 4-2 and as world champions. So the Bears entered Sunday’s game 0-6 and as champions of despair. So what?
“We knew that wouldn’t mean anything,” receiver Don Beebe said after the Packers escaped with the one-point victory. “Every game we play, the other team’s going to play its best game against us, and we have to match it.”
Take two on take two: Favre, whom the Bears pressured into an average day, was more than happy the Bears failed on their two-point attempt, and that he wasn’t called on for some last-minute heroics.
“I’m always confident I can make things happen,” he said, “but I didn’t want to have to go out there and do that. The way they were blitzing, who knows what might have happened?”
Mark of a champion: No, it turns out the Packers weren’t all that concerned when they fell behind the Bears 10-0.
“Other teams, they might panic,” safety Eugene Robinson said. “But with us, we go, `OK, so what? They’re up 10-0. They’ve still got to win this game, and we still think we’re going to win this game.’ I like to think that kind of thinking is the mark of a champion.”
