Coach Dick Jauron was asked last week why the Green Bay Packers had dominated the Bears over the last decade. He answered politely that he thought the Packers’ superiority seemed to coincide nicely with the arrival of Brett Favre.
The Favre Decade continued Monday night when the future Hall of Famer became the third-fastest quarterback in NFL history to surpass 40,000 passing yards and methodically dismembered the Bears 34-21. The Packers victory was their 15th in the last 17 games between the two NFC North rivals.
The Bears’ first appearance on “Monday Night Football” in five years seemed to be over midway through the first quarter, with the only thing left to discuss being a final score. The Bears stopped Favre and the Packers on the game’s first possession, then were lanced for three consecutive scoring possessions.
Favre needed 262 yards to reach the 40,000-yard milestone. He had most of that in the first half (188) as the Packers outgained the Bears 327 yards to 85. Favre finished 22-of-33 for 359 yards.
The disaster ran deeper than just one game. The Bears (2-3) now trail the Packers (4-1) in both the standings and playoff tiebreaker as they wobble into their week off. Next up are division games at Detroit and Minnesota before a visit from the Philadelphia Eagles. The Bears never have rallied from a two-game hole to win a division title.
The defeat marked the first time the Bears had lost three straight since mid-2000, all with Cade McNown as the starter before he gave way to Jim Miller. The last time they lost four straight was the start of that season, also with McNown. The only time since 1994 the Bears haven’t had at least a three-game losing streak in a season was last year, when they never lost consecutive games.
The Bears once again were committed to running the ball. Through three quarters, tailback Anthony Thomas remained mired with his 3.0-yard average, lowest among starting NFC running backs. Even the pass protection, the best in the NFL, broke down, with left tackle Bernard Robertson giving up a sack of Miller to defensive end Joe Johnson in the third quarter. The ball popped up in the air, where it was collected by end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, who had sacked Miller on the previous play. Gbaja-Biamila returned it 72 yards for a touchdown.
The Bears went for an emotional boost early, with Hall of Fame defensive lineman Dan Hampton addressing the team before it sent injured defensive end Phillip Daniels and cornerback R.W. McQuarters out as surprise starters. It didn’t help against Favre.
After the Bears stopped the Packers on the game’s first possession, Favre took advantage of both Daniels and McQuarters early with devastating effect. Daniels went inside on a fake to running back Ahman Green and allowed Favre to circle to his left outside the pass rush. Favre waited while Donald Driver ran past McQuarters and safety Mike Green, then hit him in stride at the Chicago 20. He finished the play for an 85-yard touchdown, his fifth in five games.
The play was Favre’s longest touchdown pass since his 99-yard scoring throw to Robert Brooks on Sept. 11, 1995 against the Bears. That play, an NFL record, also came at the expense of a Bears cornerback wearing No. 21, Donnell Woolford.
Favre next picked the Bears apart in more traditional Favre fashion, using 10 plays to cover 76 yards before finishing with a 19-yard scoring pass to backup tight end Tyrone Davis. The drive included five plays of 13 yards or longer as the Bears managed to get the Packers in only one third-down situation. But Favre converted that one with a delayed 13-yard completion to Green in the wide-open middle of the Bears’ defense.
Davis handed the Bears the opportunity for an answering score when he flipped the ball up in the air in what officials deemed a taunt of safety Mike Brown, who bounced off Davis after the catch. The resulting penalty forced the Packers to kick from their 15 and Leon Johnson returned the kickoff 35 yards, his longest runback of the season to give the Bears the ball at the Green Bay 37.
Miller and the offense went exclusively to the air, throwing to Marty Booker for 6 yards and then for 13. A pass-interference penalty on a throw to Anthony Thomas added 14 yards to set up first-and-goal from the Green Bay 4, from where Booker broke free of cornerback Tod McBride for a touchdown to bring the Bears to 14-7.
Favre put the Packers back up by two scores almost immediately with a 74-yard drive, using eight plays and finishing with a 6-yard pass to Driver that upped the score to 21-7.
The Packers, who had helped the Bears to their first score, handed the Bears another opportunity when Favre hit Driver for an apparent first down at the Chicago 39 two possessions later. But Driver dropped the ball as he made a cut and Brown picked it up and returned it 35 yards to the Green Bay 4.
On third down, tight end John Davis slid off a block and worked free in the middle of the end zone for his second touchdown of the season that brought the Bears to a possible turning point, being down only 21-14 instead of possibly 28-7 despite Favre’s hot hand.
After a Bears punt gave the Packers the ball at the Green Bay 38, Favre calmly engineered a drive of 32 yards in six plays, moving to the Chicago 30 on a 16-yard Favre pass to Terry Glenn. Ryan Longwell converted a 49-yard field goal as time expired in the half with the Packers leading 24-14.
