TOO HOT
Speed burns Packers’ secondary
From the first snap, Bernard Berrian continued his stretch of making a late-season impact. Though Rex Grossman barely overthrew the Bears’ speediest receiver on a fly pattern, the play signaled to Green Bay a newfound offensive aggressiveness that forced the Packers to drop a defender into coverage. That helped the Bears’ running game get going. Berrian got going, too, catching three passes for 93 yards, including a 54-yard completion that tied the Bears’ season high. Berrian also returned three punts for 30 yards without incident, no small feat in this fumble-filled season in that area. Not bad for someone who could have been placed on injured reserve after undergoing surgery to repair torn ligaments in his right thumb.
TOO COLD
Brain freeze results in penalties
Just days after his first Pro Bowl selection, Tommie Harris twice got called for offside and finished with three tackles and no sacks. Harris said the offside penalties were a result of his being too eager to make plays and called them “inexcusable.” Green Bay declined his first infraction, which came on the opening series. The Packers didn’t score on either possession in which he committed his infractions. But the Bears need Harris to continue being the disruptive force he has been all season to make noise in the playoffs. The Bears didn’t sack Brett Favre until Green Bay’s final offensive series. “We didn’t tackle well early,” coach Lovie Smith said. “We just need to keep fighting and find a way to make plays.”
JUST RIGHT
Self-evaluation: `Made a few plays’
For those wondering, Kyle Orton had a four-week stretch in October in which he posted a higher passer rating than Rex Grossman’s 68.4. But Grossman, in completing 11 of 23 passes for 166 yards, a touchdown and an interception, certainly seemed to add life to the offense. Three of Grossman’s completions went for 20 yards or longer. Making his first start in 15 months, Grossman revealed his tendency to try to force passes, throwing a bad ball off his back foot that Packers safety Mark Roman intercepted in the second quarter. But Grossman also made good reads and spread his completions among four receivers. “I played about the same,” Grossman said when asked if he played better than his second-half stint against Atlanta. “I made a few plays.”
