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Bears end Packers' hopes for home-field advantage

Dec 23, 2007 - 11:11 PM By Dennis Sheehan and Bill Marquard PA SportsTicker Contributing WritersCHICAGO (Ticker) - When Chicago Bears offensive coordinator RonTurner awoke at 3 a.m. Sunday to hear 40 mile-per-hour windshowling outside his hotel room, he devised a run-oriented gameplan that included short passes only.That approached worked in brutal conditions at Soldier Field asthe Chicago Bears ended the Green Bay Packers' hopes forhome-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a 35-7victory.The Bears' victory handed the NFC's top seed to the DallasCowboys, who defeated the Carolina Panthers, 20-13 on Saturday.Adrian Peterson rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown on acareer-high 30 carries and the Bears blocked two of Jon Ryan'spunts, one of which Corey Graham returned seven yards for atouchdown.The game was played in Lambeau-Field like conditions on theshores of Lake Michigan with a game-time temperature of 16degrees. The 40 mile-per-hour gusts produced a wind chill ofminus-one.In a scene reminiscent of the movie "March of the Penguins", thereferees nestled the ball between their feet at the line ofscrimmage after each play to keep it from blowing away."I've played in the NFL for 17 years and this weather was theworst I ever played in," Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre said."It was cold as hell. Wind means everything. Chicago handled itbetter."While the Bears were eliminated from the playoffs last week,there's something about the Packers that brings out the best inthem.Chicago completed a season sweep of Green Bay, also posting a27-20 victory at Lambeau Field in Week Five."We certainly haven't been able to achieve most of our goalsthis year," said Bears quarterback Kyle Orton, who earned hisfirst win more than two years. "Sweeping the Packers was one ofthose goals and we achieved it."Orton only passed for 101 yards but posted his first victorysince defeating the Atlanta Falcons, 16-3, on December 15, 2005.He did not play last season while serving as the Bears'emergency third quarterback.Asked how he handled the chilly conditions, the bearded Ortonquipped, "I have a lot of hair on my face. It kept me warm."The Bears set an early tone, putting together an 18-play,67-yard drive on their opening possession that consumed nearly11 minutes.Chicago settled for Robbie Gould's 31-field goal, but the earlydrive showed the Bears that they could have success on theground. Chicago rushed for 139 yards."We needed something like that," Turner said of the quick start."We ran the ball well against a very good football team.""The ball was moving all over the place on passes," Orton added."We wanted to run the ball and control the clock."Favre, who is used to playing in adverse conditions, struggledthrough one of the worst performances of his career. Hecompleted 17-of-32 passes 152 yards and two interceptions. Inthe first half, however, Favre was only 2-of-7 for nine yards"Our run blocking was sporadic early on," Green Bay coach MikeMcCarthy said. "The execution was very poor."Despite controlling the game, Chicago managed only a 6-0 leadlate in the first half. Gould added a 35-yard field goal withfour minutes left in the second quarter.Ryan Grant, who ran for 100 yards on 14 carries, appeared toprovide a spark for Green Bay, ripping off a 66-yard TD run just52 secobds later to give Green Bay a 7-6 lead.But Ryan endured a nightmarish day. In addition to the twoblocks, he fumbled a punt and got off a 9-yard kick that led tothe Bears' go-ahead score.Chicago took a 13-7 halftime lead on Peterson's 8-yard TD runwith 53 seconds left in the first half.The Bears padded the lead on Orton's 3-yard TD pass to DesmondClark with 8 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.From there, the Packers unraveled, as Graham scooped up a puntblocked by Charles Tillman and returned it 7 yards to make it28-7 just over a minute later.Linebacker Brian Urlacher put the finishing touches on theBears' rout by returning an interception 85 yards for a scorewith 11:34 left in the contestThe Bears ran 41 plays in the first half and possessed the ballfor nearly 24 minutes. Peterson carried 22 times in the openinghalf, the most by any running back this season.The Bears defense dominated despite missing four starters -linebacker Lance Briggs, cornerback Nathan Vasher, defensive endMark Anderson and defensive tackle Darwin Walker."It says a lot about our players to do that," Bears coach LovieSmith said. "We have guys looking for a chance to play."