Bears find a way to keep incredible journey going
December 23
Chicago Tribune columnist Rick Morrissey
"Doesn't the whole thing seem a bit far-fetched?
First the Bears, holding on to playoff hopes as thin as a sheet of paper, have about 18 things go in their favor over the weekend.
Then Monday night, after playing with the urgency of a two-toed sloth in the first half, they come back to beat the Packers 20-17 on Robbie Gould's 38-yard field in overtime.
The Bears' Alex Brown had blocked a 38-yard field goal with 18 seconds left in regulation.
Improbable? The Bears passed improbable on the way to ridiculously implausible sometime in the fourth quarter.
And so, on a frigid night at Soldier Field, with everything on the line and an unfortunate tendency to play with fire, they somehow kept their playoffs hopes alive. If they win in Houston on Sunday and the Vikings lose at home to the Giants, the Bears will win the NFC North. If the Bears and the Vikings win, the Bears will need Dallas and Tampa Bay to lose in order to get a wild-card berth.
Who would be silly enough to tell the Bears it looks grim?
Whoever is behind this story line has quite the active imagination. But to understand how inconceivable it is, you have to understand how bad the Bears were in the first half Monday night. Fans were booing after the Packers' second touchdown, and it wasn't to keep their vocal cords from freezing like water pipes.
Somewhere in those boos was absolute exasperation. Everything that the Bears could possibly have hoped for Saturday and Sunday to keep their playoff hopes alive had happened, and this was the best they could do? With everything on their side against a team with nothing to live for, playoff-wise?
And understood in those boos was the ultimate question: We're risking frostbite in 2-degree weather for this?
"I understand why we were getting booed," coach Lovie Smith said. "We hadn't showed up at all."
Two very bad interceptions by Kyle Orton in the second half seemed to seal the deal. The good luck had dried up, and the Bears were back to being the Bears.
This is where Matt Forte, the heart and soul of the offense, enters the story. He started things late in the fourth quarter with a 28-yard run. On fourth-and-1 from the 4, he got the first down by a nose, then scored on the next play to tie the game at 17.
"There's nothing to be surprised about," Orton said. "He's done it all year."
Green Bay's Will Blackmon returned the ensuing kickoff 32 yards, and a 15-yard personal foul on Adrian Peterson gave the Packers the ball on the Bears' 35. Soon after, Brown blocked Mason Crosby's kick.
The Bears won the coin flip in overtime.
They're apparently not done with the whole luck angle. "
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