Chicago Bears are turkeys no more

[simmytbone]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...128-story.html

After upsetting Packers on Thanksgiving, these Bears are turkeys no more
By Dan Wiederer Contact Reporter
Chicago Tribune

It was an odd setting for Thanksgiving dinner, albeit a faux and very brief gathering.

In a cramped hallway outside a revved-up visitors locker room at Lambeau Field, Tracy Porter and Jay Cutler took their seats at a well-decorated table and cast curious glances at the festive place settings. With their smiles uncontainable, the two Bears also accepted a few offerings from NBC reporter Michelle Tafoya late Thursday night.

Cutler, with his jersey soaked and mud-streaked, took hold of a broadcast-awarded game ball and relished his first career road victory over the Packers.

Porter, meanwhile, was persuaded to take a tiny bite from a cold turkey leg, his reward for helping seal the Bears' 17-13 triumph with a late interception.

"I'm just full," Porter quipped. "There was a lot of cheese out there."

Indeed, the Bears were in a mood to joke and celebrate Thursday night, no matter how drained, drenched and dirty they felt. On a short week, on a sloppy night, against a division rival, in a super-charged road environment, they had passed a major test.

When clutch plays were needed, the Bears delivered.

Porter's interception on an Aaron Rodgers dart to Davante Adams came with 3 minutes, 19 seconds left, a shrewd play from a veteran cornerback who noted how his film study and familiarity with the Packers' quick-passing game had convinced him to break on the ball at the right moment.

Cutler? He threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Zach Miller in the second quarter, part of a methodical 200-yard passing night. Yet maybe his most important play came with 5:02 left after he dropped a shotgun snap.

Somehow Cutler dived to the drenched grass and wrestled the ball away from cornerback Quentin Rollins. That preserved a turnover-free night for the Bears and helped protect a four-point lead.

Later, at the table with Porter and Tafoya, Cutler smirked. Three days after welcoming his third child into the world, the Bears quarterback was thrilled to also have his first Lambeau conquest, pleased to be along for the ride on what seems to be becoming a heartwarming NFL underdog story.

"We have a great group of guys in there," Cutler said. "We love our coaches. We love our system. Everyone believes in it each and every game. And I think we're starting to figure out in the fourth quarter how to win these games."

All in

Cutler's sentiments were echoed all around the locker room Thursday night, a repeated acknowledgment that these Bears have a special level of fight that's right for a team low on drama and full of grinders.

That's how the Bears, in a short week, quickly moved past a tough-to-swallow 17-15 home loss to the Broncos and directed their focus and energy toward beating the Packers.

Said coach John Fox: "I've said all along that I like (how) our group of guys go about their business. They're willing to work. They wiped (out that loss) pretty fast. The whole Sunday-to-Thursday (turnaround) thing is kind of tricky, but the leadership in that locker room handled it very well."

Now, with five victories in their last eight games, the Bears head into December with plenty of meaningful football left.

Cutler and the offense have learned to minimize their mistakes and quickly move past any missteps that occur. And the defense is building confidence after allowing only six touchdowns in five November games and capping the month with a second-half shutout of Rodgers and the Packers.

"We're going to take a lot of pride in that," said Lamarr Houston, who had one of two Bears sacks. "This means that hard work pays off.

"Listening to what the coaches are saying and doing our jobs and continuing to build without listening to the outside is working for us. So we're going to stick to it."

'A big win'

Willie Young was one of the lucky ones, a player with enough experience and history to understand how special Thursday's triumph was.

Young pointed out that Thursday marked his ninth career game against the Packers. In the previous eight, he never had won. He also never had sacked Rodgers. So imagine Young's delight with 8:41 left when he spoiled a Packers drive by engulfing the quarterback in the pocket.

Young was one of 13 Bears who played who also had participated in the team's last visit to Lambeau. That one ended with a thoroughly demoralizing 55-14 loss. So yes, there was a frame of reference for this victory.

"No doubt this was a big win for us," Young said. "Any time we can put out a performance like that, ain't too much more you can ask for."

The second-half shutout of Rodgers?

"Don't happen too often," Young said. "Don't happen too often."

Young also was asked whether Thursday's victory was obvious evidence of how far the Bears have come since their season-opening loss to the Packers.

"Sorta, kinda," he said. "But we have to continue to play ball, man. We can't get caught up with this. We can't get complacent because we won."

Having developed a resilience to fight through tough losses, the Bears now must sharpen their concentration to successfully embrace their biggest victory of the season.

A demanding December is arriving and a run at a playoff berth no longer seems outlandish. Not for a team that handled its Thanksgiving moment with such aplomb.

credit: chicagotribune.com

[isiahthomas]

Chicago has been looking good lately but they did lose to the 49ers last week LOL. They play the Redskins this week and they'll beat the Redskins. I didn't expect them to beat Green Bay on thanksgiving and that was a surprise.