SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 25, 2011
Aaron Rodgers threw three touchdown passes to tight end Jermichael Finley and the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers earned their ninth straight victory 27-17 over the NFC North rival Chicago Bears on Sunday at Soldier Field.
The 183rd edition of the NFLกฏs oldest rivalry was a rematch of last Januaryกฏs NFC Championship game in Chicago. The Packers (3-0) have won five of the last six meetings, including a 21-14 victory in that contest that punched their ticket to Super Bowl XLV.
A week after throwing 52 passes in a loss to New Orleans, Chicago (1-2) ran the ball just 11 times for the second straight game. The Bears managed just 13 rushing yards.
Jay Cutler threw two touchdowns and two interceptions in his first game against Green Bay since being heavily criticized for not returning from a knee injury in the NFC Championship Game loss.
Cutlerกฏs 32-yard touchdown pass to Kellen Davis cut the Green Bay lead to 27-17 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. But Chicago couldnกฏt capitalize on Brian Urlacher's diving interception of Rodgers just over two minutes later.
It was the first interception thrown by Rodgers this season.
Aside from the one errant throw, Rodgers and the 6-foot-5 Finley, who played in just five games last season, had no problems exploiting the Bearsกฏ signature Cover-2 scheme. Finleyกฏs third touchdown made it 27-10 with 12:49 left in the fourth.
Green Bay received the opening kickoff and quickly marched down the field. Rodgers capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Finley with 11:44 left in the first.
The pair hooked up for a 7-yard score early in the second quarter, but Chicago closed the half with 10 straight points. Cutler threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to rookie Dane Sanzenbacher and Robbie Gouldกฏs 25-yard field goal cut the lead to 17-10.