Packers fall to Bears as Green Bay honors Brett Favre

On this most holiest of football nights, the gods of football looked down upon Lambeau Field and decreed, LET THERE BE MUD.

The Green Bay Packers welcomed in the Chicago Bears for the latest in their long-running rivalry, but the game, which the Bears won 17-13, was of secondary importance on this Thanksgiving night. The evening was built around the halftime ceremony honoring Packers legend Brett Favre, and the heavens provided the appropriate backdrop for the occasion: torrents of just-above-freezing rain.

The Packers honored prodigal son Favre by retiring his number, and in a too-brief halftime ceremony, Favre greeted his teammates and thanked his family, team, and fans for their support through the years. In one of the more touching moments in recent NFL history, Favre embraced fellow Packer legend Bart Starr, the former quarterback now battling a range of health and mental ailments. Favre and Starr had tears in their eyes as they hugged. A few moments later, Favre found his rival and replacement, Aaron Rodgers, on the Green Bay sideline and had an embrace ready for him as well.

Favre probably would have suited up if the Packers would have let him, and after a decent enough start, the Packers could have used him. This wasn’t a pretty affair, wasn’t a smooth or efficient one. Green Bay looks worlds away from the team that once stood as the best in the NFL; indifferent defense and ineffective offense combined to cost them on virtually every series in the second half.

The Packers took a 7-0 lead on an Aaron Rodgers pass to Eddie Lacy in the first quarter, but midway through the second quarter, Lacy’s fumble led to a Chicago touchdown, and the Packers would never see the lead again. The Bears, led by quarterback Jay Cutler’s solid-but-unspectacular 19-of-31 for 200 yards, dropped 14 points in the first half and then scored the second half’s only points, a field goal, with 12:18 left in the game.

Rodgers provided a perfect tribute to Favre by throwing an interception with just under four minutes remaining; the Packers got the ball back and marched into the shadow of the goal line. But given seven chances inside the 20, Rodgers couldn’t get the ball into the end zone.

The Packers have now lost four of their last five, and look nothing like the team that dominated the NFC in September and October. Rodgers simply has no one to throw to, and while Lacy is an occasionally effective running attack, he’s not a consistent answer. The Packers are still in line for a playoff berth, but are now looking up at the Minnesota Vikings for the NFC North lead.

So on a night where the Packers honored Brett Favre, the team turned in a most Favre-esque performance: hopeful yet maddening, ending up with everything but the win.

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