October 7, 2007
Urlacher interception sparks Bears' comeback
By Larry Mayer
GREEN BAY, Wis. – When the Bears desperately needed a game-changing play Sunday night at Lambeau Field, their marquee player delivered in the clutch.
Brian Urlacher’s first interception of the season sparked a second-half rally as Chicago scored the game’s final 17 points, turning a 20-10 deficit into an improbable 27-20 victory.
The Bears trailed by 10 points when Urlacher picked off a Brett Favre pass at the Green Bay 19 with 4:24 left in the third quarter. The Packers quarterback had rolled out on the third down play before throwing back across the field to wide receiver James Jones.
“I saw a guy to my right and I think he turned back and didn’t see me and just threw it right to me and I fell down,” Urlacher said.
Urlacher’s 11th career interception set up Brian Griese’s 19-yard TD pass to rookie tight end Greg Olsen on the next play, drawing the Bears to within 20-17.
Favre made the costly mistake after completing 19 of 22 passes for 243 yards and 1 TD in the first half—with two of his three incompletions coming when he spiked the ball to kill the clock.
“Bad decision on my part,” Favre said of the interception. “I’ve been making good decisions. [But] that was a bad decision and I wish I could tell you something different. I should have thrown it away. That play was dead from the start, so I was trying to make something out of nothing on that one.”
Passing fancy: Brian Griese evened his record as a starter at 1-1 this season, completing 15 of 25 passes for 214 yards with 2 TDs, 1 interception, two sacks and a 97.8 passer rating.
“He was very accurate,” said coach Lovie Smith. “He did a super job. He got us out of some tough plays, made good decisions on taking a sack a few times and not throwing the ball up. We liked our quarterback play.”
Griese led the Bears offense to three touchdowns Sunday night after the unit had mustered just four TDs in its first four games.
“Brian did a great job, he really did,” said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. “He did a great job of being aware of situations. Besides just managing the game—he did a great job of that—he also made some plays. When we had opportunities to make some plays, he gave guys chances to step up and make them. He played very well.”
Griese wasn’t interested in discussing how satisfied he was with his performance.
“I’m 100 percent about the team,” he said. “I just feel good for our team. I’ve put the individual stuff behind me at this point in my career and I just want to be a part of a team that goes out and has fun and wins. That’s why I felt so good tonight.”
Welcome back: After missing last weekend’s game in Detroit, cornerback Charles Tillman, linebacker Lance Briggs and safety Adam Archuleta all made major contributions Sunday night.
Tillman generated two takeaways by stripping the ball twice from Jones, Briggs registered a team-high 16 tackles and Archuleta recovered a fumble.
“We had a lot of players that had bumps and bruises that disregarded them and just fought for the team,” Smith said.
LINK
Urlacher interception sparks Bears' comeback - Chicago Bears
Urlacher interception sparks Bears' comeback
Urlacher interception sparks Bears' comeback
Linear Mode
