Bears Don't Play, Still Lose
(WSCR) - The Bears didn't play on Sunday. And despite not taking place in the NFL action, the Bears still managed to lose, when the Packers won. The 9-0 victory over the New York Jets pushed the Packers to first place in the division and knocked the Bears back to second place.
Ugly. Sloppy. And, perhaps, a little rusty.
It all added up to one big dud for the New York Jets.
Mason Crosby kicked three field goals for Green Bay, and that was all the Packers needed as they held the Jets off the scoreboard for a 9-0 victory Sunday.
"I wish we could play it again, do it over," Jets coach Rex Ryan said. "But there are no do-overs in this league."
Good thing, since seeing this once was bad enough for the Jets.
"It felt embarrassing to be shut out at home," right tackle Damien Woody said. "Our personnel and our coaching staff is too good for us to be shut out at home."
Mark Sanchez and the Jets' offense couldn't get much of anything going after a bye-week break. New York, which entered tied for the league's best record, had its five-game winning streak end. The Jets (5-2) were also shut out for the first time since a 10-0 loss to Chicago on Nov. 19, 2006, at home.
"We love to be underdogs," Packers safety Nick Collins said. "Everybody thinks the Jets are the team to win the Super Bowl. We wanted to come in here and match their intensity and show them that we can play with anybody."
The Packers (5-3) certainly did that, although Aaron Rodgers and the offense didn't exactly light things up, either. Still, they did just enough to win their second straight -- a snoozer on a blustery day at the New Meadowlands Stadium.
"We wanted to come in here and prove to everybody what we're all about," linebacker Clay Matthews said. "We've had a few close losses that we thought we should have won. We let our play do our talking."
The wind might have caused some problems for both teams' passing and kicking games. Crosby and the Jets' Nick Folk missed field goal attempts, while Sanchez and Rodgers misfired often with balls sailing past receivers.
After turning the ball over on downs, the Jets held the Packers to a three-and-out and had one more chance to get into the end zone trailing 6-0 with less than 4 minutes left.
Following a 5-yard run by LaDainian Tomlinson, Jerricho Cotchery couldn't hold onto a long pass from Sanchez, who was sacked on the next play by Matthews. Sanchez then threw incomplete to Braylon Edwards, and the Packers took over.
Crosby sealed it with a 40-yard field goal with 27 seconds left.
"We let one get away from us," Ryan said. "We just never got it done."
Rodgers, whom coach Mike McCarthy said sprained an ankle during the game, finished 15 of 34 for 170 yards. Sanchez was 16 of 38 for 256 yards and two interceptions -- both on disputed calls -- and had at least four passes dropped by receivers.
"We left a lot of completions out there," Sanchez said. "It's just a poor job on my part."
The Jets had a nice drive end in the fourth quarter when Dustin Keller caught a pass from Sanchez, rolled and then had the ball grabbed out of his hands by Charles Woodson.
The Packers cornerback jogged into the end zone while several players on both teams looked around bewildered. Woodson was later ruled down by contact at the Packers 43.
Replays showed it should not have been an interception, but New York was out of challenges after using them both in the first half.
"From my standpoint, it looked like he was down," linebacker Calvin Pace said, "but I don't get paid to officiate."
The Packers capitalized on the turnover when Crosby gave them a 6-0 lead with a 41-yard field goal with 6:36 remaining.
The Jets had another promising drive short-circuited in the second quarter when Tramon Williams ripped the ball out of Cotchery's hands while the two were on the ground for an interception. The play was challenged by Ryan, but upheld by replay review.
"Don't get me started," Jets linebacker Jason Taylor said when asked what he thought of the calls. "Unless you're going to pay my fine."
It was a brutal first half for both teams, and it didn't get much better in the second half. The Packers finished with 237 total yards, while the Jets had 360 -- but were done in by their seven penalties and three turnovers.
The Jets took a huge gamble on fourth-and-18 from their own 20 early in the game as punter Steve Weatherford took off on a fake and sprinted along the right sideline for what initially appeared to be a first down. But McCarthy challenged, and officials ruled Weatherford stepped out of bounds a yard short of the first-down marker.
"We're a team that's willing to go out there and lay it on the line," Weatherford said. "It just didn't work out today."
Notes
* Tomlinson joined Walter Payton as the only players in NFL history with 13,000 yards rushing and 4,000 yards receiving.
* Crosby's 20-yard field goal in the opening quarter accounted for the first points the Jets allowed in the first 15 minutes this season.
* Packers wide receiver Donald Driver reaggravated a quadriceps injury in the first half and did not return.
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