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Bears roar back to end Packers' perfect start
2007-10-08
The Chicago Bears turned five Green Bay turnovers into a stunning upset to end the Packers' perfect season with a 27-20 road victory on Sunday. Brian Griese hit Desmond Clark with a 34-yard touchdown strike with about two minutes remaining as the Bears (2-3) roared back from a 20-10 third-quarter deficit with 17 unanswered points on the Packers' home field. Green Bay had won four straight game before the loss. The defeat left the New England Patriots, the Indianapolis Colts and the Dallas Cowboys as the NFL's only unbeaten teams. The Patriots and Colts went to 5-0 with wins on Sunday. Dallas will seek to make it five in a row on Monday night at Buffalo. Three fumbles and two interceptions of Brett Favre passes hurt the Packers, who scored only three points in the second half after holding a 17-7 lead at intermission. The tide turned on a Brian Urlacher's third-quarter interception of a Favre pass at the Packers 19 after Green Bay had gone ahead 20-10 on a Mason Crosby field goal. Griese drove the Bears to a quick touchdown on a 19-yard pass to Greg Olsen, and the Packers never recovered. "BIG GAME" "It (the win) was hugh, a big game for us," Urlacher told reporters. "I don't think he (Favre) saw me," Urlacher said of his interception. "He just threw it right to me." Later, Green Bay's Charles Woodson fumbled a punt return and Chicago tied the score at 20-20 on Robbie Gould's 36-yard field goal with 14:13 remaining. Griese sealed the win with the pass to Clark with 2:05 to go. Favre drove Green Bay to the Chicago 31 in the closing seconds but was intercepted in the end zone to end the game. Favre threw for 322 yards, completing 29 of 40 passes, but he was intercepted twice. He had one touchdown pass, a 41-yarder to Greg Jennings in the second quarter. Griese was 15 of 25 for 214 yards and two scores. *Tom Brady tossed three touchdowns in the New England Patriots' 34-17 pounding of the Cleveland Browns. He continued to lay the foundation for what could be a Most Valuable Player campaign, joining Steve Young as the second player in NFL history to open the season with at least three touchdown passes in each of the first five games. Two of Brady's touchdown passes came in the opening half to Benjamin Watson and Donte Stallworth to help the Patriots romp to a 20-0 lead on the Browns. * Peyton Manning threw a pair of strikes as the Indianapolis Colts humbled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 33-14. Even with favorite target Marvin Harrison sidelined by injury, Manning was on target, finding Dallas Clark and Reggie Wayne for touchdowns. Running back Kenton Keith ran for a pair of scores in his first career start. * The New Orleans Saints, Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams all suffered heart-stopping losses. The Saints, who were a win shy of reaching the Super Bowl last season, fell to 0-4 when John Kasay booted a 52-yard field goal with no time left on the clock to lift the Carolina Panthers to a 16-13 away win. In Houston, the Texans also waited until the last second to dash Miami's hopes, Kris Brown connecting on his fifth field goal of the game from 57 yards with one second remaining to clinch a 22-19 victory and drop the Dolphins record to 0-5. Kurt Warner threw for a touchdown and ran for another as the Arizona Cardinals slipped past the Rams 34-31 in St. Louis. (Writing by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina, and Steve Keating in Toronto)
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