Bears-Packers Final Score: Chicago ruins Favre's homecoming in 17-13 win

Despite a furious rally late in the game, the Green Bay Packers could not score in the second half of their game against the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving Night, and they ended up coming just eight yards short of the goal line in the waning seconds. Four straight Aaron Rodgers passes fell incomplete after having first and goal from the eight, and the Bears emerged victorious on a night in which one of their greatest nemeses, Brett Favre, had his jersey retired and his name unveiled in the Ring of Honor at Lambeau Field.

With the loss, the Packers fell to 7-4 and a half-game back of the Vikings in the NFC North, as the Chicago Bears improved to 5-6 on the season.

Here's how it happened.

First Half

The Packers received the opening kickoff, and Eddie Lacy got his engine revved up early. On the first play of the game, Lacy shook off multiple tacklers and rumbled for a 29-yard gain. However, the Packers could not convert another first down on the drive, with Lacy being stuffed on a 4th-and-2 near midfield. The Packers' defense forced a three-and-out, however, returning the ball back over to the Packers' offense after a punt.

Aaron Rodgers was able to draw a pair of offsides penalties on the next drive, but once again the passing game struggled to convert on third down. A drop by a wide-open Davante Adams on third and 11 could have been a touchdown if he had hauled in the pass cleanly, but instead the ball hit the ground and the Packers were forced to punt again. Once again, however, the defense did not allow a first down and the Packers took over on offense.

Starting near midfield, the Packers finally got out of first gear. On an early second-down play, Rodgers found Randall Cobb for a 13-yard gain. He was picked off on the next set of downs, but an illegal contact penalty wiped out the play and gave the Packers another first down. On second-and-10 from the 25, Tom Clements called a perfect screen pass to Eddie Lacy, who rumbled into the end zone behind a convoy of blockers to put the Packers up 7-0. Lacy appeared to flip the ball away just as he crossed the goal line, but upon review the call on the field of a touchdown stood up.

After three-and-outs by both teams, the Bears took over at their own 17. Chicago finally started to move the ball, with a 12-yard pass from Jay Cutler to Alshon Jeffery marking their first first down of the game. However, they once again stalled out and punted away to the Packers, who in turn put up their first three-and-out of the contest and kicked the ball back to the Bears.

Following yet another three-and-out by Chicago, the Packers coughed up the football. Eddie Lacy was running a bit loose and was stripped and the Bears recovered in Green Bay territory. On the ensuing series, Cutler was able to avoid the Packers' pass rush on a few occasions and eventually found Zach Miller for a short touchdown to tie the game.

The Packers took some momentum back quickly, as Jeff Janis ripped off a 64-yard kickoff return that featured approximately five broken tackles. James Starks then took the series at running back, doing much of the heavy lifting on the series. He racked up 28 yards, but once again the Packers could not find the end zone (and got hurt by a terrible offensive pass interference call on a so-called pick play), and settled for a Mason Crosby field goal to take the lead back at 10-7.

The Bears got a nice kickoff return of their own, and with just a few minutes remaining in the first half, they went to work. Cutler completed a few passes to Alshon Jeffery to move the chains. From the 20-yard line, he found Marquess Wilson along the sideline, and Wilson scampered down to the goal line, where it was determined after review that he did not cross the plane of the goal line. The Packers' reprieve was short-lived, though, as Jeremy Langford punched the ball in from the one to give the Bears a 14-10 lead.

With just over 30 seconds left, the Bears squib-kicked the kickoff to avoid kicking off to Janis. However, Rodgers hit Richard Rodgers and Randall Cobb for consecutive gains to move the ball down to the 32-yard line and into Mason Crosby's field goal range. Crosby's 50-yard attempt was right down the middle, and the Packers got the big score late to cut the Bears' lead to 14-13.

Second Half

Following the opening kickoff of the second half, the Packers got the benefit of a few bizarre penalties called against the Bears. Chicago was lined up offsides on offense at one point, took a holding call, and also got flagged for a dubious tripping penalty that wiped out a first down. All told, the drive ended with a sack of Cutler by a blitzing Quinten Rollins, and the Packers took over at their own 22.

Green Bay then took to the ground game with both Lacy and Starks seeing time on the drive. Six straight running plays and a drop by Adams led to a third and five, but the drive continued with a pass interference penalty drawn by Justin Perillo. A holding call on Josh Sitton pushed the Packers back a few plays later, giving them a third and fifteen. JC Tretter's shotgun snap was low, and Rodgers had to retreat to recover the football. When he did and was tackled, he got up in obvious pain, holding his left arm.

The Bears' offense moved the ball with ease once receiving the Packers' punt, as Jay Cutler found Marquess Wilson for a pair of first downs and got a questionable pass interference call on Demetri Goodson matched up against Alshon Jeffery. Jeffery then picked up 22 yards on a screen to get the Bears inside the five-yard line, but the Packers' defense stiffened up from there and forced the Bears to kick a field goal to make the score 17-13.

Rodgers returned to the game on the next series, though, helping to ease Packers fans' worries at least temporarily. However, the offense's performance did not particularly help, as they stalled out once again just before midfield as Rodgers was sacked on third and ten.

After taking over on offense, Chicago got a big play from Marc Mariani over the middle to pick up 20 yards. However, a big run stop by Mike Neal and a fumbled snap by Cutler forced another Bears punt, which pinned the Packers back at their own 9 with 4:09 left on the clock.

We'll run down the next drive play by play. Rodgers scrambled right for 10. Rodgers scrambles right again, this time for 20. Rodgers to Richard Rodgers for 10. And then...Adams gets bumped off a timing route and Rodgers gets picked off by Tracy Porter. But yay! The offense gets a second chance to win the game (this time with no timeouts left and about 2:30 left) after the defense forced a punt.

So let's try this again. Incomplete to Adams. Screen to Starks for 18. Perillo short left for 4. Starks runs left for 7 - two minute warning. Incomplete to Jones. COBB OVER THE MIDDLE CATCH-AND-RUN FOR 32! Starks dump-off for 3. Starks drops a screen pass. ADAMS CATCHES A BIG PASS, CONVERTS THIRD-AND-7 FOR 8 YARDS! Rodgers rolls out, throws ball away. Rodgers throws away again on second down. He throws to James Jones in the corner of the end zone, the ball hits his hands...and falls incomplete. On fourth and goal at the 8, Rodgers throw is high, and the Bears hold on for a 17-13 win.

See you next Thursday in Detroit.