TimesFour

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – Ryan Grant finally hit his stride for the Green Bay Packers, rushing for 145 yards and a touchdown in a dominant 37-3 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

The win boosts the playoff hopes of the Packers (5-5), who came in on a two-game losing streak and trailing the Bears and Minnesota Vikings by one game in the NFC North standings. It also was the Packers’ first victory over the Bears at Lambeau Field since Lovie Smith took over as Chicago’s head coach.

Greg Jennings with a Lambeau Leap!

Chicago (5-5) didn’t look much like a division co-leader or playoff contender on either side of the ball Sunday.

Kyle Orton started at quarterback for the Bears after sitting out last Sunday’s game with a sprained right ankle, but was outplayed by Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers, sacked four times and hit about 15 times against the Vikings, watched most of Sunday’s game from his feet. The Packers relied on quick passes against a Bears secondary apparently afraid of getting beat deep, and that allowed Rodgers to hit Greg Jennings and Donald Driver for several easy completions.

On the Packers’ first touchdown drive, Rodgers completed 6-of-6 passes for 61 yards, including completions of 16 and 14 yards to Driver and an easy 3-yard scoring strike to Jennings on a quick slant against Corey Graham.

Aaron Rodgers was an efficient 23-for-30 with 227 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while Greg Jennings and Donald Lee each caught a touchdown for the Packers (5-5), who snapped a two-game slide.

After the teams exchanged punts to start the game, Green Bay went on a scoring drive to take the lead. An eight-play, 73-yard drive was capped on a three- yard touchdown pass from Rodgers to Jennings for a 7-0 lead with 2:28 left in the first.

Chicago answered with a march of its own that spanned the first and second quarters and was finished with a 35-yard field goal from Robbie Gould to cut the deficit to 7-3 with 12:12 left in the first half.

Rodgers was intercepted deep in Chicago territory on the Packers’ next touch, but the Green Bay defense held Chicago to a three-and-out.

Seven plays later, Grant punched the ball into the end zone from four yards out to give the Packers a 14-3 lead with just 1:11 left in the second.

Green Bay wasn’t done scoring, though. After forcing Chicago to punt, the team got into field goal range and got a 53-yard field goal from Mason Crosby to make it a 17-3 game going into the locker room.

The Pack made it a three-touchdown game in the third quarter as Rodgers found Lee in the end zone from five yards out to make it a 24-3 game with 3:01 left in the third.

In the fourth quarter, a 33-yard field goal from Crosby, a 53-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Jason Hunter and a 45-yard field goal from Crosby accounted for the final score.