Come To Think of It...A Tale of Two Halves Kept the Bears' Playoff Hopes Alive

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

- Opening line of A Tale of Two Cities

Well, alright, it wasn't so much of a tale of two cities as it was a tale of two halves, though the two cities involved, Green Bay and Chicago, certainly have one of the best rivalries in all of pro sports.

The first half of Monday night's tussle between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers was a lopsided victory for Green Bay.

Fortunately, they play two halves of football.

The Bears were outgained 221 - 48 in the first two quarters and we were left wondering which team was the one with the faint playoff hopes. It certainly appeared that the Packers had the sense of urgency while the Bears looked like, well, mama's boys.

(Speaking of mama's boys, things got so frustrating that, in a moment of desperation, I switched to another channel only to find a show called "Mama's Boys." Think of "The Bachelor" with mothers picking out their son's dates.

You know, there must be a stupidity gene that I'm lacking because to watch that drivel made the performance of the Bears almost seem welcome).

But the second half was different. Not that the Bears offense did anything special, mind you, but the team actually appeared to finally start to show a pulse. And just in the nick of time, too, as their playoff hopes were resting on life support.

Matt Forte broke off a couple of nice runs, after being stonewalled much of the first half, and the Bears got a couple of nice breaks. The first one occurred when Brad Maynard's punt hit Green Bay's Jarrett Bush, who was blocking on the play, and the Bears' Jason Davis recovered at the 27, leading to a Bears touchdown.

Then, in the midst of the Bears final drive in overtime, the Packers' Aaron Rouse made a boneheaded play, when he horse-collared Greg Olson, helping to position the team to a 38-yard, game winning field goal by Robbie Gould.

Somehow, the Bears stood victorious, 20-17. It was Gould's second consecutive game winning field goal.

And in between those plays, who could forget Alex Brown's blocked field goal that would have won the game in regulation for the Pack?  

Just prior to the blocked field goal attempt, it was the Bears' Adrian Peterson that looked like the bonehead, as he was whistled for a late hit out of bounds on Green Bay's Will Blackmon, putting the ball on the Bears' 35.

In extremely frigid cold weather, the Bears showed that, like the Tin Man, they did indeed have a heart after all.

If the Bears win at Houston next Sunday and the Vikings lose at home to the Giants, Chicago captures the NFC North. Minnesota holds the tiebreaker over the Bears, so if both teams win on the final Sunday, the Vikings win the division.

The Bears can still make the playoffs as a Wild Card entrant even if Minnesota wins on Sunday, though it would take losses by both the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, combined with a Bears win, for that to happen.

While it takes two halves to make a whole, it takes only one half to win a whole game in the NFL sometimes. When you come to think of it, it makes much more sense than sharing a hot tub with a hot girl...and your momma.