Packers destroy Bears 37-3

Monday, November 17, 2008 12:05 PM CST

Chicago Bears quarterback Kyle Orton (18) gets up as Green Bay Packers’ Justin Harrell (91), Aaron Kampman (74) and Charles Woodson (21) celebrate an incomplete pass during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday in Green Bay. The Packers won 37-3. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

GREEN BAY (AP) - Aaron Rodgers said he was barely touched. The only place the Bears seemed to make an impact was in the locker room.

Rodgers threw for two touchdowns and Ryan Grant ran for 145 yards and another score to help the Packers finally beat the Bears at home with a 37-3 rout on Sunday.

Green Bay snapped a two-game losing streak overall and a four-game skid at Lambeau Field to the Bears.

The Packers' offensive line also didn't allow Rodgers to be sacked after the quarterback went down eight times in back-to-back losses to Tennessee and Minnesota.

“They took some heat from not only the media but the guys in the locker room, coaches,” Rodgers said. “I had a lot of confidence in them, every position, but I feel like they had something to prove today and they did.”

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Grant got big gaps to run through, too.

“This is the best I've felt all season,” said Grant, who made it 14-3 with a 4-yard TD with just over a minute to play in the half. “We need to keep it going.”

For the Bears, it was a nightmare.

The only dent Chicago may have made was in the visitor's locker room, where there was a suspicious hole near the showers about the size of a fist that wasn't there when Indianapolis left after a loss on Oct. 19.

Whether the remodeling was accidental or not, the Bears were no longer invincible in Green Bay.

“It was just a poor display of football on our part. Offense, defense and special teams,” linebacker Lance Briggs said. “We didn't do anything to silence or stop the criticism. We understand that the way that we play we're going to continue to get more and more criticism.”

Bears coach Lovie Smith tried to put a positive spin on what happened.

“The good part about it is we get a chance to play them again at our home field,” Smith said. “Six games left, tied for first; you can say that we're starting over again if you look at it that way, and that's what we're going to do.

“We have veterans in the locker room. We've been down before. Now it's a critical state. We'll step up, get some things corrected and go from there.”

Green Bay travels to Chicago on Dec. 22. In the meantime, the Packers, coupled with a loss by the Vikings, sit in a three-way tie for the NFC North at 5-5.

"This is a big win for us. We needed it. It would be hard to go down two games,” said wide receiver Donald Driver, who caught four passes for 60 yards. “The biggest thing right now is we sit on top of our division, and we've just got to maintain it. Last year, we owned the NFC North title, and we've got to continue that.”

Only Chicago and Green Bay have won the NFC North since the division was created in 2002.

Rodgers started with seven straight completions ’До including a 3-yard slant to Greg Jennings for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead. Chicago answered with a field goal, but that would be all.

Bears quarterback Kyle Orton was 13-of-26 for 133 yards, completing only two passes to wide receivers. Orton, who missed last week's game with a sprained ankle, appeared to take a shot in the leg from Aaron Kampman in the first quarter and was limping at times throughout, but said it didn't hamper his play.

“We stunk it up,” Orton said. “I stunk it up. I just look at myself, obviously ’До when you get beat by 30 points, you don't have to look too far. I just look at myself and say I've got to get better.”

Orton left midway through the fourth for Rex Grossman after he fumbled into the hands of Packers defensive end Jason Hunter, who returned the ball 54 yards for a TD to make it 34-3.

Bears cornerback Nathan Vasher said the defense didn't help, either, allowing 200 yards rushing and 227 yards passing.

“Nobody in Chicago wants to see that. Nobody in this locker room wants to see that. We just have to work some things out,” he said. “It's hard right now. It's hard.”

Grant, who signed a four-year deal worth up to $30 million, thinks he's beginning to hit his stride in the second half again, just in time for the Packers.

“To get that win when we needed it most against a divisional rival, it's big for us,” Grant said. “Big game."