The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Bears lock up NFC North, playoff spot
Mitchell Trubisky threw for two touchdowns, Eddie Jackson ended Aaron Rodgers’ NFLrecord streak without an interception and the Chicago Bears clinched the NFC North with a 24-17 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
The Bears (10-4) secured their first playoff appearance since the 2010 team won the NFC North, and clinching with a rare victory over their heated rivals made it all the more sweet.
The loss coupled with Minnesota’s 41-17 victory over Miami keeps the Packers out of the postseason for the second year in a row.
Chicago had dropped nine of 10 against Green Bay (5-8-1). But the Bears secured their first trip to the playoffs in eight years with their seventh win in eight games.
For a team that came into the season with four straight last-place finishes, it’s quite a turnaround.
But with the hiring of coach Matt Nagy and trade for Khalil Mack in a busy offseason, the Bears made a huge jump.
“We’ve accomplished a lot,” Trubisky said. “But I think I’m most proud of just the type of guy that we have in our locker room, the culture that we’ve kind of created. We know that nobody really believed in us on the outside in the preseason — or even throughout the season. But we knew what type of team we had. And we knew we were just gonna keep getting better every single week.”
Trubisky gave them a 21-14 lead early in the fourth quarter with a 13-yard pass to Trey Burton in the left side of the end zone.
After stopping the Packers, Tarik Cohen returned a punt 44 yards to the 15. But he stepped out of bounds a yard short on a third-and-5 at the 10 when he easily could have gotten the first down.
That forced the Bears to settle for a field goal by Cody Parkey, making it 24-14 with 6:43 remaining.
The Packers then drove to the 9, but on third down, Jackson picked off Rodgers, ending his streak at 402 passes.
The throw over the middle was intended for Jimmy Graham near the goal line. But the ball got tipped to Jackson, who had to be helped off the field with a sprained right ankle after his leg bent awkwardly as he tried to slide on the return. The interception was his sixth of the season.
Mason Crosby kicked a field goal in the closing seconds to make it a seven-point game. But Chicago recovered the onside kick.
The Packers are 1-1 since offensive coordinator Joe Philbin replaced fired coach Mike McCarthy on an interim basis.
Colts 23, Cowboys 0: Marlon Mack rushed for a careerhigh 139 yards and two scores and Indianapolis shut out one of the league’s hottest offenses. The Colts stayed in the AFC playoff hunt with their seventh win in eight games and their first shutout since 2014. Dallas failed to clinch the NFC East as its five-game winning streak ended.
49ers 26, Seahawks 23 (OT): Robbie Gould kicked a 36-yard field goal with 3:06 left in overtime and San Francisco snapped a 10-game losing streak against Seattle. Nick Mullens threw for 275 yards and a TD to help the 49ers win consecutive games for the first time this season. Richie James Jr. returned a kick 97 yards for a touchdown.
Redskins 16, Jaguars 13: Josh Johnson’s first NFL start in more than seven years ended with a win, snapping Washington’s four-game losing streak. Johnson and Adrian Peterson drove the Redskins into field-goal range in the closing minutes, and Dustin Hopkins made a 36-yarder on the final play to win it.
Vikings 41, Dolphins 17: Dalvin Cook had a career-high 136 yards and two touchdowns on a season-high 19 carries as Minnesota recommitted to running the ball. Latavius Murray added 68 rushing yards and a score. The Vikings converted each of their first three drives under interim offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski into touchdowns.
Bengals 30, Raiders 16: Joe Mixon had another big game, rushing for 129 yards and a pair of TDs, and Cincinnati ended a five-game skid — its third-worst slump during coach Marvin Lewis’ 16 seasons. Mixon’s 15-yard touchdown with 4:04 left clinched the Bengals’ first win since October and capped his second straight 100-yard game.
Ravens 20, Buccaneers 12: Rookie QB Lamar Jackson picked apart the Tampa Bay defense on a soggy field, running for 95 yards and throwing for 131. Jackson directed two drives that lasted more than seven minutes, carried 18 times and completed 14 of 23 passes, one of them for a touchdown. Falcons 40, Cardinals 14: Julio Jones made an acrobatic TD catch and Deion Jones returned an interception for an early score as Atlanta snapped a five-game losing streak. The Falcons forced three turnovers and sacked Arizona’s Josh Rosen seven times, a single-game season high for both teams. Jones caught six passes for 82 yards.