Nothing cheesy about it

GREEN BAY - Down 7-3, the Packers threatened to take a lead into halftime as they faced first-and-goal from the 2. Green, who gained 103 of his 128 yards in the first half, ran around right end and eyed the pylon. Urlacher knew that Green feels more comfortable with the ball under his left arm and went for the strip, as every Bear has been trained to do since the first mini-camp practice last March.

The ball popped loose, Brown picked it up at the 5 and sprinted 95 yards for his franchise-record fifth touchdown on defense. Urlacher opened the door to daylight when he blatantly pushed Favre as the Green Bay quarterback tried to make a tackle, but no penalty was called.

"I think he was falling before I got there," Urlacher said.

Instead of trailing 10-7, the Bears led 14-3.

"That is what happens when you have that mind-set," Smith said. "You get lucky on plays like that."

If luck had anything to do with it, Smith kept that to himself at halftime. He reminded the Bears that they led 14-13 at the same juncture, in the same stadium, the last time they were here, last December—only to blow the lead.

Then he told them how they were not going to let that happen again.

"There was more focus than before," said wide receiver David Terrell, who came into the game leading the NFL in reception yardage but didn't catch a pass. "Coach said, 'The first thing we want to do, men, is come out and get a touchdown and go from there."'

There was not a doubting Thomas among them, especially not with Jones in the backfield. After catching a screen pass for 7 yards on the half's opening series, Jones carried five straight plays and capped the 79-yard drive with a 1-yard TD.

Of the six straight touches for Jones, none meant more than the 54-yard burst behind guard Ruben Brown on third-and-1 from the Bears' 30 that Grossman called "the key play of the game."

"That just killed any momentum they had coming out in the second half," Grossman said. "We just pounded it down their throats."

Indeed, Grossman completed 10 of only 18 passes for 132 yards, one TD and one interception as the Bears ran the football two of every three plays. He wasn't complaining. "I just wanted to make sure I managed the game," Grossman said.

His leadership helped the NFL's youngest team escape one of the oldest, toughest NFL venues with a victory.

"You have to learn how to win," said Smith, his shirt soaked with ice water. "Not many people come into Lambeau and come out with a win after a disappointing loss last week."

Players doused Smith before he walked off the field after his first NFL victory. A fan in a Cheesehead hat yelled down as Smith neared the tunnel, "Merry Christmas, Lovie."

Smith smiled. He knew it wasn't Dec. 25, but he also knew he wasn't dreaming.