The Green Bay Packers (4-1) blew a golden opportunity to seize control of the NFC North Sunday night as they let the Chicago Bears (2-3) rally for a 27-20 win and close the gap between the bitter rivals to just two game.

Green Bay came out and threw a great first punch to the Bears chops as they ran the ball right down the Bears throat for a quick 7-0 lead.

Favre came out blazing with 243 yards in the first half and the Packers led 17-7 at halftime despite two first-quarter fumbles by rookie receiver James Jones in Bears territory.

“I thought we were going to put a lot of points on the board,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “To play the way we did in the first half and not finish it was very disappointing.”

The Packers totally dominated the first half but apparently someone should’ve told James Jones they were playing football and not hot potato in the back lawn. The Packers lead could’ve been at least 20 point at halftime.

I would like to know what Mike McCarthy was thinking after halftime. Favre chewed apart the Bears in the first half and all of a sudden the Packers come out the second half and try running the ball which didn’t work. Either McCarthy tripped coming out of the tunnel and hit his head or he thought DeShawn Wynn was actually LaDainian Tomlinson in disguise.

Packers fans had to be thinking that Mike Sherman was back on the sidelines calling the plays again. Does this sound familiar from Sunday night – run, run, run, punt. Its pretty much what the Packers did the second half of the game.

And then what was Brett Favre thinking on the Packers last drive of the game when they needed a touchdown to tie the game. Maybe Favre should sit down this week and watch tape of John Elway and Joe Montana run the 2-minute drill to perfection. Favre had no sense of urgency on the last drive as precious seconds ticked away as he stood in the shotgun moving his legs up and down for 5 seconds at a time. Maybe the mosquitoes were really bad Sunday night. I little bit of advice Favre when the clock is running – hike the damn ball.

Great teams can overcome five turnovers and still win at home. The Packers are one of the pleasant surprises so far this year in the National Football league but they showed on Sunday night they are not among the elite teams in the league.  

Green Bay has a chance to right the ship Sunday afternoon as they host the Washington Redskins (3-1) at noon. The game will be televised by Fox.