Chicago romps as Green Bay loses shot at NFC top seed

CHICAGO - Brett Favre's frustration flowed as freely as his tears did a year earlier.

The three-time MVP was at his worst, and now Green Bay can forget about the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Brian Urlacher returned an interception for a touchdown for the first time in his career, Adrian Peterson ran for 102 yards, and the Chicago Bears beat the Packers, 35-7, yesterday in frigid conditions. The loss wiped out the Packers' shot at home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Packers needed to win this game, beat Detroit next week and have Dallas lose to Washington to capture the No. 1 seed. Instead, it goes to the Cowboys, with Green Bay locked in at No. 2.

"I've been playing 17 years, and that was the worst condition I've ever played in," Favre said.

"Excuse? No excuse. It was, but they handled it better than we did. We have historically handled it well. It's kind of our ace in the hole, but today, obviously, it wasn't."

Favre was at his worst on a bone-chilling, windy and at times snowy afternoon, and the Packers (12-3) took their most lopsided loss of the season.

He passed for just 9 yards in the first half and 153 overall, giving him 4,058 this season and putting him over the 4,000-yard mark for the fifth time.

He was 17 for 32 and threw two interceptions. Alex Brown picked him off on the first possession of the third quarter, setting up a touchdown that made it 21-7, and Urlacher ran one back 85 yards early in the fourth after juggling the ball.

But Favre, who left Soldier Field in tears after leading the Packers to a win last Dec. 31, wasn't the only one to have a rough afternoon. The Bears blocked two punts by Jon Ryan, who also dropped a snap and booted a 9-yarder.