Monday Night Football | Bears overcome elements, Packers

CHICAGO — Robbie Gould kicked a 38-yard field goal with 11:28 left in overtime and the Chicago Bears dealt with frigid conditions and the Green Bay Packers for a 20-17 victory Monday night to stay in the running for the playoffs.

Chicago's Alex Brown blocked Mason Crosby's 38-yard field-goal attempt with 18 seconds left in regulation to preserve a 17-17 tie and send the game into overtime.

"Our season was on the line. There was a timeout, so we had a little time to really get the guys one more time and say, 'Hey, we really have to block this kick,' " Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "And Alex Brown came through like he's come through many times in the five years I've been here. That's what the team needed."

The temperature at Soldier Field was announced at 2 degrees, making it the coldest home game in Bears' history since records started being kept in 1963. The wind chill was 13 below, second lowest in recorded team annals, so the longtime rivals were tested by the elements.

Kyle Orton hit a 17-yard pass to Greg Olsen and a 15-yard penalty on Green Bay's Aaron Rouse for a horse-collar tackle gave the Bears the ball at the Green Bay 35 in overtime. A third-down pass of 14 yards to Matt Forte got it to the Green Bay 20 to set up the winning kick — Gould's second straight winner in overtime.

"Just a crazy game. A hard-fought game. Everything was on the line for us, obviously," Orton said.

The Bears (9-6), who stayed in contention for the NFC North over the weekend when Atlanta beat Minnesota, won their third in a row and rallied from a 14-3 halftime deficit to do it.

"We still have ourselves in position," Smith said.

Green Bay (5-10) dominated the first half, but lost its fifth in a row after routing the Bears 37-3 at Lambeau Field in mid-November.

Matt Forte's 3-yard TD with 3:11 left lifted the Bears into a tie. The score came one play after Forte made a first down on a fourth-and-two run.

But on the ensuing kickoff, Green Bay's Will Blackmon returned a short kick 32 yards and a personal foul on Chicago's Adrian Peterson for tackling him out of bounds, put the ball on the Bears' 35.

Aaron Rodgers' third-down pass of 9 yards to James Jones gave the Packers a first down at the Bears' 24 with two minutes left.

The Packers ran down the clock behind the running of Ryan Grant, moving to the 20 and trying to set up a winner from Crosby, but Brown blocked the kick.