Favre sounds alarm after Bears foil Vikings in OT

CHICAGO -- Brett Favre cranked up and made one more impossible throw, zinging a touchdown pass in the fading seconds. Too bad for the Minnesota Vikings, that only put them into overtime.

Once again, the Vikings came up short. And the way Favre sees it, they are heading for an early exit from the NFL playoffs.

Minnesota lost again Monday night, beaten by the Chicago Bears 36-30 when Jay Cutler threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to wide-open Devin Aromashodu. The Vikings were beaten for the third time in four games, and the defeat gave the New Orleans Saints the home-field advantage for the NFC playoffs.

"I know we're fortunate to be in the playoffs, but we have to play better than we did the last few weeks or we'll be home fairly quickly," Favre said. "I'm just being honest as I can be."

Playing for the first time since the dust-up between the star quarterback and coach Brad Childress became public, the Vikings' late rally wasn't enough.

After Favre's 6-yard touchdown pass to Sidney Rice on fourth down with 16 seconds left in regulation, Cutler threw the winner with just over 9 minutes left in OT to prevent the Vikings (11-4) from locking up a first-round playoff bye.

Nick Roach recovered a fumble by Adrian Peterson following a catch, setting up Cutler's fourth touchdown pass of the game. Hunter Hillenmeyer knocked the ball away from Peterson. Cutler found an open Aromashodu, who had beaten Antoine Winfield, and the Bears (6-9) won for just the third time in 11 games.

"It's good for the team, it's good for the morale of going out there and putting up points and answering the bell, especially in the fourth quarter and overtime when you have to do it," Cutler said.

Favre's pass to a leaping Rice capped a 68-yard touchdown drive and tied the game at 30.

Chicago's Robbie Gould, who kicked three field goals in the first half, had a chance to win it on the first possession of the overtime but missed a 45-yard field goal wide right.

Favre has never led a team to victory after trailing by 17 or more points, dropping to 0-43 in such situations. The Bears were ahead 23-6 in the third quarter and the Vikings were able to tie it twice.

Minnesota can lock up a first-round bye Sunday with a victory over the visiting Giants and a loss or tie by Philadelphia, or with a tie and an Eagles loss. But after running away with the NFC North, the Vikings didn't expect to be in this situation.

They started 10-1 behind a resurgent Favre, but have tailed off. Favre had a good game after three mediocre performances, completing 26 of 40 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns. Peterson ran for 94 yards and two scores, but the Vikings couldn't finish.

"At first I didn't think we would be having this conversation that we would have to be talking about turning it around, but we are," Favre said. "We didn't respond tonight."

He'll get no argument from teammate Jared Allen: "If I could cuss right now, I would. ... I mean, we're playing bad right now. We've got to play better."

Cutler looked more like the player the Bears thought they were getting in a trade with Denver than the one who has racked up interceptions at an alarming rate. He went 20-for-35 for 273 yards, but threw his league-high 26th interception.

"It's fun," Cutler said of outdueling Favre. "He got me in Denver. I got him when he was in New York."

Aromashodu made seven catches for 150 yards, and Danieal Manning set up two touchdowns with kickoff returns of 57 and 59 yards.

The Bears led 16-0 at halftime and 23-6 midway through the third before Minnesota rallied. The Vikings tied it at 23 on Peterson's 1-yard run with 5:49 remaining.