Road warriors

Bears have history on their side Sunday in Green Bay

Green Bay's Santana Dotson falls on Chicago quarterback Jim Miller, who recovers a fumble. AP

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- The Chicago Bears have the Green Bay Packers right where they want them Sunday -- at Lambeau Field.

That would have sounded strange not too long ago.

Not so in today's topsy-turvy NFL, where home teams are just 88-85 this season and where 30 road teams have prevailed in the last three weeks alone.

The Bears (9-2) haven't lost away from Soldier Field since Baltimore beat them in the season opener. And they've won two in a row in Green Bay, although they still have to go a long way to match the eight consecutive times the Packers (8-3) have beaten them in Chicago.

The visiting team has won the past six meetings in the series, the longest streak since the travelers took seven in a row during the bitter rivalry in the 1930s.

"They're not going to be worried about coming to Lambeau at all," Packers safety Darren Sharper said.

Green Bay head coach Mike Sherman said he didn't see a home-field advantage in the showdown for control of the NFC Central.

"They have won here the last two years. Our climates are similar. This isn't like a team from the South coming up to the North and playing in rough weather," Sherman said. "I actually hope we have a nice day -- I usually hope for bad days -- because I don't think the weather will be a factor either way.

"I just think the only advantage you have in a game of this magnitude are the ones you make in the game."

Bears running back James Allen agreed -- to an extent.

"The advantage is going to go to the team that plays the best," Allen said. "But I think we have the advantage, because the last couple of times we've gone there, we've won."

Why do the visitors in the storied rivalry feel so welcome nowadays?

"No team has room for error when we play each other," Allen said. "Maybe [at home] we've made too many mistakes and maybe [in Green Bay] they've made too many mistakes.

"Or maybe you kind of get into a comfort level when you play at home," Allen said. "When you're on the road facing a team this good you know you have to really focus in, because obviously they have the fan support. You want to take the crowd out of it and so you know you have to be at the top."

Chicago defensive coordinator Greg Blache said the Bears are more comfortable away from Soldier Field.

Click on the above graphic for a larger version. CNNSI.com

"I think sometimes the crowd being against you, the hostile situation may keep your adrenaline flowing a little bit," Blache said. "You don't get the chance to relax."

Bears safety Mike Brown attributes at least some of Chicago's road success to the notion the Bears still are proving their legitimacy.

"I think we've got the kind of attitude, maybe, that we're still a little bit slighted, like we don't get respect," Brown said. "We get into that environment when we're away on the road -- it seems like that's when we really come together, really rally around each other and play very well.

"There's just a different attitude when we're on the road. A warrior mentality, we're just meaner."

And very, very fortunate. The Bears are wearing the "lucky" label as no other team in recent memory.

"As long as that tag sticks to us, we'll accept it," head coach Dick Jauron said.

Quarterback Jim Miller said it's no accident the Bears share the best record in the league.

"I don't really think it's luck," he said. "People can say what they want to say. They're going to slice and dice it any way they want. But the bottom line is if you go 9-2 in this league, that's not easy to do, I will say that."

Packers quarterback Brett Favre, who needs 108 yards passing to top 3,000 for an NFL-record 10th consecutive season, said it's not as though "lucky" is a bad word.

"I'd rather be lucky than good any day," Favre said.

And Sharper said everybody needs a four-leaf clover on their shoulder now and again.

"Every team that wins a lot of games has a little bit of luck, the ball bounces your way and that's just part of the game," Sharper said. "But I think they have good players that override the fact that they had a couple lucky bounces."

And what about the Packers?

They beat Jacksonville on Monday night after the Jaguars missed the go-ahead field goal in the waning minutes, and also scored after an interception was nullified by a questionable penalty.

"Are we a lucky team?" Sharper said. "I hope we are a lucky team. I hope we're lucky enough to win these last five games and finish 13-3."

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