Packers vs. Bears 2016 final score: Ty Montgomery, Aaron Rodgers lift Green Bay to tight win over Chicago

Ty Montgomery’s emergence as a feature tailback put the Green Bay Packers in position to win Sunday, but it was an Aaron Rodgers bomb that ultimately gave Green Bay a 30-27 victory over the Chicago Bears.

Rodgers hit Jordy Nelson with a 60-yard pass with just 31 seconds left to play, preventing the Pack from squandering a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter. His catch set up a game-winning Mason Crosby field goal to give Green Bay its fourth straight victory. The 3rd-and-11 deep ball squashed a furious comeback from Matt Barkley and the undermanned Bears.

Before Rodgers’ pass changed everything, Montgomery proved he can be the answer to the Packers’ woes at running back. The former wide receiver set career highs against the Bears Sunday, carrying the ball 16 times and gaining 162 yards.

The biggest game of Montgomery’s career came against a potent rush defense. The Bears came into Sunday’s matchup allowing only 3.9 yards per carry — the ninth-best mark in the league. In Week 15, the converted wideout made several defenders miss, showcasing the elusiveness and vision of a veteran tailback to embarrass Chicago’s best players.

Christine Michael, who had been ineffective as a Packer since being released by the Seattle Seahawks midway through the season, added a 42-yard touchdown run of his own for good measure.

A potent running game took pressure from Rodgers’ shoulders. The two-time MVP had returned to his 2014 form during the Packers’ recent revival, but he was hobbled by a lower leg injury that kept him from the fourth quarter of last week’s win over the Seahawks. While he used his scrambling ability to carry the ball three times for 19 yards Sunday, he also looked slower than his usual self, suffering four sacks against an often blitz-averse Bears pass rush.

With Montgomery and Michael driving the offense, Green Bay ran the ball 42.6 percent of the time — less than the team’s 44.8 percent standard coming in. Despite that, they exploded for 226 total rushing yards, more than double the 99 yards per game they’d averaged coming in to Week 15.

But while there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for Green Bay’s running attack, the team’s secondary still struggled — at least for three quarters. Third-string quarterback Matt Barkley shot out to a 136.8 passer rating in the first half to give Chicago its only lead of the day at 10-7. His afternoon took a sharp turn as time drained out of the second quarter; a Hail Mary interception set off a span where the USC product completed just three of his next eight passes while turning the ball over four times.

Barkley was able to shake off those mistakes to lead his team back. The Bears trailed 27-10 when the young passer remembered Alshon Jeffery was back on the active roster, and he used his Pro Bowl wideout to move the chains and put the Packers on their heels as the fourth quarter progressed. The Chicago quarterback led his offense deep into Green Bay territory on three straight drives.

His third, which ended with a 22-yard Connor Barth field goal, tied the game at 27-all. Only an unforgettable connection from Rodgers to Nelson could overshadow Barkley’s solid effort. He finished his day with 362 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The Packers’ defensive backs will have to play more like that third-quarter stretch with two huge games looming to finish the season. The Minnesota Vikings await next week, and while Minnesota may have been pummeled by the Indianapolis Colts Sunday, Sam Bradford carved this team up for a 121.2 passer rating in Week 2 win. After that, the fate of the NFC North may rest on a Week 17 showdown against the Detroit Lions.

MVP candidate Matthew Stafford threw for 385 yards and three touchdowns in their first meeting, but Eddie Lacy exposed Detroit’s vulnerability against the run by gaining more than 100 yards in his finest performance of an injury-shortened season. Montgomery has inherited his role, and he proved Sunday he can do it justice.

Now the Packers just have to hope he can keep this pace up through the rest of the regular season and beyond.