GREEN BAY — They heard it from their coach, Mike McCarthy. They heard it from the offensive coordinator, Joe Philbin. They heard it from their position coaches, James Campen and Jerry Fontenot. They heard it from each other.

"I think everybody challenged us, ourselves included," center Scott Wells said.

And so, after spending all week being reminded just how awful they'd been in a loss to Minnesota, the members of the Green Bay Packers' offensive line spent Sunday's 37-3 victory over the Chicago Bears redeeming themselves.

"I think they responded big-time," said halfback Ryan Grant, who ran for a season-high 145 yards behind a bent-on-redemption crew that also protected quarterback Aaron Rodgers (no sacks, no knockdowns) after allowing four sacks, two safeties and six quarterback hits against the Vikings.

"I think it was evident, yeah," McCarthy said. "It was nice to see them get after the opponent."

No one needed to do so more than left tackle Chad Clifton, who was schooled by Minnesota's Jared Allen last week and came back with a solid performance Sunday after dislocating his left index finger on the first play from scrimmage and missing the rest of the opening series.

"We definitely wanted to bounce back with a strong performance and with a focus on the running game. We just weren't going to be denied," said Clifton, who practiced last week the most he has all season and said it "definitely" helped with his fundamentals. "Just for me personally, it was nice (to bounce back), but as an offense as a whole, it was nice to have the day that we had today."

Barnett watches, reluctantly

Middle linebacker Nick Barnett, who suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his right knee against the Vikings, watched the game from his luxury box. He did not particularly enjoy himself.

"I was here from part of the warmups through (the end of) the game, and as soon as they came out, I was like, 'I ought to be out there warming up, playing,' '' said Barnett, who said he'll "probably" have surgery this week and faces "six to eight months" of recovery time.

It's depressing, but at the same time, you're excited to have a game (to watch), and you just can't wait to see the Packers beat the Bears. We haven't had the best of luck against the Bears these last couple years, and these guys came out and just dominated the Bears. That was so exciting for me. But at the same time, it was so depressing that I wasn't a part of it."

Kicking away last week

Mason Crosby missed a potential game-winning 52-yard field goal with 26 seconds left last week at Minnesota. But he didn't miss Sunday, connecting on field goals of 53, 33 and 45 yards.

"After last week, it was good," he said. "I had a good week of practice to focus in and to make sure that if those chances came again, I made those kicks. So, it was good to get those three today and just kind of get on a little roll here."

The 53-yarder, which matched his career long, had distance to spare. It gave Green Bay a 17-3 lead with 15 seconds left before halftime.

"That one felt great," he said. "The snap, hold, protection — everything was perfect. That makes it easy on me."

Sudden stop

Defensive tackle Colin Cole didn't sound very remorseful for the 15-yard personal foul he earned for knocking Bears returner Devin Hester down when Hester ran into the Packers' bench area on a kickoff return just before halftime.

"I think (the officials) saw a little guy running toward the sideline who came to an aburpt halt. Namely me," the 330-pound Cole said of the 190-pound Hester. "I guess they just felt that it was too abrupt a halt and they wanted to call a flag. I think most anybody in here is going to say it's a bad flag. He ran into me. He fell backwards. I don't know what they expect to happen."

Hunter hits paydirt

When Jason Hunter returned a fumble 54 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, it wasn't just his first NFL touchdown. It was the Packers' ninth return score this season and their seventh defensive touchdown, setting a new team record for a season.

"It feels great," Hunter said. "I was thinking about that today: 'I would sure love to score a touchdown.' It's just a dream come true. … It's something I'm always going to remember. I'm going to cherish this."

Hunter scooped up the football after Chicago quarterback Kyle Orton dropped the shotgun snap and the ball bounced off Green Bay defensive end Aaron Kampman's leg. Hunter then did a Lambeau Leap, and he made sure he didn't come up short on the wall.

"I dove all the way into the crowd," Hunter said. "The guys gave me a hard time about it. But it was fun."

Extra points

Like Clifton, the other Packers players to sustain injuries — Grant, who had the wind knocked out of him, and wide receivers Donald Driver (knee) and James Jones (knee) — were all able to return to the game. ... McCarthy said the Packers did nothing special against Hester. "We kicked to him and covered," he said. "Our coverage teams were outstanding." ... Rodgers said he wanted one throw back — his interception to Brian Urlacher on a deep-down-the-middle throw to Driver. "I'll be thinking about that one tonight, but I'll also be enjoying this big win," Rodgers said.