GREEN BAY, Wis. -- To the layman's eye, the plays looked almost identical.

There was Micah Hyde in coverage against Chicago Bears tight end Martellus Bennett in the first quarter of last Sunday's game at Lambeau Field.

The difference between the out route Bennett ran against Hyde on Sunday and the one San Francisco 49ers receiver Anquan Boldin ran in last season's wild-card playoff game against the Green Bay Packers appeared indistinguishable.

Safety Micah Hyde (33) celebrates his first NFL interception during Sunday's rout of the Bears. Jeff Hanisch/USA TODAY Sports

"I was in a totally different coverage," Hyde said this week. "It wasn't the same thing."

In so many ways.

Against the 49ers, with the game tied late in the fourth quarter, the ball went through Hyde's outstretched hands and fell incomplete, allowing San Francisco to continue what would turn out to be the game-winning drive that ended the Packers' season.

Against the Bears, Hyde's hands were like suction cups, securing his first career interception.

Nothing will make up for the 49ers' game, but it perhaps played a role in Hyde's big play against the Bears that was all but forgotten because the game turned into a 55-14 blowout.

"That's over," Hyde said of the 49ers game. "It's one I wish I would've made, but I don't think I'd be the same player today that if that hadn't happened. I feel like everything happens for a reason, and I feel like that made me a better player."

Despite the missed interception, the Packers ended last season confident that Hyde could play a bigger role in Year 2. He moved from cornerback to safety and started the first six games this season before the inevitable occurred -- first-round pick Ha Ha Clinton-Dix took over full time. But that hardly meant the end of Hyde. The second-year pro has settled back into the nickel position and played all but 15 of the 70 snaps on defense against the Bears, while Clinton-Dix played every snap at safety.

There is little reason to think anything will change on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.

"Everybody wants to get into their comfort zone in terms of their role and so forth," Packers safeties coach Darren Perry said, "and I think we’re moving towards that."

Perhaps you noticed that Hyde kept that football -- the one he intercepted on Sunday -- tucked under his right arm as he ran off the field. It was a sign of what it meant to him to secure his first NFL interception.

"I didn't really put a lot of pressure on myself, but it's kind of like a defensive end not having any sacks after a year and a half," Hyde said. "It's like, 'C'mon, this is what I do. I cover, I’m supposed to get interceptions,' so I'm glad that it finally came."

Perhaps it will be the first of many.

"Good sign for him," Packers cornerback Tramon Williams said. "It could take him to another level. A little bit more confidence, you never know what a thing like that can do for a player like that, who I think is going to be a really good player. He can do everything pretty well."