Broncos’ Defense Helps Osweiler Get Win Over Chicago Bears

The Broncos defense came up big again, but had a scare in the final moments. Playing without an injured Peyton Manning, the Broncos were able to defeat the Chicago Bears 17-15 at Soldier Field.

After being called on to fill in for a banged up Manning, Brock Osweiler had a decent day. He completed 20-of-27 passes for 250 yards and tossed two touchdowns. The Broncos offense looked decent under Osweiler and did enough to hang on against a fired up Bears defense. After losing two games in arrow, the Broncos seem to finally be back on track.

The Bears offense struggled in the red zone all day in John Fox’s match up against his former team Sunday. Playing without Alshon Jeffery and running back Matt Forte, both injured, the Bears couldn’t manage a single touchdown until the final minute against the NFL’s best defense. Twice, Robbie Gould kicked field goals from the 19-yard line.

When the Bears did score a touchdown, on a 2-yard Jeremy Langford run with 24 seconds left, the team tried to do the exact same thing on a two-point conversion. They ran a draw out of the shotgun, and the rookie running back was stood up in his tracks. The Broncos defense was ready and waiting.

If the Bears had decided to kick a field goal earlier, the game might have taken a different turn. After throwing two incompletions, the Bears went for it on fourth-and-goal at the Broncos’ 4 down by eight points with 10 minutes to play. Finding no one open, Jay Cutler lobbed a pass toward Jeremy Langford that fell incomplete. Cutler committed more mistakes than Osweiler, who was making his first career start.

Up 10-6 in the third quarter, the Broncos had a chance to add to a four-point lead. Danny Trevathan returned an interception to the Chicago 25-yard line, but came away empty-handed. On fourth-and-one from the Chicago 2-yard line, Ronnie Hillman was tripped by Osweiler and his knee hit the field behind the line of scrimmage. He was touched down at the spot and the Broncos turned the ball over.

The Broncos took an eight-point lead on Osweiler’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Cody Latimer about three minutes into the fourth quarter. It turned out to be the game winner as the Broncos defense was playing like a unit ranked No.1 in the league.

There was a moment in the fourth quarter when the Broncos defense looked like it wanted give the game away. Cutler had mounted a drive with under five minutes left. On second-and-ten from the Chicago 41-yard line, Cutler went deep to Martellus Bennett, but the pass was incomplete. It seemed like the Broncos had gotten the Bears into a third and long situation. But Aqib Talib was called for defensive pass interference and the Bears had another chance.

On the very next play, Cutler dropped back to pass and was harassed at the Broncos 35-yard line. The ball popped free and was recovered by defensive end Malik Jackson, after it hit two Bears offensive linemen. Von Miller sped around an edge block to hit Cutler’s arm and cause the fumble.

The Bears got close at 17-15, but the Broncos defense did for Osweiler what it’s done for Manning. They held on and won the game.

After the battle, Osweiler was all smiles. He credited his successful start to watching Manning and paying close attention.

“I don’t know if anybody believed me, but I really was telling the truth – I have not wasted a single day sitting behind Peyton,” Osweiler expressed, via ESPN. “I fully recognize that he might be the greatest quarterback to ever play, if not one of the greatest. I wasn’t going to let one of those days go by where I didn’t learn something. I’ve been very appreciative for my situation.”

The Broncos might not believe him, but the Bears certainly do.

[Feature Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images]