The Denver Broncos beat the Chicago Bears 13-10, in overtime Sunday in one of the most improbable victories of the season. Beating Chicago (and Oakland being massacred by Green Bay) has put the Broncos in a spot that last season seemed to be only a pipe dream – the top spot of the AFC West with an 8-5 record. The playoffs are near and not impossible.

Anywhere in Broncos Country (or any country it seems, as when I was in Ireland last October people knew who he was -this about a player who wasn’t even the starting QB at the time), Tim Tebow is a polarizing figure. You love him or you hate him. Critics have said it all.

“Tebow doesn’t have what it takes to play at a pro level.”

(Really?)

“We’ll see how the Broncos do when they play a real team”

(New York, Chicago, San Diego, Miami, Minnesota and Oakland would probably all contend that they are in fact “real teams.”)

“This can’t keep happening”

(Yet, here we are with seven wins, most of which are happening in the last five minutes of the game.)

They Just Keep Winning

There is no logical reason for the Broncos’ continues winning streak, when the fact is they generally spend the first three quarters losing. But something happens in the fourth quarter, whether it is a sense of urgency or divine intervention, can be left to the skeptics; football hasn’t been this exciting in Denver since Elway led the team to back to back Super Bowl wins.

Broncos Time

Something is happening with the Broncos, at least in the last quarter of every game, something Tebow is aware probably ought to be spread out through the other three quarters. Tebow told the Denver Post, “When it is clutch and you need competitive greatness, you have to step up and you have to make those plays. If you’re able to do it when it really matters, usually you can find a way. We’ve just got to get better at doing it for four quarters.”

Tebow obviously isn’t winning these games by himself, but it has made him fodder for criticism that it is a team sport and not a one-man show. Even Tebow agrees it is a team effort and the attention on him alone is unwarranted, as he told the Post, “I think my teammates make me look a lot better than I am. They really stepped up and came up with some huge plays, and I’m so proud of them…I don’t think it’s Tebow Time, I just think it’s Bronco Time, and the team steps up.”

Defense and Special Teams

Matt Prater proved once again how clutch he is when he kicked the 59-yard game-tying field goal and in overtime, the winning 51-yard winning goal.

The Broncos defense has been unstoppable, Wesley Woodyard, Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil made Pro-Bowl level plays yesterday and the Chicago offense is likely feeling the pain this morning.

Da Bears have Da Blues

Marion Barber is probably having a rough day watching reels today. His fumble in overtime was crucial for the Broncos to win. But even more vital was his running out of bounds after the two-minute warning in the fourth, stopping the clock and giving the Broncos a chance to do what they do best-win when there’s no other option.

Even Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher had a snarky remark about Tebow when he told the Post, “He’s a good running back, man. He runs the ball well.” Ironically, the Bears’ defense held the Broncos’ running game to a near halt and it was Tebow’s passing yardage in the fourth quarter that landed a Broncos’ touchdown and made room for Prater’s field goals. Urlacher’s choice of words may taste like crow this morning when he had suggested Tebow isn’t a solid quarterback. While he may not be a traditional or even conventional QB, Tebow does run well.

He also wins well.

Clutch

To suggest that the players are working harder, with Tebow at the helm than they did with Orton is insulting to their professionalism. Yet it is impossible to ignore the level of energy and enthusiasm amongst the players and fans felt every Sunday now that he is starting and winning. Tebow has won six games in a row now with five of those being fourth-quarter comeback victories.

Broncos linebacker Von Miller said it best when he told the Post, “There’s no one else I’d rather have the ball in his hands when it counts.”

Yesterday’s game against Chicago was all but lost until the last two minutes of the game. During the first three quarters, Tebow only threw 3-16 with crucial drops made by Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas. Until the fourth quarter fans had seemingly accepted this might be where the winning streak ends.

Yet, the Broncos beat the Bears anyway, 13-10, in overtime. Tebow has always been subject to criticism because he isn’t as accurate of a passer as, say, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers. The first three quarters were essentially the same: aggravating throws, sloppy plays and if it wasn’t for the Broncos’ defense, the chance of these type Hail-Tebow wins wouldn’t be happening.

Tebow’s Passing Game

Even Tebow knows his passing is a potential problem, as his body can’t take the hits like he has been and expect to have a long career in the NFL. Tebow told the Post, “I’ve just got to do a better job and just improve with accuracy and put it on my receivers more.”

Tebow continues to rush well, but his passing has improved exponentially every game, even if it is for the most part, in the fourth quarter of the game. His stats are better than Elway’s when he was first starting. It is funny how short memories can be in Denver when fans forget how Elway was often the subject of harsh criticism before bringing us home two back-to-back Super Bowl championships, thereby ensuring his place as THE Denver Bronco. Before signing on to be a Broncos executive, fans would practically genuflect to the man if he were seen at games. And now he is mentoring a QB that everyone was quick to dismiss as simply a great college player.

‘What the frickin’ is happening here?’

Broncos Country is probably the highest Nail-Biters-Per-Capita at this point, and even Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey finds these shocking wins, well, shocking. Bailey told the Post: “I don’t want to give him all the credit. But at the same time, he comes through at crunch time every week. Every single week it’s like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ It gets to the point where you say, ‘what the frickin’ is happening here?’ “

Is it divine intervention? Nobody can answer that for sure but Tebow isn’t quick to take the credit for what is, after all, a team effort.

Tebow said it best: “Great things are only possible if you’re under very tough circumstances. That was a great comeback for this team, and it was led by our defense and coaches and a team that constantly believes.”

True Broncos fans always have.

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_19526117

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Read More: Anthony Adams (DT – CHI), Jay Cutler (QB – CHI), Matt Forte (RB – CHI), Major Wright (S – CHI), Nathan Enderle (QB – CHI), Ricky Henry (G – CHI), Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos

A Chicago Bears season that was proving to be as promising as any in recent memory has proven to be quite far from that, as injuries have piled up and left the Bears with a fraction of the team that began to look like a possible Super Bowl contender. First there was the potentially season-ending injury to Jay Cutler, but things were only compounded by the injuries that fellow starters Matt Forte and Major Wright suffered last week against Kansas City. Michael C. Wright of ESPN Chicago has the full list of inactives for the Denver game, which is shown below:

- QB Jay Cutler

- RB Matt Forte

- S Major Wright

- QB Nathan Enderle

- OG Ricky Henry

- TE Andre Smith

- DT Anthony Adams

The Bears aren’t missing that many players, but the ones that are missing are integral to the team. Cutler was the crux of the Bears offense as a near-elite quarterback, and the team can’t turn to Forte to handle some of that workload now that he’s on the mend, as well. 

For updates on this Week 14 matchup, stay tuned to SB Nation Chicago. For more on this week’s game, visit Bears blog, Windy City Gridiron, and Broncos blog, Mile High Report. Head over to SB Nation NFL for more from around the league.

The way the Minnesota Vikings have played this year and the benching of their quarterback Donovan McNabb in mid-October seemed to have created a bubble that finally burst on Thursday.

According to Jason La Canfora of NFL.com, the Vikings granted McNabb’s request to release him during practice. After McNabb took reps with the third team, he had a conversation with coach Leslie Frazier, and, soon after, the request was granted.

McNabb, who was traded from the Washington Redskins to the Vikings in the offseason to be their starter after the team didn’t offer an extension to Tarvaris Jackson, has been relatively overshadowed by rookie Christian Ponder ever since a gruesome 39-10 loss at the Chicago Bears in Week 6. McNabb’s fate as backup was truly sealed the week after when the Vikings played the Green Bay Packers, albeit a 33-27 loss. Ponder’s first career pass that game resulted in a Michael Jenkins 72-yard touchdown and, two plays later, the rookie hit Visanthe Shiancoe in the end zone for a short touchdown.

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At the time of his benching, the long-time Philadelphia Eagle said he still had a lot of football left in him. Frazier, whose relationship with McNabb coincidentally dates back to their Philadelphia days, even lobbied for McNabb to be the Vikings starter, to bridge this summer’s lockout gap until Ponder was fully ready to take control rather than rebuild.

Nevertheless, today was a culmination of declining doubt in Frazier’s heart that McNabb wasn’t the answer after all and that Ponder, although he may have been thrown into the lions in his first start, was readier than previously thought.

“You don’t want to be (in) Week 8 or 9 and flip-flopping quarterbacks,” he said to reporters in a press conference the day after he made the decision to bench McNabb and go with Ponder. “Once a decision is made, if we were to decide to go with Christian, you’d like to be able to say that this is the way to go. You don’t want to be, in my mind, going back and forth.”

In hindsight, we can now say Frazier was a man of his word in the benching respect. But, remember when he said the benching gave the team the best chance to win? Well, it hasn’t…yet. With McNabb under center, the Vikings went 1-4. With Ponder, they have gone 1-4. Still, there are games left to be played.

McNabb has 24 hours to clear waivers until teams can put a claim on him. According to La Canfora, McNabb, whose salary with the Vikings this year was $5 million, will cost $1.5 million for the rest of the season for the team that claims him.

Reports say that the most sensible destination for him would be his hometown Chicago Bears, who, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, holds the 24^th waiver claim. The Bears currently have backup Caleb Hanie under center after starter Jay Cutler had season-ending thumb surgery and could use McNabb to bolster their chances of getting into the playoffs.

McNabb has played in five NFC Championship Games and started a Super Bowl for the Philadelphia Eagles. He ended this season with 1,026 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions with a quarterback rating of 82.9.

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Nov 29, 2011 – For a long time, high-quality special teams play has been a cornerstone of Chicago Bears football, but today the Chicago Bears decided to waive linebacker and special teams specialist Brian Iwuh. Iwuh, a sixth-year linebacker out of Colorado, is currently the team’s leader in special teams tackles.

Iwuh suffered a minor hamstring injury while playing with Chicago against the Oakland Raiders last week, but it wasn’t expected to keep him off the field for long. At this point, it’s not entirely clear why the Bears decided to waive Iwuh from their roster during his second season with the team. According to this report from ESPN Chicago, sources told Michael C. Wright that the team had actually been considering a contract extension for Iwuh as recently as last week.

Before joining the Bears last year, Iwuh had spent four years playing with the Jacksonville Jaguars in a similar role.

For more, keep tabs on SB Nation Chicago, and check out Windy City Gridiron, SB Nation’s Chicago Bears blog.

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The Oakland Raiders will battle it out with the Chicago Bears on Sunday, November 27, in front of another sold out crowd at O.co Coliseum. This game, of course, is an important one for the team to win, after the Raiders lost the last two at home against two AFC West rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Denver Broncos.

The Raiders have come alive in their last two games on the road, winning against both the San Diego Chargers and the Minnesota Vikings. Their road record is 4-1, at home they are 2-3. But that record may be a bit deceiving when it comes to the team today. Especially the loss against the Chiefs. As we know, backup quarterback, Kyle Boller(notes), played the first half of the game, and when Carson Palmer(notes) came in, he’d only been in Oakland for a few days. I read an article written by a Bears’ fan this morning and one of the reasons he believes Chicago will win against Oakland, is because of their four touchdown loss to Kansas City, but he says nothing of the circumstances behind that loss.

During the last two games, we’ve really seen the team come together, and Palmer has quickly become the leader the Raiders need. It’s doubtful that we’ll see either the injured Darren McFadden(notes) or Jacoby Ford(notes) in the game, but I don’t think it’s going to matter. In the game against the Vikings, Palmer connected with seven different players, and he’ll find a way to do it again this Sunday.

Also of note, the Raiders have 19 runs of at least 20 yards this season, most in the NFL. Michael Bush(notes) will likely add a lot to those numbers against the Bears.

Once again, it’s going to be the Raiders’ defense that needs to be on fire in Oakland in order to stop the Bears, and keeping penalties down is also key. Fair or unfair, the Raiders will have to come in with confidence and power through to keep that momentum going. Things have often been unfair when it comes to officiating games involving the Silver and Black, but what matters in the end is whether they’re able to turn the battle into a win or a loss, and we really need the win this Sunday.

In the game against Minnesota, veteran cornerback Lito Sheppard(notes) had six solo tackles and a sack, and safety Matt Giordano(notes) recorded his second interception in the last two games. Against the Bears’ quarterback, Caleb Hanie(notes), we should see that again this Sunday.

It may be a tough one, but this time I believe the fans will be rewarded by a Raiders victory at home. On Monday morning, we should be looking at a 7-4 record and one game closer to winning the AFC West in 2011.

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan from the time she could walk. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett . Follow her at www.facebook.com/KCDermodyWriter or on Twitter @kcdermody.

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Oakland Raiders Defeat the Minnesota Vikings, 27-21: Fan Reaction

Passion Returns to Aaron Curry with Raiders as it Often Has in the Past: Fan’s Look

Three of the Greatest Oakland Raiders Who Haven’t Been Inducted into the Hall of Fame: Fan’s Take

Oakland Raiders Fan: Fans Against Violence Taking Back the Stands for All Sports

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Now that shock has settled for Chicago Bears nation from the loss of Jay Cutler(notes), we can start to look around with a clearer head. That clairvoyance should bring us to the following conclusion: the Bears might actually survive this major setback. Not only might they survive it, they’ll continue to thrive.

Jay Cutler is a strong quarterback. I will attest to being a fan of his during his entire Bears tenure. Yes, the entire time. All the talk that came out about him after his exit during the NFC Championship game was totally ludicrous. I’ll stay on topic, though. I don’t mean to suggest that the Bears can simply insert another quarterback —Caleb Hanie(notes) in this case—and not miss a beat. No, I would imagine there will be adjusting going on, but I don’t think it will overly affect the win-loss column for Chicago.

Firstly, the Bears are suddenly a genuinely well-rounded team—and have been for the last month plus. They run the ball, they can pass, have tremendous special teams, and can play good, sometimes great, defense. Jay Cutler is important to this team, but he’s far from the only important piece.

Second, Caleb Hanie has given us a reason to not despair. Not only will he not be the end-all-be-all of the offense, but he’s already shown capable ability to run an offense. He’s always been a player that you wouldn’t ever consider starting over Jay Cutler, but has shown enough promise that you’d be lying to say you weren’t at least a little curious to see what he can do. We’re about to see.

Lastly, the Bears have a major schedule advantage the last handful of weeks. They have Oakland, Denver, Kansas City, Seattle, Green Bay, and Minnesota remaining on the schedule. The Bears have enough talent outside of Jay Cutler that they should still be in firm control of their own destiny against the mentioned batch of teams.

Jay Cutler will be missed. I don’t doubt that. But with the rest of the team playing well, Hanie’s role can be crafted to the Bears liking. If that’s the case, I think the wins will take care of themselves.

Brian is a lifelong Chicago Bears fan, having lived in Illinois his entire life and having followed the National Football League throughout.

Sources

Cutler Out 6 to 8 weeks.

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CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears reeled off five consecutive wins in 2010 from Nov. 7 through Dec. 5, and reached their fifth straight victory of the 2011 season Sunday with a 31-20 trouncing of the San Diego Chargers.

The question now is how long can the current streak with three more games against the struggling AFC West on the horizon?

The Bears have forced nine turnovers in their last two outings — six against the Lions and three against the Chargers — and are now 4-1 on the season when they finish on the positive side of the turnover margin, and 10-1 the past two seasons under those conditions.

Talk about playing Chicago Bears football.

Let’s take a closer look:

What it means: The Bears didn’t gain or lose ground in their attempt to move up in the NFC North standings. More than anything, the triumph over the Chargers maintains the momentum built up by the team as it goes into the second of four consecutive outings against the AFC West; a division that had a combined 19-20 record coming out of Sunday’s games (the Kansas City Chiefs face the New England Patriots on Monday).

The Bears simply maintained their position as both the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions emerged victors in their respective games.

Hester adds to accolades: The Chargers kept Devin Hester out of the end zone, but the return man added to his long list of accomplishments with a 37-yard punt return in the second quarter. With that long return, Hester now has 31 returns of 25 yards or longer since coming into the league in 2006, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Hester’s 31 returns of 25 yards or longer is 15 more than any other player in the NFL.

Tight ends hurting Bears: Antonio Gates caught an 8-yard touchdown in the second quarter, marking the eighth touchdown given up by the Bears to a tight end. The eight TDs allowed by a tight end is the most of any team in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Interestingly, the Bears gave up just three touchdowns to tight ends last season, which was tied for the fewest in the NFL.

Three in a Roy: Having caught just three balls in the previous two games, receiver Roy Williams hauled in three consecutive completions from Jay Cutler for gains of 11, 11, and 12 yards during an eight-play drive in the third quarter that led to Bears taking a 24-17 lead on a 1-yard quarterback sneak.

Perhaps Williams was making up Sunday for a zero-catch performance in the team’s victory over the Lions.

Williams caught a season-high five passes for 62 yards, and appeared to be Cutler’s go-to receiver in crucial situations.

Coming into the game, Williams’ best performance had been a four-catch outing against the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 7.

Speaking of three in a row: Bears safety Major Wright notched his first career interception in the team’s 30-24 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 7. Since then, the second-year safety has picked off passes in each of the past two weeks.

Wright intercepted Rivers in the fourth quarter, and was flagged for a group demonstration in the end zone. A week before, in Chicago’s win over Detroit, Wright scored on a 24-yard INT return.

Windy City stripper: Bears cornerbackCharles Tillman struggled somewhat in pass coverage against Vincent Jackson, who finished the day with seven receptions for 165 yards and a touchdown.

Tillman atoned with heady play, leading to the cornerback notching the 27th forced fumble of his career. In notching his third forced fumble of this season, Tillman poked the ball out of the arms of Chargers running back Ryan Mathews, and recovered the loose ball at the San Diego 37 with 5:32 left in the third quarter.

Two plays later, the Bears turned that into a TD with a 24-yard scoring connection from Cutler to Johnny Knox.

Tillman’s 26 forced fumbles since 2003 ranked as the most by a defensive back coming into Sundya’s contest. Tillman has now played a role in 45 turnovers (28 interceptions and 27 forced fumbles) throughout his career.

What’s next: The Bears receive a day off on Monday before starting preparation for a road game next Sunday against the Oakland Raiders.

LAKE FOREST — Defensive end Julius Peppers has been spotted shifting to the inside a little more of late, throwing offenses off for brief stretches, while helping a struggling defense grow back into a weekly threat.

And as it turns out, the decision of when to slide in and change things up during a game has settled onto the broad shoulders of Peppers, not his coaches.

“Whenever he feels like it, he’s like: ‘Hey, let’s switch. Let me go inside this play.’ I just go, ‘OK’,” defensive tackle Anthony Adams said. “We’ve got a lot of unselfish players on this team. We work on it in practice, in walk-throughs. It’s not anything new, but he’s just making it work a little more nowadays.”

Peppers, who practiced Thursday for the first time in nearly a month, has battled a knee injury most of the season, but it hasn’t slowed him down. The six-time Pro Bowler and 10th-year pro now has six sacks, tied for 13th in the league. He has four of them during the team’s four-game win streak.

“You never know when it’s going to start working for you. You’ve just got to keep at it and they’ll come,” Peppers said after Thursday’s practice. “It’s no particular one thing that’s making it happen right now. We’re all working well together, and we’re making it work.”

In Sunday’s 37-13 win over Detroit, Peppers switched spots with the defensive tackle five times, four coming on third-down plays. He charged in for a sack on one, and had a quarterback pressure on another. He also finished with a forced fumble, a tackle for a loss and a pass defense.

“You can’t ever lose track of Julius Peppers,” Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford said.

San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers, the Bears’ next foe, knows that all too well. He has known all about Peppers since his college days.

“He’s a great player,” Rivers said. “Back in 2000, I faced him for the first time. It was N.C. State against North Carolina, and obviously he was a great player then.

“He’s obviously all over the field. Some of the plays you see him make … he rushes, rushes, rushes, and then he runs from one side of the field to the other to make a tackle for a 2-, 3-yard gain. He’s obviously a big impact player for them.”

And Rivers’ coach, Norv Turner, knows you have to account for Peppers on every play, whether he’s inside or out.

“I think they’re giving offenses a lot of different looks and problems with different fronts and the movement up there,” Turner said. “That defense is playing extremely fast, and you can tell they’re playing with great confidence.”

Chicago defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli stressed the fact that they do work on the shifts in practice while game-planning for a team. However, he also admitted he trusts Peppers to pick the right times on game day.

Not everybody is a big fan of the shifts up front. Bears down-lineman Henry Melton, who had the team’s other sack last week while playing inside, has had to adjust to life on the outside on occasion. A switch he insists is not easy to make.

“The only thing is I get pushed outside. It’s a whole ‘nother ballgame when I get to rush from the outside. I get tired, and he gets to go have fun in there,” Melton said with a smile. “I get chipped. I get all the blocks he’s supposed to get because they don’t think he’s going inside. I’m like: ‘Can I go back inside, please?’ ”

He usually gets to soon enough. But he never knows when Peppers is going to decide to change things up again. As long as it’s working, he’ll just have to deal with it.

“It’s OK,” Melton said. “Once the play gets going, there’s a lot of panic because all of a sudden, here’s this disruptive force, and he’s inside there.

“He just does what he’s supposed to be doing: Making plays to help this team win.”

Bears reporter Jay Taft can be reached at 815-987-1384 or jtaft@rrstar.com.

DETROIT –

The Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears 24-13 Oct. 10 at Ford Field.

If the Lions could march into Soldier Field Sunday and get a win it would be the first time the team has swept the Bears since 2007.

The 6-2 Lions have gone 1-2 since beating the Bears (5-3). Chicago has won three-straight since the meeting with Detroit.

A loss Sunday for the Lions would place them in a tie for second place in the NFC North Division behind the Green Bay Packers.

Detroit started with a hot 5-0 record before cooling down after the Bears game. A win Sunday would be the team’s 7th-straight win on the road.

Kickoff is 4:15 p.m.