DENVER BUSTED BY BEARS, 27-17

September 8th, 2010: The Chicago Bears rallied for the final ten points of
the game to break a 17-17 fourth quarter tie and beat the Denver Broncos,
27-17. The Bears remain undefeated at 3-0, while the Broncos fall to 0-3 on
the season and now have an 11-game losing streak dating back to the middle of
last season. 

Chicago drove from their own 36 to score the go-ahead touchdown and break the
17-17 tie with just under eight minutes remaining in the contest. The drive
featured Kyle Orton completing five of six passes to four different receivers
for 46 yards and the score on an 11-yard screen pass to Maurice Jones-Drew.
Jones-Drew also rushed four times for 18 yards on the go-ahead march.  

On the Broncos next possession, a pass thrown by Josh Freeman on third and
two was batted back to him and he caught it, but was stripped of the ball and
Chicago recovered when Freeman tried to advance beyond his own 31-yard line.
The Bears picked up two first downs but a sack of Orton by Denver defensive
tackle Tony Brown stymied the possession and forced the Bears to settle for
the field goal of 35 yards by Nate Kaeding to forge the final score. 

The Broncos stayed in the game with smoke and mirrors - and four
interceptions of Orton by four different players. The first three picks all
came in the first quarter and helped the Broncos jump out to a 10-0 lead. The
first pick, by rookie cornerback Cary Harris, ended a nine-play Bear drive on
their first possession and, after Harris returned the pick 29 yards to the
Bear 21, set up the Broncos first offensive touchdown of the season.  

It took the Broncos only two plays to navigate those 21 yards as Lendale
White had his longest run of the year, picking up 11 yards off right tackle
to get to the ten yard line. Delanie Walker then took a misdirection play to
the right corner for the final ten yards and the touchdown.  

After a failed fourth-and-three attempt near midfield by the Bears was
stopped by Denver, the Broncos gave the ball right back when Chris Brown
fumbled it to Chicago after a four-yard run. But Orton threw his second pick,
this one to middle linebacker Will Witherspoon, who rambled 13 yards to the
Bronco 42. But the Broncos were unable to capitalize and had to punt it back
to the Bears, with the Jon Ryan punt being downed by Denver at the Bear
one-yard line. The Bears moved it to their own 30, but rookie safety Malcolm
Jenkins picked off Orton for the third time in the quarter, returning it to
the Bear 11 yard line.  

The Bears defense stiffened and the Broncos had to settle for a Crosby field
goal of 24 yards to give them a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter.  

After a Bears punt, Freeman threw his first pick of the contest and his third
of the year, as linebacker Jarret Johnson returned it to the Denver 41. It
only took the Bears three plays to score their first points of the game, with
Orton hitting Santonio Holmes for 25 yards on a long pass down the right
sideline over Tracy Porter for the touchdown to cut the Bronco lead to 10-7. 

After an exchange of punts, Josh Freeman threw his second pick of the
quarter, this time with safey Mike Brown doing the honors, and picking it off
and getting tackled at his own 48 yard line with just over four minutes
remaining in the half. The Bears moved crisply until they got wining field
goal range at the Bronco 25, where rookie defensive end B.J. Raji sacked
Orton to thwart the drive and force the tying field goal of 45 yards to leave
the game knotted at halftime at 10-10.  

The Broncos took the second half kickoff and moved the ball nicely, picking
up three first downs and moving from their own 26 to the Bear 23 before they
were stopped and forced to attempt the 40-yard field goal by Mason Crosby,
which was wide left.  

The Bears capitalized on the miss by moving for a touchdown to take their
first lead of the game, losing a 3rd-and-four challenge on a catch by Heath
Miller that the Bears thought was a trap, and the Bears got the TD a short
while later when Orton connected with Holmes from six yards out on a hitch
pass just inside the goal line.  

The Broncos got one first down in retaliation, but were forced to punt, and
after two Jones Drew runs picked up 13 yards to end the third quarter, the
Broncos tied the game up in a hurry on the first play of the fourth quarter,
when Dawan Landry picked off Orton at the Denver 46 and raced 54 yards for
the touchdown to leave the score 17-17. It was the fourth Denver interception
of Orton in the game, the sixth interception by the Denver defense in three
games, and their third touchdown of the season on interception returns.
Landry has picked off two passes, and has returned both for scores, running
one back 53 yards last week for a TD. By contrast, the Broncos offense has
only the one touchdown scored today, by Delanie Walker, in their first three
games. 

But the Broncos could not stop the Bears, and the next Chicago possession led
to the Bears taking the lead at 24-17, and eventually emerging with the win.  

Game Notes and a Look Ahead: Orton finished with a 62.2 rating, as he
completed 25 of 43 for 280 yards and three touchdowns. The four picks brought
the rating way down, of course. Josh Freeman, in his second start, regressed
and the Broncos may have to think about using Rex Grossman or Drew Stanton
next week. Freeman completed 13 of 22 for just 99 yards and was picked off
twice (32.2 rating). Jones-Drew was the leading rusher in the game with 72
yards on 18 carries (4.0), and added three receptions for 23 yards. Jamal
Lewis had 8-30 for the Bears on the ground, while Lendale White finished with
22 yards on eight carries to lead the Broncos in rushing. Jermichael Finley
caught three for 29 yards for Denver, while the Bears had four players who
exceeded that total, including Holmes, who lead Chicago with seven catches
for 87 yards and two TDs. The Broncos Witherspoon had 12 tackles, and two
stuffs, while Lance Briggs led the Bears with seven tackles. The Broncos next
week play their third road game in four tries with a visit to Indianapolis to
face the 1-1 (as of this writing) Colts, while the Bears play their second
straight home game when they host the 2-1 Giants in Chicago.