Bears Get Tebowed
By Benjy Lipsman in News on Dec 12, 2011 4:00PM
With a little over two minutes to play on Sunday, the Bears seemed poised to hand the Denver Broncos their first home shutout ever. Instead, the legend of Tim Tebow grew as he, along with kicker Matt Prater, led the Broncos to a 13-10 overtime win.
For a good while, it seemed as if the first team to score might just win the game. The teams played to a scoreless tie at halftime in a defensive battle. The Bears punted on all five of their first half possessions, while Denver only threatened once in the half. The Bears' Israel Idonije blocked a field goal attempt to keep the game scoreless. The other highlight of the first half was Charles Tillman's acrobatic interception of a Tebow pass. But the Bears were unable to take advantage of the turnover.
In the second half, the Bears broke through offensively. After a Devin Hester punt return gave the Bears the ball inside Broncos territory, a drive dominated by Marion Barber's running was capped by the running back's nine-yard TD run that gave the Bears a 7-0 lead midway through the third quarter. On their next possession, the Bears again moved the ball enough to get into field goal range — at least in the thin air of Denver. Robbie Gould boomed a 57-yard field goal, which set both a personal and team record. A 10-point fourth quarter lead seemed insurmountable, but Tebow again proved he could rally his team. After completing just three of his first 16 passes for 45 yards through three quarters, Tebow completed 15 of 21 passes in the fourth. Out of the shotgun, he connected on seven straight as he drove the Broncos downfield and hit Demaryius Thomas for a 10-yard TD that ended the Bears shutout hopes. All the Bears had to do was run out the clock to head back to Chicago with a much needed victory.
Instead, Barber made the first of his two catastrophic mistakes that cost the Bears the game. By running out of bounds on a carry and stopping the clock, the Bears had to punt the ball back to the Broncos. This gave them just enough time to move the ball and let kicker Matt Prater attempt a 59-yard field goal. Prater hit the field goal to send the game into an improbable overtime.
In OT, Barber failed the Bears again as he fumbled away the ball within Gould's field goal range. Denver moved the ball the other way and set up Prater for the 51-yard game winner. The Bears have now lost threee in a row, while Tebow leads his team to their sixth straight win; five of the six were come-from-behind victories.
Barber's epic gaffes are what will be remembered from Sunday's game, not the 108 yards he gained on the ground. Kahlil Bell chipped in 40 yards on 8 carries. Bell also led the team in receptions, catching five. Caleb Hanie threw for just 115 yards on 12-of-19 passing, for a 79.9 QB rating. Johnny Knox led the Bears in receiving yardage with 37 yards.
The defense did their part for most of the day, but the late prevent defense schemes only prevented a Bears victory. Since Jay Cutler went down, the Bears seem to be suffering from the Cubs' curse. Last week against the Chiefs, a fluke tipped ball on a Hail Mary ended up in the arms of a Kansas City receiver for a TD that was the difference in the game.. They also lost their running back Matt Forte to injury. Yesterday's implosion gives the Bears an 0-3 record with Caleb Hanie under center and puts the Bears this close to playoff eligibility.
After completing their tour of the AFC West, the Bears return to NFC action next Sunday against the 5-7 Seattle Seahawks at Soldier Field (Dec. 18, Noon; Fox 32 TV / WBBM 780AM and 105.9FM)