For the game, Denver ran 71 plays (including penalties) and 58 were from under center (81.7 percent), showcasing what has been Kubiak’s entire schematic philosophy since 1985.
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By improving to 8-2, the Broncos can stop checking the rearview mirror to see if Kansas City or Oakland is gaining on them in the race for the AFC West title.
Asked about the Bears’ defensive failures after the game, Shea McClellin had this curious response.
“They are a good team but we let it get away from us”, quarterback Jay Cutler said. In the games that we’ve won, we figured out a way to do that. You can put this one in the same box as those.
“He started out great”, JJ Mueller said.
Actually, it sometimes happens to the Bears, but I’m hard-pressed to remember the last time it happened to Denver or any other playoff teams. “I fully recognize that he might be the greatest quarterback to ever play, if not one of the greatest”. Trailing 17-9 at the time, the Bears were going to need to go for the two-point conversion anyway, so why not take the easy three points instead of trying two more hard plays against the league’s top defense?
“I’m not going to lie, I’ve pondered it a little bit”, leading tackler Brandon Marshall said. Jeremy Langford had only 25 yards on 13 carries.
GETTING HEALTHY: The Bears got a few starters back. This will also be first meaningful game against Denver for Jay Cutler since he was traded to Chicago in 2009. “It had been kind of a field-goal game and at that point in the game we felt that that was going to be maybe our last opportunity, so we were aggressive and came up short on fourth-and-four”.
And that’s where poor execution let the Bears down. Counter to what’s trending now in the pass-happy NFL, the Broncos ran the football on more than 50 percent of their offensive snaps. Do we miss DeMarcus Ware that much or have teams just started to figure us out?
The Broncos are slated to host Tom Brady and the Patriots next week while the Bears will head to Green Bay to visit the rival Packers.
At first glance, it looked like tight end Martellus Bennett didn’t get the check because he was lined up against Ward and ran a route to the outside. But the Broncos were ready for the run on the conversion attempt and stopped Langford to secure a narrow victory.
“Broncos O-line is a mess”, Anderson commented. Manning was always able to overcome his physical limitations by being the smartest football player on the field, so you can hardly blame anyone for believing that he would once again pull a rabbit out of the hat. He feels that running various zone runs, inside and out, and coupling it with play-action is the way to not only get receivers open, but limit mistakes a quarterback can make. More than anything, it actually came at a very convenient time for the team.
“Any time you can start the game like we did on the first drive is huge”, Osweiler said. Panic was in the air after he missed his two field goal tries on Monday Night Football two weeks ago, but clearly, there is nothing to worry about now. And you didn’t think John Fox or Adam Gase would have much positive influence on the always talented, sometimes enigmatic, strong-armed Chicago Bears and former Broncos quarterback.
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The Bears then drove to the Denver 19, with Gould kicking a 37-yard field goal to cut it to 10-9 with 49 seconds left in the quarter.
