The Denver Broncos ‘are still not doing well,’ but they found hope

CHICAGO — The Denver Broncos spent two-thirds of Sunday’s game looking like the worst team in the NFL. The Chicago Bears spent the same part of the afternoon looking like a Great Lakes version of the Kansas City Chiefs, right down to a dynamic dual-threat quarterback playing with laser precision.

Then the roles reversed.

And the Broncos’ 20 minutes of dominance proved greater than the Bears’ 40 minutes of control.

With 24 unanswered points to surge back to a 31-28 win over the reeling Bears, the Broncos saved their season. Or, more accurately, they gave themselves a chance to do that in the next few weeks.

To use a Star Trek quote, they “turned death into a fighting chance to live.”

But there isn’t a game that they can Sharpie into the “W” column. Not when they had to scramble to defeat a team that now has a 14-game losing streak. A team that had not even come within single digits of an opponent since before last Christmas prior to Sunday.

Of course, a fortnight earlier, the Broncos played 20 good minutes, too. Washington’s 40 good minutes that followed were enough for the Commanders to snatch a comeback win of their own. So, that in and of itself is a sign of progress.

Still, for 40 minutes, the Denver Broncos turned Justin Fields into Patrick Mahomes. One week after they turned Tua Tagovailoa into Joe Montana.

The Broncos overcame that. They showed that they just might know how to win. Rookies and second-year players such as Marvin Mims Jr., Nik Bonitto, Jaleel McLaughlin, Delarrin Turner-Yell and Brandon Johnson didn’t just play bit roles, they were primary reasons why the Broncos rallied.

And Russell Wilson … well, he looks like Russell Wilson again. And there appear to be plenty of signs that last year’s career-worst season was a product of poor offensive strategy, tactics and preparation above all.

But the Broncos dug the 28-7 hole in the first place. Against a Chicago side that is an abject disaster.

“You know, I don’t want to sugarcoat anything,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said. “… We’re going to play a lot better teams on our schedule, and no disrespect to Chicago and Matt [Eberflus], what they’re trying to do …

“But I think the win was important for the group.”

This doesn’t solve all the problems, & the Bears are indeed awful, but there are some reasons to feel good about the offense, young players & the fourth-quarter defense.

My postgame wrap from #DENvsCHI, brought to you by Matheu’s Fine Watches & Jewelry:

pic.twitter.com/aFGao7DMwY

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 1, 2023

THERE IS STILL A BELIEF WITHIN THE DENVER BRONCOS

And that provides as good an explanation as any as to why, when the Broncos flashed and built some momentum, the game turned.

Bit by bit. It started with a well-conceived, 75-play drive on which rookie Jaleel McLaughlin contributed 45 yards on three carries, moving up from the understudy role after Javonte Williams succumbed to injury. And then it followed with a Delarrin Turner-Yell pass breakup that got the defense off the field in a hurry.

“That was big,” safety Kareem Jackson said. “… I think he played some good ball today. He tackled well. He communicated well.”

And after Turner-Yell got the Bears offense off the field, Wilson and company took the field. And as right tackle Mike McGlinchey shared after the game, Wilson had a clear message, sensing the discomfort emanating through the Bears and their home fans.

The Bears, after all, are not used to winning. Not recently, anyway.

Wilson took note of the atmosphere and spoke to his teammates.

“They can feel that we’re gonna win this game,” Wilson said, as McGlinchey noted after the game.

“Pretty cool,” McGlinchey said, smiling.

Wilson now has more touchdown passes through four games this year than he did last season in his first 11 games. Even after a shattered season, his confidence is unbroken.

“It’s all about focusing on one play at a time, and being cool, calm and collected, and I would say that’s what Russ does in those moments,” right guard Quinn Meinerz said. “Not only him, but all of us together.

“It’s on all of us in those situations to have poise. And so, we all lean on each other in there in that huddle as we’re getting ready for that play.”

THAT BEING SAID …

Make no mistake, the Chicago Bears are a poor NFL team. They have a 14-game losing streak. Just coming close to victory is a rare moment. And with the chance to give their fans a rare treat, they frittered it away, first with curiously cautious play-calling late in the first half when they had the Broncos defense gasping for its breath, and then with penalties and poor decisions in the final quarter.

To the Broncos’ credit, they forced the Bears’ biggest miscue of all — when Bonitto burst through, separated Fields from the football, and set Jonathon Cooper up for an easy touchdown.

But miscues nearly sunk the Broncos. Denver’s offensive line committed five false-start penalties. McGlinchey had two, and among the Broncos’ starting offensive line, only Ben Powers was unscathed. Defenders were left grasping. Even Mims, usually a beacon of hope, muffed a kickoff.

The Broncos trudged to the locker room at halftime down 21-7 and seemingly crushed by the weight of nine quarters of struggle — much of it on them.

“I think it was a little bit of a wake-up call,” McGlinchey said. ” I think we understood the position that we put ourselves in was because of a lot of self-inflicted wounds.

“Offensively, the penalties and the operation have to be better, myself included. We stall drives. We kill drives. We don’t give ourselves to move the football because of not locking into what we need to do. You can’t take anything for granted in the whole operation, whether it’s the play call, getting in and out of the huddle, communications, the cadence, anything that it is. We have to be better. I’m just thankful that we were able to overcome it and put some points on the board in the second half.”

Eventually, it looked the way it should look.

But 40 minutes of bad football against the NFL’s worst team? That’s going to leave plenty to discuss Monday, even after a win.

“I told the players afterwards, ‘Look, there are a lot of things that we’re going to have to clean up,” Payton said.

“We are still not doing well.”

But they have a win.

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