CHICAGO—Devin Hester delivered two long touchdown returns. Bernard Berrian provided some theatrics of his own, with a spectacular grab in the end zone.
And Robbie Gould finished off the comeback with a 39-yard field goal in overtime that lifted the Chicago Bears to a 37-34 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
So the defending NFC champions (5-6) aren’t ready to bow out of the playoff race, afterall. And if they beat the New York Giants next week, quarterback Rex Grossman figures they’ll be right in the middle of it.
“Being 6-6 in this conference is pretty much right in the thick of things,” Grossman said. “That’s what our goal is.”
The Bears will have to do something they haven’t done all season to get there: win a second straight game. Getting this victory certainly wasn’t easy.
Denver (5-6) was up 34-20 early in the fourth quarter after an acrobatic 14-yard touchdown catch by Tony Scheffler, but the Bears weren’t finished.
Charles Tillman blocked a punt and Brandon McGowan recovered on the Broncos’ 18 to set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Adrian Peterson.
More drama followed.
With their playoff hopes perhaps hanging by a thread, the Bears tied it with 28 seconds left in regulation on a 3-yard catch by Berrian that figures to show up on highlight reels. Berrian spun away from Champ Bailey and lunged to catch the pass from Grossman on the right side of the end zone, his right foot dragging as his left knee hit the ground in bounds. The play was reviewed and the call on the field upheld.
The TD capped a 65-yard drive that Denver’s Dre Bly kept alive with an illegal contact on fourth down at the Chicago 36.
“Studying film, we knew he would kind of bite on the initial move, the first move and going back to the corner of the end zone I just think where he was at the way he bit, Rex couldn’t really get it over his shoulder,” Berrian said. “And I think he would have made a play on it. So Rex threw a back shoulder ball and just allowed me to make a play on it.”
The Bears managed to stay in the game despite inopportune penalties, a few breakdowns on defense and the loss of another key player to an injury—Cedric Benson. He left the game after injuring his left ankle in the second quarter.
They can thank Hester they were still in it. He returned five punts for 81 yards and five kickoffs for 151.
“I take it personal when a team says they are going to kick it to us,” he said. “They feel like they are kicking it to us because they feel we’re not good. We’re trying to make it to the playoffs. This is one step to get us in the hunt.”
And Hester’s feet led them in the right direction.
After fielding a punt at the 25 early in the third quarter and his team down 13-6, Hester turned up the left side, and leapfrogged two defenders on his way to the end zone. It was the ninth time the second-year pro took a kick all the way, breaking Gale Sayers’ club record, and his sixth career punt return for a TD.
Still, he wasn’t finished.
Cecil Sapp had just scored on a 5-yard run to give the Broncos a 20-13 lead with 2:38 left in the third when Hester struck again.
This time, he did it on the kickoff.
Hester burst through the middle and ran it back 88 yards, sidestepping a lunging kicker Todd Sauerbrun. It was the fourth time he returned a kickoff for a touchdown in his career.
Denver had a quick answer on that one.
Jay Cutler immediately connected with Brandon Marshall, who beat Ricky Manning for a 68-yard touchdown that put the Broncos ahead 27-20 with 2:11 left in the quarter.
“Devin did an awesome job,” Sauerbrun said. “He won the game for the Bears. The Bears can thank him. It was our fault we let him loose.”
Cutler followed a solid performance in Monday’s 14-point win over Tennessee with another good outing. He completed 17 of 31 passes for 302 yards. He had two touchdowns and one interception.
Grossman was 17-of-33 with 193 yards with a touchdown and an interception in his first appearance at Soldier Field since a meltdown against Dallas in the third game that led to his benching.
Notes:@ There was no immediate update on Benson’s injury. … Bears CB Nathan Vasher missed his eighth straight game with a groin injury.
