CHICAGO — At long last, Vance Joseph’s defense showed up in the Second City and made a statement.
This Chicago team is bad. Its offense has been bad. But it was rolling along just fine against the Broncos defense as it scored four touchdowns in five possessions after an opening punt.
Then the script flipped.
The Broncos reeled off the game’s final 24 points thanks to Russell Wilson and the offense, sure, but also thanks to Joseph’s defense. A scoop-and-score fumble return for Jonathon Cooper tied the game. A fourth-down stop with 2 minutes, 52 seconds to go prevented the Bears from running the clock down and kicking a go-ahead field goal — although they could have opted for that on fourth-and-1. Then veteran safety Kareem Jackson intercepted Justin Fields in the final minute to put the game on ice.
“Nobody giving up, nobody saying ‘might’ or ‘maybe.’ We knew we was going to win,” said defensive lineman DJ Jones, who logged a late sack against Fields.
That put in the rearview mirror one of the ugliest stretches of defense in franchise history. When Fields hit running back Khalil Herbert for his fourth touchdown pass of the day at the 4:18 mark of the third quarter, Denver had given up 18 touchdowns and a field goal over a 25-possession span starting with the second quarter of their Week 2 loss to Washington.
In all, they gave up 130 points to the Commanders, Dolphins and Bears in a little more than 137 minutes of game time.
Then they generated four stops in a row against Chicago.
“They hung in there and they fought when it would have been real easy not to,” head coach Sean Payton said.
Simmons out. Broncos safety Justin Simmons missed his second straight game with a groin/hip injury. In his place Sunday against the Bears, second-year man Delarrin Turner-Yell made his second straight start.
Simmons missed much of training camp with a groin strain but played the first two games of the season. Since then, though, he’s missed consecutive games. He spent Wednesday and Thursday as a limited participant in practice but then didn’t practice Friday, casting doubt on his status.
Denver’s other inactives included the trio of veterans ruled out Friday due to injury: OLB Frank Clark (groin/hip), ILB Josey Jewell (groin/hip) and DL Mike Purcell (ribs) in addition to OLB Ronnie Perkins and rookie S JL Skinner and OL Alex Forsyth.
Williams hurt. Broncos running back Javonte Williams left the game in the second quarter with a hip injury and did not return.
Williams, who spent the offseason rehabilitating from a major knee injury suffered in early October last year, had two carries for no yards and three catches for nine before getting hurt.
Most of the work after he left went to undrafted rookie running back Jaleel McLaughlin.
McLaughlin finished with 104 total yards and a touchdown on 10 touches, including 72 rushing yards on seven carries.
False starts. The Broncos offensive line combined for five false start penalties against the Bears.
Right tackle Mike McGlinchey had two and now has flinched four times in the past three games. Center Lloyd Cushenberry, right guard Quinn Meinerz and left tackle Garett Bolles each picked up flags on Sunday, too.
“We’ve got to clean up the penalties. That’s driving me crazy,” Payton said, pointing specifically to a false start on McGlinchey that came on third-and-1. “To go from third-and-1 to third-and-6 is nuts. Even when you get a defense shifting and trying to throw you off, our discipline needs to be better.”
Added Meinerz, “That’s something that’s unacceptable and it’s something we have to clean up right away. Before the ball’s snapped, you’re going backward, which is unacceptable. In this league it’s already hard enough to get first downs.”
Lineup changes. Turner-Yell stayed in the starting lineup, but the Broncos shifted a couple of other jobs around. Second-year OLB Nik Bonitto replaced Randy Gregory in the starting lineup opposite Jonathon Cooper and logged a sack on Denver’s first defensive series.
Second-year defensive back Ja’Quan McMillian replaced Essang Bassey as the top nickel and veteran Fabian Moreau was in as Denver’s dime back.
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