Game 40: Bears 27, Broncos 17

Denver starts with the ball at their 28, with Kyle Orton at QB, of course, hopefully throwing all passes with his right hand tonight. Correll Buckhalter starts at tailback. Orton loudly audibles "TOLEDO!" which is apparently a dumpoff to Peyton Hillis. Good for 12. They started the game 1st-20 after a holding penalty, so it's 2nd-and-8. Eddie Royal converts that, but Hochuli pulls the Broncos over again. Al Michaels mispronounces "Tinoisamoa" on the play as well. 2nd-13 at the 24. 6 to Royal on the sideline. 3rd-down pass is way high and way behind the receiver and nearly intercepted by Urlacher on his deep drop. Cris Maddenworth says Buckhalter broke instead of sitting down, so I'll believe him. The punt appears to roll twice as far as it flew and bounds down to the 12.

My, isn't that a warm reception for Jay Cutler. Smoke route to Hester gets 4. Do Chris Draft and Gary Gibson develop asthma from smoke routes? Matt Forte picks his way up the middle for 4. This is the hardest Cutler's going to get booed this year, outside of Chicago. Desmond Clark drops the third-down pass to summon Brother Maynard.

Broncos at their 29. Looked like a drop by Royal on 1st down. Pitch left to Buckhalter for 8, but Lance Briggs and PISA stop him short over the right side. Heeeeeeeeere's Punty! Hester idiotically makes a fair catch inside the 5 after backing up 10 yards. Their field position will be even worse than that thanks to a block in the back.

Here's where Jay Cutler really wanted to be: backed up at his own 3-yard line. Elvis Dumervil SMOKES Orlando Pace and nearly sacks Cutler for a safety on 2nd down. 3rd-and-8. The right side of the Bear line gets into huge trouble on 3rd down and Cutler's nearly pick-sixed. Lotsa luck tonight, Cutler. Punt only gets to the Bear 44. Isn't the air supposed to be thinner in Denver?

Play-action to Royal over the middle, who gets down to the 19 after Trumaine McBride blows the tackle. Michaels pronounces "Tinoisamoa" correctly this time, as Pisa does make the tackle. Poor shotgun snap messes up the timing of a quick hitch to Royal on 2nd down and leaves 3rd-and-4. And Royal just screwed up everybody's FFL drafts this week by going to the sideline carrying himself like his shoulder's injured. Fade pass to Tony Scheffler in the end zone is too deep and sends Matt Prater in for a 31-yard FG, which he hits.

Denver 3, Chicago 0.

Bears will try to counterpunch from their 20 this time. Forte gets the pass out of the backfield for 5. Nice hole on the right side for 7 and the first. Quick slant to Greg Olson for 10. Forte tripped up for 1 at the 42, I think by Andra Davis. Flare to Hester beats a blitz for 8.99. Third down and 0.01. Bears call timeout with 2:22 left in the quarter.

Third and inches, Cutler rolls right and JUST lobs it over D.J. Williams' hand to Clark for a huge gain. 25 yards. The Bears go HALFBACK OPTION next with Forte, who very smartly throws it away without finding anyone open. Forte's stuffed up the middle. 3rd-9 at the Bronco 24. Cutler has to dump to Forte to save a sack by Dumervil tearing by Pace AGAIN, but it's nowhere close to the first. Robbie Gould from 40 to tie the game. Pace looks REALLY rough tonight. He can't handle Dumervil and his speed AT ALL.

Chicago 3, Denver 3.

One more play left in the 1st quarter, Broncos at the 22. Royal is apparently OK. Flare to Scheffler beating Urlacher gets 8.

End of first quarter: Chicago 3, Denver 3.

Buckhalter blasts off left tackle for 11, but it's coming back for a hold on Ryan Clady. 2nd-12. Reverse to Royal loses a bunch, even with Orton doing his best to throw a block. Anthony Adams blew the play up and got the tackle. 3rd-18 at the 14. About 7 to Stokley, and more punting will ensue. Denver punts away from Hester and the Bears will resume at their 33.

Cutler underthrows Garrett Wolfe with Brian Dawkins blitzing at him on 3rd down for another uninspiring Bears 3-and-out. Great kick by Maynard this time, would have died out at the 3 even without being touched down. Denver'll have to start at their 2 after a penalty.

The natural thing to do down here is pound away with Hillis, so Denver does for a couple, but then they play-action to Buckhalter and throw to Hillis for 8 and a first. He beat Pisa but was injured on the play. The Bears stuff Buckhalter for -2 the next play. Orton hits Royal in a crowd in the middle for 6. 3rd-6, strong pressure right up the middle by Briggs helps Mark Anderson get a sack. 3... 2... 1... punt off.

The IDIOTS punt right to Hester, who takes it at his 43, makes one cut and blazes up the far sideline and gets all the way inside the 5. First and goal, Cutler.

Forte gets down to the 1 on a cutback. Looked like he would score but Andra Davis fired in at the last second. Forte jumps in on the second try.

If Josh McDaniels and his coaching staff aren't smart enough not to punt DIRECTLY to Devin Hester, then they should all be fired at halftime.

Chicago 10, Denver 3.

Hillis is Dumervil is spotting Pace 77 pounds in that matchup, btw. Olson makes an impressive over-the-head catch at the Bronco 48 at the 2:00 warning.

Not so fast, McDaniels challenges the catch, but the call stands after a LENGTHY review. Heartbreak Hill arriving early tonight as the Ed Hochuli-led crew has officially thrown their MILLIONTH flag of the night. Offsetting penalties, Denver timeout, this half should probably end in time for the regular season to start, but I can't be sure. Nice blitz pickup by Forte gives Cutler time to go deep to
Devin Aromashadu at the goal line but Goodman gets back to break up the pass. Cutler drills to Hester down to the Bronco 28 for another first. 0:45 left. A late hit on Cutler by Dumervil gets Chicago down to the 14. Cutler has clearly been watching soccer - he took a freaking dive there. Dumervil didn't hit him that hard. About 8 to Bennett at the 6, where Chicago uses its last TO. Incomplete for Bennett at the 2. Third and 2, Cutler does a nice job keeping his feet moving in the pocket and hits Forte at the goal line for the TD with :13 left. I have no idea what the booth is reviewing. I guess they're not sure Forte controlled the ball. The TD should count, though. And it indeed does.

Sorry, Bronco fans, but Jay Cutler has won the first half tonight, and decisively.

Halftime score: Chicago 17, Denver 3.

Bears start the second half backed up at their 6 with a backfield of Caleb Hanie and Kevin Jones. That and 25 cents'll get you a three-and-out.

Tom Brandstater gets the call for the 2nd half at QB. Chris Simms is out injured. Hillis at tailback. Bears successfully mess up the timing of the smoke route to Royal - there's more smoke at "Mile High" tonight than a cigar bar - and force a punt that Britton Colquitt bounces on the sideline at the 2. 58 yard punt.

So here are the Bears backed up at their goal line AGAIN. This is like the eighth time tonight. Hanie hangs Brandon Rideau out to dry up the far sideline at the 26, and what would have been a nice overhead catch is DESTROYED by Brian Dawkins. My kingdom for a punter. Broncos return the punt to midfield but are of course flagged for an illegal block. Who wants to bet they 3-and-out, then pin the Bears inside the 10 with the punt again? This game is in an endless loop!

False start has Denver at the 34 instead of midfield, but Buckhalter - good to see he's ok - bolts around left end for 21, then Hillis shows some shake and bake and gets down to the 28 with a 17-yard run. Solid blocks by Daniel Graham on both plays. Chad Jackson also got a nice block on Buckhalter's run. If you've seen Brandstater pass, you know why Denver's doing nothing but running here, but Chicago's not stopping it. What I believe is Clady's third penalty of the night sets Denver back 10; 2nd-16 from the Chicago 34. Nice pass to Buckhalter in the flat for 5. He's taken down a mile out of bounds by Briggs, but Hochuli gets Alex Brown for roughing the passer instead. First down Denver at the 16. The Bears stiffen and bat down a rollout pass and shut down a Buckhalter run. Brandstater audibles "OMAHA!" which must be a change to a fade up the sideline and he hits Brandon Lloyd inside the 1. Lloyd gets his helmet torn off and somehow there's no penalty. The Bears stuff the first run but Hillis is in over left tackle the second time around.

Chicago 17, Denver 10.

Bears get incredible field position to start the ensuing drive. Their 20. That's too much prosperity for Chicago, so they false start and move back to the 15. 3-and-out after a drop by Derek Kinder.

Broncos continue to dominate the field position battle, starting this drive at their 44. It's still Buckhalter for the Broncos. Where's Knowshown Moreno? Brandstater makes a nice play to stay alive in the pocket on 2nd down, but a bad throw, high and through Royal's hands to Chicago for an INT. I think it was Briggs. No one's saying so FREAKING ANDREA KREMER can do a FREAKING SIDELINE INTERVIEW with Cutler. Bears take over at midfield. And it was Marcus Freeman with the INT, not Briggs.

After a Hanie no-gain scramble, Wolfe gets 5-6 off right tackle. Denver's all over the third-down flare to Wolfe and the Bears have to punt yet again. Hanie's getting about as far tonight as Jessica Simpson at the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.

Brandstater, by contrast, is looking a lot better than his previous preseason outings, hitting Richard Quinn across midfield off a rollout to get the Denver offense rolling.

End of third quarter: Chicago 17, Denver 10.

Brandstater hits Kenny McKinley on the sideline for another first down. A personal foul we never see because they're doing a puff interview with worthless piece of shit Rodney Harrison puts Denver at the 19. Denver challenges an incomplete pass call, but McKinley's foot is ruled out of bounds correctly. Brandstater and Darius Walker then blow the next handoff and Matt Toeaina flops on it for Chicago. Can we stop the interview with the worthless piece of shit now and GET BACK TO THE GAME????????

From the 21, Not That Adrian Peterson up the middle for 7-8. Oh good, we're still fucking interviewing Harrison. Nic Clemons hauls Peterson down for a loss. Broncos blitz big on 3rd-and-3, but Hanie hangs in there and hits Johnnie Knox beautifully down the near sideline for 40+ yards. 1st-10 at the Denver 29. Peterson gets a huge hole off the right side for 17 down to the 12. Peterson weaves through the middle for a TD the next play. Bears were just knocking the Broncos all over the place that drive.

Still 10:50 left.

Chicago 24, Denver 10.

Broncos finally get bad field position after, guess, what, a penalty on the kick return. Screen to Walker for no gain at the 12. Nice pass to McKinley gets them out to the 32. The connection goes deep to the Bear 14 after Brandstater steps up from what appeared to be an imminent sack. And death. Walker bolts down to the 3 on two carries, but the Bears stuff him twice at the 1 to force third down. But Walker hurdles a tackle in the backfield and zips around the left corner for the score.

Chicago 24, Denver 17.

Fucking worthless Firefox ate what I had posted originally for the last 5:00 of the game. In summary, Brent Basanez actually looked competent enough to shake the title of Worst Player of the Preseason, hitting Juaquin Iglesias up the sideline with a nice 25-yard pass and hitting Michael Gaines all alone inside the Denver 30 with another long pass. Not That Adrian Peterson pretty much ground out the rest of the clock and Denver's timeouts.

MVP: Sorry, Denver fans, but it's Jay Cutler, 15-21-144 in a half of play in front of the most hostile audience of his career, the showpiece of which was a 98-yard TD drive that put the Bears ahead to stay.

What did we learn: Cutler showed a lot of mental toughness tonight that many, certainly including me, wondered if he even had. The big question on the Bears offense now, unfortunately, is Orlando Pace, who did nothing but struggle tonight at LT. That may cause trouble for Cutler down the line. I didn't cover it real well here, but Chicago's secondary also looks highly questionable. I don't know what's going on in Denver - it all looks chaotic to me. Is Buckhalter really the main RB there? Where's Moreno? Is the offense planning to operate with or without Brandon Marshall? Were Clady and Harris just off tonight, or what was with all the penalties? The good news is that Dumervil arrived as a marquee pass rusher, and their secondary, though a little long in the tooth, looks like it'll be just fine with Bailey, Dawkins and Goodman.

Up next: Odds are very good that I'm jumping ahead to game 50, the epic Governor's Cup matchup Thursday night between the Rams and Chiefs. When/if I start to fill in the blanks of the halves of Weeks 1-3 I'm missing, it'll go up on the main page at RamView.