“He gashed us on that play, and somehow I just had to make a play,’’ Woodyard said. “That’s what it’s all about, making plays at the end of the game.’’
That’s something the Broncos (8-5) have perfected.
Tebow drove the Broncos downfield and Matt Prater, whose 59-yard field goal with 3 seconds left in regulation tied it, booted a 51-yarder with 8:34 left in overtime to give Denver an improbable 13-10 win.
“If you believe,’’ Tebow said, “then unbelievable things can sometimes be possible.’’
Prater’s third straight walk-off field goal gave the Broncos their sixth consecutive win and moved them into sole possession of first place in the AFC West at 8-5, a game ahead of Oakland.
Tebow improved to 7-1 since taking over as the starter in Denver, and six of those wins have involved second-half comebacks, five of them necessitating fourth-quarter rallies, three of which went to overtime.
No other quarterback in NFL history has produced six fourth-quarter comebacks in his first 11 NFL starts.
Broncos coach John Fox said Tebow has “competitive greatness. He wants the ball in clutch time.’’
After failing to score on their first dozen possessions, the Broncos faced the possibility of their first home shutout in the team’s 52-year history. Instead, they erased a 10-0 deficit in the final 2:08 of regulation.
“I think we’re rewriting the book on `keep fighting,’’’ Fox said. “Our guys never blink. They remain positive. As bad as it looked today — we didn’t play well; we had some drops. But the guy who dropped a couple of passes caught the … touchdown. That’s kind of the M.O. on this bunch.’’
Tebow threw a 10-yard touchdown strike to Demaryius Thomas, who had three drops, and then got the ball back with 53 seconds left after Barber saved the Broncos precious time by going out of bounds when the Bears were trying to run out the clock.
Denver was out of timeouts after Thomas’ touchdown and had to try an onside kick, which the Broncos couldn’t recover. But on second down after the two-minute warning, Barber cut outside and was pushed out, stopping the clock.
“That’s usually something that never happens with a veteran running back,’’ Woodyard said. “It’s just like things go our way.’’
