The Bears defense held quarterback Tim Tebow to 3-for-16 passing for 45 yards and a rating of 13.5 through three quarters. Then Tebow went 15 for 20 in the fourth quarter, and combined with his work in overtime, Tebow was 18 for his final 24 passes for 191 yards and a TD.
He turned into a different guy at the end of the game, said defensive tackle Henry Melton. We shouldve raised our game and matched him.
Exact reasons for collapses are never easy but defensive coaches will be questioned after softening up their approach late in the game when Tebow, inaccurate to that point, was obviously in a primary pass mode.
Players acknowledged backing off a little. The scheme that was devised and worked when the Broncos were in a standard run-or-pass situation appeared to change in order to avoid creating possible avenues for Tebow to break plays with his feet against blitzes.
The front four, the basic foundation of the Lovie SmithRod Marinelli scheme, had four sacks of Tebow until the final seven minutes of the game.
We got in our Cover-2 there at end, linebacker Brian Urlacher said. They kind of went down the field and scored on us.
Tebowd
NFL
Tebows late-game rescue, his sixth in fourth quarters of his 11 NFL starts, left the Bears impressed. Sort of.
Hes a good running back, linebacker Urlacher said in what sounded like a snub of his quarterback performance.
Tebow didnt appreciate the disrespect.
Coming from a really good player, Tebow said with tongue firmly in cheek, that means a lot.
Duly noted
The Bears were 7-1 in overtimes games under Smith before Sunday.
Tebow was 13 for 17 for 130 yards and a touchdown over the Broncos final three possessions, all for points.