Broncos beat Bears 13-10 in overtime

DENVER — Wild wins are becoming routine for Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos, who flail away through most of four quarters before coming through in the clutch.

Matt Prater's 51-yard field goal 6 1/2 minutes into overtime gave the Broncos a 13-10 victory over the stunned Chicago Bears on Sunday. Prater's 59-yarder with 3 seconds left in regulation tied the score after Tebow led another rally.

"If you believe," Tebow said, "then unbelievable things can sometimes be possible."

It was Denver's sixth straight win and seventh in eight games since Tebow, dubbed the "Mile High Messiah," was promoted to starter. The Broncos have trailed in the second half in six of those victories.

This latest comeback put Denver in sole possession of first place in the AFC West after Oakland's 46-16 drubbing at Green Bay.

"Never say never," wide receiver Eric Decker said. "That's a great characteristic of this team. ... Again it wasn't pretty. But again in the fourth quarter, we found a way to make some plays. Matt Prater, man, the kid can boom it."

After failing to score on their first dozen possessions, the Broncos (8-5) erased a 10-0 deficit in the final 2:08 of regulation.

"I think we're rewriting the book on 'keep fighting,'" coach John 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 hit Demaryius Thomas with a 10-yard TD pass, then got the ball back with 53 seconds left after Marion 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.

The Bears would have to punt, and Tebow got the ball back at his 20 and went to work, not needing to go far with Prater's strong leg in the thin air.

He drove the Broncos 39 yards for Prater's kick, which he rocketed through the uprights.

"We missed the onside kick. Then, all of a sudden, Barber goes out of bounds and gives us a chance," Champ Bailey marveled. "We knew right then we still had a fighting chance. If you give our offense a chance in the end, good things might happen."

The Bears (7-6) won the toss in overtime and quickly got into field goal range before Barber, who rushed for 108 yards but will be remembered for his two late mistakes, coughed up the football at the Broncos 34, and Elvis Dumervil recovered.

Barber had already broken through the first line of defense for the first down when linebacker Wesley Woodyard reached out and grabbed his right arm, popping the ball loose.

"It's crazy," Bailey said. "He has a free lane to run. All of a sudden, somebody snatches the ball out. Wow! We made a play when we had to. We hadn't had a turnover all day."

All of a sudden, it was Tebow Time. Again.

"It's not Tebow Time," the quarterback retorted. "It's Broncos Time."

While Tebow was leading the Broncos on their game-winning drive, Barber looked despondent, and quarterback Caleb Hanie comforted him.

"He was making a tough run, trying to get extra yards," Hanie said. "It's unfortunate. You want to stay in right there but that didn't lose the game for us. We lost it by not generating more points."

Barber, who hasn't talked to reporters since training camp, avoided the media after the game.