DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 15, 2019: Broncos fans celebrate while Bears fans hide after wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders #10 of the Denver Broncos scores a touchdown during the fourth quarter of the game on Sunday, September 15th at Empower Field at Mile High. The Denver Broncos hosted the Chicago Bears for the game. (Photo by Eric Lutzens/The Denver Post)
The Bears started the season with Super Bowl dreams. Their miraculous last-second victory against the Broncos keeps those hopes alive.
Matt Nagy’s team rode their turnover luck to a NFC Title in 2018, but it looked as if the Bears had lost their luck late in their Week 2 match up against the Broncos. In a great twist of irony, kicker Eddy Pineiro turned disaster into exultation for Chicago.
Their boring Week 1 defeat to the Packers was pretty uninspiring. Things got exponentially worse for the Bears against the Broncos late in Week 2. A 14-13 loss to Vic Fangio’s team might have haunted Chicago all season long. Instead, they emerged with a truly miraculous 16-14 victory when Pineiro nailed a 53-yard field goal as time expired.
Chicago looked to be set to head to overtime with Denver after Joe Flacco marched his team down the field for a game tying drive in the final minute. The Broncos originally lined up to go for two but a penalty pushed them back. Head coach Vic Fangio then called on his team to go for the extra point instead of a long two-point conversion. The Broncos missed the kick, but were given a massive reprieve when Chicago jumped offside.
Then Fangio sent Flacco and his offense back onto the field. They cashed in a two-point conversion from just inside the 2-yard line via an Emmanuel Sanders catch with just :31 second to go. It looked as if the Broncos were set for a big win.
Then, the impossible happened. Trubisky made a crucial throw to hit Allen Robinson for a massive 25 yards to get his team into field goal range. Then Pineiro stepped up and coolly drilled the 53-yard kick as time expired. To say that Bears fans are relieved to finally have a kicker would be a massive understatement.