Denver Broncos vs. Chicago Bears: Denver Grades, Notes & Quotes

The Denver Broncos used some new faces and a running game that has been absent for most of the season to go into Soldier Field and come out with a 17-15 victory over the Chicago Bears.

Brock Osweiler played well in his first career start, throwing a 10-yard touchdown to Cody Latimer that proved to be the game-winning score. It was Osweiler's second touchdown pass of the day and the first of Latimer's career.

The Broncos were able to overcome eight penalties for 118 yards in the game, while the Bears weren't penalized at all. With the win, the Broncos improved to 8-2 on the season.

The win came against the team's former head coach John Fox, and its former quarterback, Jay Cutler. It also snapped Denver's two-game losing skid.

The Broncos will head home in Week 12 for a Sunday night showdown with the New England Patriots. But first, let's hand out some grades for this game and look at some of the other news coming out of it.

Positional Grades

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Quarterback: B+

Osweiler was sharp in his first start, completing 20 of 27 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns. He finished the game with a 127.1 quarterback rating, and most importantly, he didn't make any mistakes. Osweiler demonstrated good command of the offense and he showed that Gary Kubiak can open his playbook a little more with him in at quarterback, specifically the bootleg pass.

Running Backs: A

It makes a huge difference when the Broncos are able to run the ball, and they found plenty of success doing so in this game.

Ronnie Hillman ran for over 100 yards and C.J. Anderson chipped in another 59. As a team, the Broncos averaged 4.7 yards per carry and they called 34 run plays, as opposed to just 13 a week ago.

Wide Receivers: B-

Osweiler completed just six passes to wide receivers in this game, but that's partly because of how much he targeted tight ends.

Demaryius Thomas kicked things off with a 48-yard touchdown, but aside from the touchdown to Latimer, the wide receivers were pretty quiet in this game. Emmanuel Sanders did not play.

Tight Ends: A

It took until Week 11 for the tight ends in Denver to look like they were part of a team led by Kubiak, but it was evident on Sunday.

Owen Daniels and Vernon Davis combined for 10 catches and 137 yards in the game. In terms of yardage, they were the top two receivers for Denver in this game.

Offensive Line: B-

The offensive line was great in opening holes in the running game, but the unit could have been better in pass protection. Osweiler was sacked five times in the game and was also hurried on many of his throws.

Defensive Line: B-

Cutler had far too long to throw the ball in this game, as the defensive front of the Broncos failed to generate much of a push. They did do a good job of slowing down running back Jeremy Langford, who had been one of the NFL's hottest players over the previous two weeks.

Derek Wolfe had a sack in the game and Malik Jackson recovered a fumble after an excellent individual play by Von Miller.

Linebackers: A

Brandon Marshall, Danny Trevathan and Von Miller all played great games. Trevathan made a great play to intercept a pass from Cutler. He couldn't have played it much better than he did. Marshall added eight tackles to tie Trevathan for the team lead and Miller made a critical play late in the game, stripping the ball from Cutler, which landed in the hands of Jackson.

Defensive Backs: C

The secondary is usually the strength of Denver's defense, but that was not the case in this game. Cutler was able to hit several big pass plays, and Marquess Wilson had a career-high 102 yards receiving. T.J. Ward committed some bad penalties, but he made a great tackle on Langford to prevent a two-point conversion that would have tied the game with just 24 seconds to play.

Special Teams: C

It wasn't Britton Colquitt's best day as a punter, as he averaged just 39.6 yards on his seven punts. However, the weather in Chicago may have played a part in that, as the Bears' punter, Pat O'Donnell, struggled mightily.

Omar Bolden made a big blunder early in the game. As Chicago was kicking off following a successful field goal, Bolden seemed to misjudge the ball, allowing it to hit the ground. The ball bounced the other way and Bolden had to scramble to pick up the ball before Chicago could.

Coaching: B

It was good to see Kubiak be able to run the type of game he likes to on offense, particularly with running the football. However, he has some work to do to clean up some of the penalties that are bogging the team down.

Ward is a player that should be applauded for his aggressive play, but he may need to tone it down a bit because some of the decisions he's made in recent weeks have shown a serious lack of discipline. The late hit that he drew after tackling a sliding Cutler is evidence of that.

Important Note No. 1: Cody Latimer Catches First Career Touchdown

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

When the Broncos drafted Latimer in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft, they probably didn't imagine that he would go 26 regular season games before he caught a touchdown pass.

Latimer finally reeled that catch in during the fourth quarter of Sunday's game, putting the Broncos up 17-9. He still has just seven receptions during his entire career, but he already showed more promise in one game with Osweiler than he has in every other game he's played in.

Perhaps this was the game where Latimer finally turned the corner.

Important Note No. 2: Brock Osweiler Posts Best QB Rating for Denver This Season

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

How long Osweiler will be Denver's starting quarterback remains to be seen, but he did post a statistic that Manning hasn't come close to doing this season.

Osweiler finished the game with a 127.1 quarterback rating. By comparison, Manning's best quarterback rating this season came in Week 3, when he finished with a 101.7 rating against the Detroit Lions. For the season, Manning's quarterback rating is a mere 67.6.

Though there is much more to measure than just a quarterback rating, Osweiler did not turn the ball over in this game and he showed plenty of poise for a player making his first career start.

Important Note No. 3: Broncos Set High Mark for Rushing in a Game This Season

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

The Broncos ran for 170 yards on the ground against the Bears on Sunday, the most they've had in a game this season. That is sure to put a smile on Kubiak's face.

The 170 yards rushing eclipsed the 160 yards that Denver running backs produced in Week 6 against the Green Bay Packers.

Though the Broncos had to hold on to win this game, they have a lot of positives that they can take from it. When you can run for 161 yards and you don't turn the ball over once, you'll win more games that not.

With or without Manning, this is the brand of football Kubiak wants to play.

Quote No. 1: Gary Kubiak on Brock Osweiler's Performance

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During his postgame press conference, via the team's official website, Kubiak was asked to address Osweiler's performance and if he played as well as he expected.

"

He did a great job. We didn't protect him very well in the first half. He had to take his lumps, but he kept his composure and we'd come back and make the next play. He did his job, did a heck of a job and his team played well around him, that's the most important thing. Very proud of him, he was ready to go. 

"

Later, Kubiak is asked if he's seen enough from Brock to make him the starter going forward.

After a quick laugh, Kubiak dismissed the question:

"

I knew that was coming. Listen, here's the deal. We got healthier today, we've got some guys on this team we're trying to get healthy, so that's important, and we won our eighth game. So we're gonna focus on winning today and enjoy winning and we'll go back to work next week.

"

Though questions about the quarterback position are only going to persist, Kubiak is right not to speculate on that situation as of right now.

Quote No. 2: Brock Osweiler Addresses the Media

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Following the game, Osweiler addressed the media, via the team's official website. Osweiler, who turned 25 years old on Sunday, seemed very pleased with his performance following the game.

He was asked about the message he gave to the team earlier in the week. "You know, I'm gonna keep that between us. It was a special moment. It was about a mentality, a mentality that I wanted us to play with as a team and yeah, that's what I talked about last night", Osweiler said.

He was then asked about being the leader of the team:

"

Well, you know, ever since I started playing football, I always felt like it was the quarterback's responsibility to be the leader of the football team. And that's a role that I've always embraced. But you know, today's not about me. Today is 100 percent about this football team, our coaching staff. You know, we came into a tough place, on a cool day, playing a tough football team and we got a great team win, and that's what it's all about.

"

Osweiler sounds like a veteran already, and he gained invaluable experience with this victory.

Quote No. 3: Von Miller Talks About Chicago's Failed Two-Point Conversion

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Following the game, Von Miller also talked to the press, via the team's official website. Miller addressed the performance of Osweiler and the defense. He was then asked to discuss the two-point conversion by Chicago, which would have tied the game with only 24 seconds to play:

"

Yeah they had just scored, they had just scored and momentum was on their side. We kind of felt like it was going to be a run, I felt it and coach [Wade] Phillips, he's a wizard, and he just felt it. He was able to come up with a nice play call and T.J. [Ward] was able to get into the backfield and stop them. 

"

It was certainly a key play made by Ward, as anything could have happened had the game gone into overtime. Ironically, the two previous meetings between these teams did go into overtime.