John Elway: NFL Admitted Bradley Chubb Roughing Call vs. Bears Wasn't a Penalty

It won’t give the 0-2 Denver Broncos a win in the standings, but general manager John Elway can at least take solace knowing the NFL understands it missed a critical call during Sunday’s 16-14 loss to the Chicago Bears.

Elway said league officials told him they were "dead wrong" to flag linebacker Bradley Chubb for roughing the passer on the Bears’ game-winning drive, per Joe Rubino of the Denver Post. The penalty gave Chicago 15 yards and helped set up a situation where Mitchell Trubisky converted a fourth down with a long pass to Allen Robinson before Eddy Pineiro drilled the game-winning field goal as time expired.

Broncos fans are surely frustrated with the call that helped contribute to an 0-2 start, but their team was also the beneficiary of a number of questionable whistles throughout the game.

A roughing the passer on Eddie Goldman and unnecessary roughness on Leonard Floyd stood out, and Bears head coach Matt Nagy was asked about the calls that went against his team.

"Sometimes those [calls] can get into that subjectiveness there of how it is, and when they're landing on guys, they're looking for that little extra oomph," Nagy said on Monday, per Cam Ellis of NBC Sports. "So, it's not an easy job by any means for them to see that. I know it's something that they're going to be looking at because it is difficult when you're a D-lineman, or whoever you are, tackling him."

There was a bigger reason than the Chubb roughing the passer penalty that contributed to Denver’s loss—a failure to stop Trubisky on fourth down with the game on the line.

The Bears quarterback has struggled all season, but the Broncos secondary lost track of Robinson and allowed a 25-yard pass on 4th-and-15. Chicago called a timeout with just one second remaining before the field goal, so all Denver had to do was keep track of Robinson for a moment more to clinch the win.

Elway at least offered fans an optimistic viewpoint when he said, "I feel better at 0-2 this year than I did at 2-0 last year" and pointed to head coach Vic Fangio and quarterback Joe Flacco as the reason.

"We have to be able to overcome bad plays, bad refereeing and mistakes on our part. Great teams are able to overcome these things," Elway said. "I think Vic’s got us going in that direction and I think Joe Flacco has been a good pillar for us. He has experience. He’s won a world championship. He knows what it takes."

The Broncos face the Green Bay Packers in Week 3, so they will need to overcome Aaron Rodgers as well.