Denver Broncos Week 14 Report Card: Grading Every Key Defensive Player

Yeah, it happened again.

"Tebow Time" kicked in again, and the Broncos pulled out an improbable, miraculous victory punctuated by a Matt Prater 51-yard field goal in overtime to put the Broncos over the the Bears, 13-10.

The spotlight will mainly be on Tebow, and the credit that he receives is much deserving.

However, the defense did step up big time and kept the team alive in this game despite the offense sputtering for nearly four quarters before finally scoring with 2:08 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The defense played great throughout the game and minus a Marion Barber touchdown run in the third quarter that featured bad tackling efforts throughout the field, the Broncos defense played the Bears offense as well as they possibly could with the offense not scoring on 11 consecutive possessions.

The biggest play of the day had to be with Chicago threatening to kick the game-winning field goal in overtime, Wesley Woodyard stripped Marion Barber of what looked to be the game-clinching run, and Elvis Dumervil falling on the football inside the Denver 40.

This would lead to "Tebow Time" where Tebow promptly led the Broncos down the field for the game-winning field goal.

Here are the grades of every key Broncos defensive player from Denver's 13-10 win over Chicago.

DJ Williams

Probably the guy that stepped up the biggest on defense all throughout the game was DJ Williams.

Williams has often been overshadowed by rookie phenom Von Miller and even at times Wesley Woodyard.

Williams is one of the key leaders of this defense, alongside Brian Dawkins and Champ Bailey, actively serving as the longest-tenured Bronco along with Bailey.

Williams had nine tackles to lead the Broncos along with two sacks.

In forcing constant pressure with his teammates Miller and Elvis Dumervil, Williams helped prolong the Broncos NFL-leading streak of 12 consecutive games with at least two sacks.

Without Williams forcing constant pressure off of the edges, Bears QB Caleb Hanie might have had a better day than his pedestrian 115 total yards passing shows.

Grade: A+

Von Miller

Miller was once again his usual explosive self.

In his first game back after his one-week absence, Miller recorded five tackles to go along with a sack on Hanie.

The trio of Williams, Miller and Dumervil forced constant pressure on Hanie, negating any sort of passing game the Bears might have mustered had there been less of a pass-rush.

Miller consistently rushed the passer well from Hanie's blindside, as the Broncos defense forced the Bears to throw for under 100 yards as a team on Sunday.

When you look at last Sunday's game vs. Minnesota and this game vs. Chicago, the difference is literally night and day.

Miller is easily the defense's MVP and should be defensive rookie of the year.

As Tebow is the light that fires up the offense, Miller is the light that fires up the defense. They play on a whole other level when Miller is flying around and making the pocket collapse on opposing quarterbacks.

Grade: A

Elvis Dumervil

Dumervil contributed to what was probably the most important single play of the game.

With the game in overtime and heading in Chicago's favor, Bears RB Marion Barber had a wide-open hole to run through on the left side of the line of scrimmage.

In what looked to be a game-clinching run that would put kicker Robbie Gould in position to kick the game-winning field goal, LB Wesley Woodyard stripped Barber of the football and Dumervil fell on it to force the first turnover of the day for the Broncos defense.

Dumervil also had a sack in this game to contribute to Denver's four sacks as a team on the day.

In a game in which just about every Bronco had to step up in some shape or form, Dumervil and Woodyard's contributions on that fumble recovery at the Denver 34 were the biggest.

Grade: A

Champ Bailey

Champ had a solid but unspectacular game.

The Bears don't have any big playmakers at the receiver position, and it showed on Sunday.

That combined with the Broncos' amazing pass-rush is what contributed to the Bears' low total of passing yardage in their 13-10 loss.

The defensive backfield did most of what they were supposed to do and never really gave up a huge play in the secondary to tilt the game in favor of the Bears.

Bailey and CB Andre Goodman were solid, as Bailey did give up a few receptions that ended up going for first downs, but as I stated before, none of them were truly costly receptions.

Grade: B