CHICAGO -- Brock Osweiler refused to let a day go to waste while he waited for his chance -- and watched one of the game's greatest quarterbacks.
He had a chance to learn from Peyton Manning and made the most of his opportunity when he finally got called on.
Osweiler threw for two touchdowns filling in for the injured Manning, and the Denver Broncos stopped Jeremy Langford on a two-point conversion run in the final minute to beat the Chicago Bears 17-15.
Langford scored on a 2-yard run with 24 seconds left to cap a 65-yard drive. But the Broncos were ready for the run on the conversion attempt and stopped Langford to secure a narrow victory.
Osweiler completed 20 of 27 passes for 250 yards in the first start of his four-year career, while the five-time MVP stayed back in Denver because of injuries to his foot, ribs and shoulder. Osweiler got sacked five times, but he kept his poise against an aggressive defense. It all added up to a neat birthday for a backup who turned 25 on Sunday.
"I don't know if anybody believed me, but I really was telling the truth -- I have not wasted a single day sitting behind Peyton," Osweiler said. "I fully recognize that he might be the greatest quarterback to ever play, if not one of the greatest. I wasn't going to let one of those days go by where I didn't learn something. I've been very appreciative for my situation."
Ronnie Hillman ran for 102 yards. The AFC West-leading Broncos (8-2) played turnover-free ball and got back to winning against former coach John Fox after dropping two in a row.
Osweiler threw a 48-yard touchdown to Demaryius Thomas on Denver's first possession of the game and a 10-yarder to Cody Latimer early in the fourth quarter to make it 17-9 after Chicago cut the lead to one.
"He does this all of the time in practice, in preseason," linebacker Von Miller said. "I kind of came out here and expected it. What he did is what I expected him to do."
The Bears (4-6) drove to the Denver 4 after Latimer's touchdown, only to have Jay Cutler's fourth-down pass to Langford in a crowd in the end zone get broken up.
Asked why he went for it rather than kick a field goal, Fox said: "I think we hadn't made many trips down there, and when we had, we hadn't scored touchdowns. It had been kind of a field-goal game. At that point in the game, we felt that was going to be maybe our last opportunity so we were aggressive and came up short on fourth-and-4."
Chicago also came up short in its bid to hit the .500 mark.
The Bears had won two in a row to jump into playoff contention in the NFC, something few would have expected this season. They are clearly making strides under Fox, who split with Denver in January after leading the Broncos to four first-place finishes in the division and a trip to the Super Bowl.
Chicago had trouble reaching the end zone against the league's No. 1 defense, even though the Broncos were missing outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware (back). The Bears settled for three field goals by Robbie Gould before that late touchdown.
BUCCANEERS 45, EAGLES 17 Jameis Winston and Doug Martin were an unstoppable combination. Winston tied a rookie record with five touchdown passes, Martin ran for 235 yards for the visiting Buccaneers. Winston completed 19 of 29 passes for 246 yards and had 4 of his TD passes in the first half to four different receivers. He tied Matthew Stafford's rookie mark in the third quarter on an 8-yard toss to Cameron Brate, the fifth receiver to catch a TD. Martin had 177 yards in the first half, including runs of 84 and 58 yards. He finished 2 yards short of tying Barry Sanders' record for most without a TD. Sanders had 237 for the Lions against Tampa in 1994. Tampa set a franchise record with 283 yards rushing and 521 total yards and were second most in franchise history in the regular season. The Buccaneers (5-5) have won two consecutive games for the first time in two years. The Eagles (4-6) have lost two in a row, but are only one game behind the New York Giants (5-5) in the mediocre NFC East. Mark Sanchez threw two TD passes in his first start replacing injured Sam Bradford, but Chip Kelly's offense couldn't keep up with Winston and the Buccaneers.
RAVENS 16, RAMS 13 Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco tore ligaments in his left knee during the closing seconds of a 16-13 victory over the Rams. The Ravens also lost running back Justin Forsett, who broke both bones in his right forearm. Justin Tucker kicked a 47-yard field goal as time expired to end a mistake-filled game in which the host Ravens rallied from a 10-point deficit. One final miscue decided the issue: Rams quarterback Case Keenum fumbled when hit by Courtney Upshaw, and teammate Lawrence Guy recovered at the St. Louis 41 with 54 seconds to go. Flacco moved the Ravens (3-7) to the 29 -- injuring his knee along the way -- before Tucker delivered the winning kick. St. Louis (4-6) lost four fumbles and missed an extra point. In his first start of the season, Keenum went 12 for 26 for 136 yards and fumbled 3 times, losing 2. Baltimore won despite committing two turnovers and being penalized 10 times for 137 yards. The Ravens have lost seven games by a total of 32 points, but this close one went their way.
PACKERS 30, VIKINGS 13 Aaron Rodgers threw for 212 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Datone Jones had two of visiting Green Bay's six sacks and the visiting Packers stopped a three-game losing streak to pull even in the NFC North race. James Jones had 6 catches for 109 yards and 1 score, Eddie Lacy rushed for a season-high 100 yards on 22 carries, and the Packers (7-3) beat the rival Vikings for the 10th time in the last 11 meetings with Rodgers at quarterback. He has thrown for 28 touchdown passes with just three interceptions in those games. The Vikings (7-3) had their six-game winning streak shoved back in their face by a proud Packers team that clearly wasn't ready to concede a division it has won four consecutive times. The rematch is on Jan. 3 in Green Bay to close the schedule. Right after the ugliest of those three defeats, an 18-16 decision at home against Detroit, Rodgers and the Packers roared back with one of his vintage performances against the Vikings to the delight of the enemy fans chanting, "Go, Pack, Go!" throughout the evening.
SEAHAWKS 29, 49ERS 13 Rookie Thomas Rawls rushed for 209 yards and had two total touchdowns, while Tyler Lockett caught two TD passes from Russell Wilson, and the host Seahawks got back to .500. Starting in place of Marshawn Lynch, out with an abdominal injury, Rawls posted his third 100-yard rushing game of his rookie season and the second time topping 160 yards. Rawls scored on a 2-yard run in the first quarter and added a 31-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Wilson in the fourth quarter to give Seattle (5-5) a 16-point lead. Rawls finished with 255 total yards. Lockett caught a 24-yard TD pass in the first quarter and carried a San Francisco defender into the end zone on an 11-yard grab later in the first half. Blaine Gabbert threw for 264 yards and one touchdown, but San Francisco (3-7) couldn't overcome the early 20-0 deficit.
COLTS 24, FALCONS 21 Relying on a pair of 40-somethings, the visiting Colts rallied from a pair of two-touchdown deficits to beat the slumping Falcons. Adam Vinatieri, the oldest player in the league at 42, added another winning kick to his sterling resume, booting a 43-yarder with 52 seconds remaining. The Colts won with 40-year-old Matt Hasselbeck throwing two touchdown passes filling in for injured Andrew Luck. D'Qwell Jackson tied the game with just over 10 minutes remaining on a 6-yard interception return for a touchdown. Then, it was Vinatieri who won it for the Colts (5-5), as he's done so many times in his brilliant career. In his 300th game, he came through with his 26th winning kick in either the final minute of regulation or overtime. The Falcons (6-4) lost for the fourth time in five games after a 5-0 start. This one was on the offense, which totally bogged down in the second half.
TEXANS 24, JETS 17 T.J Yates tossed two TDs to DeAndre Hopkins, who had 118 yards receiving, and Alfred Blue caught a scoring pass from receiver Cecil Shorts. The host Texans (5-5) have won three games in a row for the first time since 2012. And they did it with Yates, who threw for 229 yards in his first start since Jan. 15, 2012 in the playoffs for Houston as a rookie. Yates, signed on Oct. 28 after Ryan Mallett (Arkansas Razorbacks) was released, started in place of Brian Hoyer, who was out with a concussion. The game was tied in the third quarter when the TD pass by Shorts made it 17-10. Yates and Hopkins linked up for a 20-yard score on the next possession. Ryan Fitzpatrick, who played after having surgery on his non-throwing thumb on Nov. 13, got New York (5-5) within 24-17 with a touchdown run with 4 1/2 minutes left, but was intercepted on the next two drives. The Jets have lost four of five.
LIONS 18, RAIDERS 13 Matthew Stafford ran for a go-ahead 5-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter and the host Lions (3-7) won consecutive games for the first time this year. The Raiders (4-6) have a season-high three-game losing streak. Matt Prater made three field goals on as many attempts in the first half to give Detroit a 9-0 lead. The Raiders went ahead after their second drive of the third quarter. Latavius Murray's 1-yard touchdown run capped the opening possession of the second half and Sebastian Janikowski made a go-ahead, 48 yard field goal on Oakland's next possession. After Detroit was held to 27 yards of offense in the third quarter, Stafford capped an 80-yard drive with a designed draw to put the Lions up 16-13 with 11:04 to play.
Sports on 11/23/2015