KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jay Cutler spent the afternoon dodging Kansas City defenders behind a patchwork offensive line, trying to find somewhere to throw the ball without his top two wide receivers.
It just made his fourth-quarter comeback even more impressive.
Cutler led the Bears to two touchdowns in the closing minutes Sunday, the second an alert toss to Matt Forte with 18 seconds remaining, giving Chicago an 18-17 comeback victory after Kansas City lost star running back Jamaal Charles to a potentially season-ending knee injury.
“I knew we needed to make some plays in the fourth quarter. I trust the guys around me,” said Cutler, who was making his second start after a hamstring injury. “I know all I’ve got to do is get the ball out to them and they’ll do most of the hard work.”
Playing without wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and Eddie Royal because of injuries, along with three starting offensive linemen, the Bears trailed 17-3 early in the third quarter.
That’s when Charles went down while trying to make a cut, his right knee twisting at an ugly angle. The preliminary diagnosis was a torn ACL and Charles will have an MRI today.
The Bears quickly seized the momentum with him out.
After Robbie Gould’s second field goal got them going, Cutler led an 88-yard drive that he capped with a 22-yard pass to Marquess Wilson with 3:05 left. The two-point conversion came up short, but the Bears defense responded by forcing a quick three-andout.
With help from a pass interference call on Chiefs rookie Marcus Peters, the Bears quickly moved down the field. That’s when Cutler took a snap from the Shotgun, dropped the ball, picked it up and spotted Forte running past safety Husain Abdullah in the end zone for the goahead score.
The Chiefs tried a 66-yard field goal that came up short as time expired.
It was the second heartbreaking defeat at home for Kansas City this season. AFC West rival Denver scored two touchdowns in the final 2:27 for a 31-24 victory last month.
“We had so many opportunities to win this game,” wide receiver Jeremy Maclin said, “and we blew it. We don’t have anybody to blame but ourselves.”
Cutler was sacked in the end zone by Jaye Howard and Allen Bailey, losing the ball before hitting the turf, and rookie linebacker Ramik Wilson jumped on it for a Chiefs touchdown in his first NFL start.
The Chiefs’ second TD came when Alex Smith connected with DeAnthony Thomas with a 14-yard pitchand-catch midway through the second quarter. Things went haywire for the Chiefs once Charles left, and the Bears began to chip into the lead. Cutler ultimately led them all the way back with poise down the stretch.
“The passing game opened up for us a little bit,” Forte said, “Our two-minute offense took over at the end for the second week in a row. We practice that all during the week.”
BROWNS 33, RAVENS 30, OT
Travis Coons kicked a 32-yard field goal in overtime and Josh McCown threw for a team-record 457 yards for the visiting Browns. Cleveland had lost 13 of the previous 14 meetings between these AFC North foes, but in this one the Browns rallied from a 12-point deficit to leave the Ravens alone in the division cellar. Playing its second consecutive overtime game, Baltimore went three-and-out on the first possession of the extra session. McCown then used more than seven minutes to move the Browns 51 yards before Coons kicked his fourth field goal with 6:43 left in OT.
PACKERS 24, RAMS 10 Aaron Rodgers threw for two touchdowns and 241 yards, but his impressive string of not being intercepted at Lambeau Field ended. Rodgers was 19 of 30 for 241 yards with long scoring strikes to receivers Ty Montgomery and James Jones. But NFL-record streaks of 587 pass attempts and 49 touchdown passes at home without an interception for Rodgers ended in the first quarter on linebacker James Laurinaitis’ diving pick of a tipped ball for the Rams. Rodgers threw another interception in the second quarter before losing a fumble in the third. BRONCOS 16, RAIDERS 10 Chris Harris Jr. returned a fourth-quarter interception 74 yards for a touchdown and the visiting Broncos overcame a shaky day from Peyton Manning. Manning was intercepted twice by 1998 draft classmate Charles Woodson and failed to lead the Broncos to an offensive touchdown for the second time in five games this season. But Denver’s defense made sure it didn’t matter, getting a third defensive touchdown of 2015. Derek Carr threw for 249 yards and one touchdown for the Raiders, but was done in by the interception midway through the fourth quarter with Oakland in position for a possible go-ahead field goal. The Raiders added a late 50-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski.
CARDINALS 42, LIONS 17 Carson Palmer threw for three touchdowns, while Matthew Stafford was benched after throwing a third interception. The visiting Cardinals have a two-game lead in the NFC West. The Lions have the dubious distinction of being the NFL’s only winless team and are off to their worst start since becoming the league’s only 0-16 team in 2008. Palmer was poised and efficient, completing 11 of 14 passes for 161 yards, with a 14-yard pass to Darren Fells, an 18-yard connection to John Brown, and a 2-yard strike to Larry Fitzgerald for touchdowns.
EAGLES 39, SAINTS 17 Sam Bradford overcame two red-zone interceptions and threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns, Fletcher Cox forced two fumbles on sacks. Ryan Mathews and DeMarco Murray each rushed for touchdowns to help the host Eagles break out of their offensive slump. They snapped a three-game losing streak at home that dated to last season. Drew Brees had three turnovers leading to 17 points for Philadelphia, and the Saints fell to 1-4 a week after an overtime victory against Dallas.
BILLS 14, TITANS 13 Tyrod Taylor threw a touchdown pass, ran for another and even caught a pass in rallying the visiting Bills. With their top two running backs and top wide receiver injured, Taylor ran for 77 yards as the Bills snapped a five-game skid against Tennessee. Taylor ran for a 22-yard TD late in the third quarter after a 26-yard run that was Buffalo’s biggest play of the game. Taylor also scrambled for 24 more on third-and-23 from the Bills 7, jumpstarting an 80-yard drive he capped with a 2-yard TD pass to Chris Hogan. Taylor caught a 4-yard pass from Hogan to set up that TD.
BUCCANEERS 38, JAGUARS 31 Doug Martin ran for 123 yards and scored three touchdowns, helping Jameis Winston rebound from his worst pro performance. The host Bucs snapped an 11-game home losing streak that dated to December 2013, the same month the Jaguars began an equally agonizing road skid that now stands at 12. Winston threw for 209 yards and 1 touchdown without an interception, redeeming himself after turning the ball over 5 times in a 14-point loss to Carolina last week. Blake Bortles passed for 303 yards and four TDs, but also threw an interception that set up a Bucs touchdown.
GIANTS 30, 49ERS 27 Larry Donnell’s catch over two 49ers with 21 seconds remaining lifted New York past visiting San Francisco, capping Eli Manning’s clutch performance. Manning had a career-best 41 completions and his throw to Donnell finished off an 82-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown. It made him the winningest quarterback in team history with 102. New York (3-2) has won three consecutive and leads the NFC East. San Francisco (1-4) has lost four in a row. Carlos Hyde’s 2-yard run with 1:45 remaining gave the 49ers the lead. But on a night of huge plays and lengthy drives, Manning had the topper.
CHICAGO 18, KANSAS CITY 17
Sports on 10/12/2015