The Denver Broncos were able to get their first win of the season on Sunday, and the first win of Sean Payton's tenure with the team, but it didn't come easily.
Fans sat through another rough first half as the defense made Justin Fields look like a Pro Bowler. Fields was 23-of-24 passing at one point in this game and the Bears were on top 28-7. The Broncos, who still have an incredibly bad defense, were able to fight their way back and somehow steal the game from Chicago, 31-28.
It had to be quite the emotional roller coaster for Broncos fans, many of whom had taken to social media to berate the team's performance. After a 50-point drubbing last week against the Miami Dolphins, getting blown out by the lowly Bears could have been a new low.
The Broncos showed some heart, finally, and rallied to beat the Bears, sending them to 0-4 and into the driver's seat for the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Here was the good and bad from Week 4.
Winners: Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper
Heading into this season, the Broncos expected the heavy lifting in the pass-rushing department to be handled by Randy Gregory, Baron Browning and Frank Clark. While those three players have offered the team next to nothing this season, their backups, Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper, are starting to find their groove.
Both players came up huge against the Bears. Bonitto had a huge game, registering 2.5 sacks and four tackles. Cooper had one sack and five tackles. But the two also combined to make the single biggest play of this game.
With the Broncos trailing 28-21 with about seven minutes left in the game, Bears quarterback Justin Fields took the snap and went to roll out but found Bonitto right in his face. Bonitto was able to knock the ball free and Cooper picked it up off of one bounce and ran it the other way for the game-tying score.
Both of these guys are hot right now and the first step to making this defense better should be giving them more snaps over the likes of Gregory and Clark, whenever he is healthy.
Loser: Jerry Jeudy
I am completely over Jerry Jeudy but truthfully, I have been for a long time. It seems that since he was drafted with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Broncos fans have been hearing about how good he is. Hearing, but not really seeing.
Jeudy caught three passes for 52 yards on five targets in this game, but I just fail to see what is so special about him. He also had a drop on an easy reception early in the third quarter before Russell Wilson looked for him on a deep shot on the same drive. On that play, the ball was overthrown, but Jeudy made no effort to catch the ball.
He's an extremely frustrating player to watch and whenever the Broncos need a play, you can all but guarantee it won't be him that's making it. As the supposed "go-to" option in the offense, he gives you no reason to really want to go to him.
Winner: Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson has had a good season for the Broncos, through four games, and that would likely be even more obvious if the team's defense wasn't so bad.
Wilson didn't post massive passing yardage numbers against the Bears, but he played mistake-free football and threw three touchdown passes. He also made timely plays throughout the team's comeback effort and his pass to Marvin Mims late in the fourth quarter, which gained 48 yards, set up the game-winning field goal.
He completed 75 percent of his passes in this game and is doing more than enough to get his team in the win column.
Loser: Javonte Williams
Javonte Williams left this game with a hip injury, so it's not completely fair to include him on the bad list, but while he was in the game, he was incredibly ineffective.
He carried the ball twice for no yardage and had three catches he was able to turn into just nine yards. He does not look as explosive as he once did with the ball in his hands and while his recovery from a torn ACL last season was remarkable, it's a noticeable difference.
Hopefully, this is something that improves with time but it might already be fair to wonder if he will ever be the same player that he once was.
Winner: Jaleel McLaughlin
While Williams is struggling at running back, the Broncos have clearly found something in undrafted running back Jaleel McLaughlin, who legitimately looked like the best player on the team in this game.
McLaughlin carried the ball just seven times but gained 72 yards on the ground. He also caught three passes for 32 yards and a touchdown. That is an average of over 10 yards every time he touched the ball.
With Williams hurt, the Broncos turned to McLaughlin more than No. 2 running back Samaje Perine, and he provided the spark necessary to help turn things around.
The Broncos do not win this game without him and he deserves today's game ball.
Loser: The entire defense, but specifically, the secondary
The Broncos' defense as a whole is still laughably bad and unless there is a drastic improvement, the team will struggle to beat very many teams with it. But in this game, it was the team's secondary that was just pitiful.
Though it's somewhat ironic that the team sealed the win with an interception by Kareem Jackson late in the game, it was that secondary that had Fields looking like one of the best quarterbacks in the league for much of the game.
At one point, Fields had completed 23 of 24 throws and the only incompletion was a Hail Mary attempt before halftime.
Justin Simmons' absence has been notable and both Damarri Mathis and Delarrin Turner-Yell have played about as poorly as you can play in the NFL. The team is really going to need to address this going forward, but with as far away as they seem to be, you have to wonder how much better this group can even get.