Coin toss: Jay Cutler called tails for the Bears, but it lands on heads. The Broncos will receive.

The inactives for tonight’s game on the Bears side: CB Charles Tillman, CB Zackary Bowman, S/KR Danieal Manning, LB Jamar Williams, LB Nick Roach, DE Henry Melton, and DT Dusty Dvoracek. No Broncos names are on the list of players not expected to participate.

Q1 – 15:00:Scheffler returns the kick to the 27-yard line. 1st and 10 Broncos.

Q1 – 14:51:On the first play of the game, Casey Wiegmann is whistled for holding, backing the Broncos up to the 17-yard line. The offense takes the field, led by Kyle Orton at quarterback, Correll Buckhalter at running back, Chad Jackson and Eddie Royal are the receivers, Daniel Graham at tight end and the offensive line consists of Ryan Clady, Ben Hamilton, Casey Wiegmann, Chris Kuper and Ryan Harris.

Q1 – 14:24: Chris Kuper is whistled for an ineligible man downfield penalty. With a 2nd and 13 from their own 24-yard line, Orton lines up out of the shotgun. Flushed out left, he completes to Royal for five yards, setting up 3rd and 8 from the 29-yard line. Orton saw Graham over the middle, but threw behind him. Brett Kern comes in to punt.

Q1 – 13:07: Kern’s punt takes a friendly roll and is downed at the 12-yard line. He is credited with a 59-yard punt

Q1 – 12:55:The Broncos defense has taken the field, led by Ronald Fields, Kenny Peterson and Ryan McBean up front. Manning the linebacker positions from right to left are Elvis Dumervil, Andra Davis, D.J. Williams and Mario Haggan. Rounding out the secondary are Champ Bailey and Andre’ Goodman at cornerback and Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill at safety.

Q1 – 12:47: Cutler’s first pass is complete to Devin Hester for a four-yard gain. He then follows up with a handoff to Matt Forte, who is stopped by Dawkins after a five-yard gain. With a 3rd and 2 from their own 21-yard line, Forte lines up as the lone setback. Cutler fires to Desmond Clark but the ball is dropped. Brad Maynard comes in to punt, and Royal is back to receive.

Q1 – 11:30: Royal is taken down immediately by Rashied Davis. The Broncos will start at their own 29-yard line.

Q1 – 11:29: The INVESCO Field at Mile High crowd is looking pretty full for a preseason game. On 1st and 10 from the 29, Orton fires a short route to Royal, but it goes off his hands. He pitches left to Buckhalter on second down, and behind a big block from Clady, he gains nine. With Spencer Larsen in at fullback, Peyton Hillis takes the carry but is stopped for no gain. Kern in to punt.

Q1 – 10:20: Kern uses his leg to neutralize the speedy Devin Hester, booming a 57-yard kick to force a fair catch at his own five-yard line. Trumaine McBride is whistled for an illegal block in the back, pushing the Bears back to their own two-and-a-half yard line.

Q1 – 10:00: Behind Jason McKie’s blocking, Forte barrels out to the 6-yard line, before being stopped by D.J. Williams. Cutler was nearly sacked in the end zone by Elvis Dumervil on the next play, but got off a throw to Forte for a two-yard loss. Pressure came again on the next play from Darrell Reid, as Cutler was knocked on his back. That forces a punt from Maynard in the back of the end zone and an Eddie Royal fair catch at the Bears’ 44-yard line. The crowd is rocking after two stellar rushes from the new 3-4 defense.

Q1 – 8:26: Orton hands off right to Buckhalter, who follows Harris for a 1-yard gain. The clock is stopped for an injured Bronco on the play. It appears to be Chris Kuper.

Q1 – 8:11: Kuper is helped off the field by the training staff. Rookie Seth Olsen replaces him. Orton finds Royal on a crossing route, who breaks a tackle for a 24-yard gain. 1st and 10 Broncos from the Bears 19.

Q1 – 7:19: Buckhalter takes the carry behind Olsen on the right side for three yards. The Broncos sport five wide on second down, and Orton finds Royal over the middle for a gain of three. With two tight ends on third and short, Orton tries to go deep into the end zone to Scheffler but the pass sails long. Matt Prater comes in to attempt a 31-yard field goal.

Q1 – 5:39: Prater’s kick is good, giving the Broncos the early 3-0 lead. The scoring drive went six plays for 31 yards, capped by the big 24-yard breakaway from Royal. He’s been active with three early catches for 32 yards.

Q1 – 5:38:Prater follows his field goal with a statement on the kickoff, forcing Bears running back Garrett Wolfe to take a knee in the end zone. Cutler and his offense will start from their own 20-yard line.

Q1 – 5:32: Cutler goes play action, but dumps off to Forte for five yards. Fields and McBean sniffed out the read up front to combine on the tackle. Forte barreled forward on second down for six yards, with Haggan stopping him before he hit a bigger hole. First and 10 Bears from their own 31.

Q1 – 4:19: Cutler complets his first connection with Greg Olsen for 11 yards, setting up another first down. The defense clamps down to stop Forte on the next play, but Cutler then finds an open Hester down the sideline for 9 yards, setting up a 3rd and 1 from the Broncos 49. The Bears burn their first timeout. Cutler has completed five of his first seven passes for 28 yards.

Q1 – 2:28: Kuper’s return is questionable, with an injury to his lower extremity. Royal’s return is probable, with an injury to his upper extremity. On 3rd and 1, Cutler rolls right and dupes the defense, finding an open Desmond Clark for a 25-yard gain – 1st and 10 Bears from the Broncos 24-yard line.

Q1 – 1:37: The Bears attempt some trickery on first down with a halfback pass from Forte, but he’s forced to throw out of bounds. The Broncos defense responds, with Peterson and Fields wrapping up Forte for a 1-yard gain to set up third and long. Cutler works from the shotgun and takes a big hit from Dumervil. He completes to Forte, but he’s stopped short by rookie Robert Ayers for 1-yard. Robbie Gould is in to attempt a 40-yard field goal.

Q1 – 0:10: Gould’s kick splits the uprights, and the game is knotted at three. The Bears’ drive ate up nearly 5:30 on the clock, but the Broncos defense stepped up with those two tackles to limit the damage.

Q1 – 0:05: Hillis returns Gould’s kickoff out of the end zone to the 22-yard line. Orton closes out the first quarter with a bootleg completion to Scheffler on the right side for eight yards. At the end of the first quarter: Broncos 3, Bears 3.

START OF THE SECOND QUARTER:

Q2 – 15:00:Behind two big blocks from Hillis, Buckhalter rumbles nearly ten yards. But a hold by Clady backs the Broncos up 10 yards, setting up a 2nd and 12 from their own 20-yard line.

Q2 – 14:31: Royal attempts a reverse, but Anthony Adams has none of it stopping him for a loss of six. On third and long, Orton completes to Stokley, but he’s stopped well short of the first down by Corey Graham. Brett Kern is in to punt.

Q2 – 13:07: Kern keeps the ball out of Hester’s hands, booting the ball 45 yards out of bounds. The Bears will start from their own 33-yard line.

Q2 – 12:58: Cutler finds Clark out in the flat, where he is met by a trio of Broncos in D.J. Williams, Bailey and Dawkins after a five-yard gain. Elvis Dumervil continues his stellar first half, stopping Kevin Jones on a pitch left for a 1-yard gain. With the Bears facing 3rd and 4, Cutler felt the pressure and his pass to Wolfe was broken up by D.J. Williams. Maynard is in to punt.

Q2 – 11:50: With Alphonso Smith back deep, the Bears down the ball at the 3-yard line. Joshua Bell’s holding penalty backs Orton and the offense to its own 2-yard line.

Q2 – 11:45: Scheffler, Larsen, and Graham come in for extra blocking help and Hillis rumbles out to the six yard line. Hills catches the ball out of the flat on the next play, picking up nine yards and a first down at the 13-yard line.

Q2 – 11:33: Buckhalter loses two yards on first down, but Orton picks him up on the following play with a six-yard completion to Royal. On third down, the pocket collapses and Orton is sacked by Briggs for a loss of two. Kern will punt from just outside his own goal line.

Q2 – 9:09: After keeping the ball out of Hester’s hands for most of the half, Kern couldn’t do the same on this kick. The speedster returns the punt 54 yards, setting up the bears for a first and goal from their own four. Kern made a touchdown-saving tackle.

Q2 – 8:30: Dawkins makes another touchdown-saving tackle on first down, stopping Forte at the goal line. On the next play, the same fortunes weren’t there, as the second-year back rumbles into the end zone for a one-yard score. Gould’s extra point is good: Bears 10, Broncos 3.

Q2 – 8:12: From three yards deep in his own end zone, Hillis shows his worth on special teams. The fullback rumbles 42 yards, setting up the Broncos with solid field position at their own 37-yard line.

Q2 – 8:05: Orton finds Scheffler for a quick pass left, picking up four yards on first down. Urlacher bats his next pass at the line of scrimmage, but the penalty bug hits the Broncos again. Wiegmann is whistled for holding, backing the team up to a 2nd and 16 from its own 31-yard line.

Q2 – 7:16: Chad Jackson makes the catch in the flat, breaking one tackle to bring the Broncos into 3rd and 7 at their own 40-yard line. Cutler had an open Scheffler on the next play, but threw just behind him. This time, the Bears are hit with the penalty bug. An illegal contact call on Kevin Payne gives the Broncos five yards, and new life with a first down from their own 44-yard line.

Q2 – 6:34: Orton completes a bubble screen to Royal, but another flag is thrown. Clady is whistled for being an ineligible receiver downfield, backing the Broncos up five yards. The officials congregate, and after further discussion, referee Ed Hochuli calls back the flag. The five-yard gain holds up, and its 2nd and 5 from the Broncos 49-yard line.

Q2 – 5:37: Orton finds Buckhalter out of the backfield for three yards. Buckhalter has made his presence felt in the first half, leading the team with four rushes for 11 yards at this juncture. The Broncos call their first timeout of the half, facing 3rd and 2 from the Bears’ 48-yard line.

Q2 – 5:31: Orton again looks for Buckhalter, this time split out wide against Pisa Tinoisamoa, but the linebacker had him covered. That set the stage for special teams coordinator Mike Priefer’s unit to make an outstanding play. Rookie Britton Colquitt boomed a 46-yard punt to the Bears 2-yard line, where it was downed by fellow rookie David Bruton. That was a drill worked on often by the team during training camp.

Q2 – 4:51: Backed up near his own end zone, Forte rumbled forward for two yards. Andre’ Goodman narrowly missed a pick on the next play, setting up third and 8 from the Bears’ four-yard line. The ball went just through his hands in coverage on Devin Aromashodu. Cutler burns his second time out.

Q2 – 4:20: Out of the timeout, Cutler finds Earl Bennett for a 16-yard gain, getting the Bears out of trouble. He moves to 9 of 13 this half for 75 yards.

Q2 – 3:52: With first and 10 from the 20, another yellow flag hits the turf, as the Bears are whistled for an illegal shift. backed up five yards, Cutler finds a crossing Olsen between Dawkins and Davis for 21 yards. The Bears have a 1st and 10 from their own 36-yard line.

Q2 – 2:58: Kyle Orton’s return is questionable with an injury to his upper extremity. Forte takes the carry on first down, but is met head on by D.J. Williams. Cutler recovers on the second and long, finding Olsen again for 14 yards and another first down. That takes us to the two-minute warning.

Q2 – 2:00: Hochuli announces that the Broncos are challenging the ruling as to whether it was a completed pass. He will head to the viewing booth to make a decision. Head Coach Josh McDaniels has two remaining timeouts in his possession.

Q2 – 2:00(2): Hochuli rules that Olsen possessed the ball as he went into the air and had his left hand under it. The ruling on the field stands and the Broncos are charged with their second timeout.

Q2 – 1:52: Cutler’s pocket breaks down, but he finds an open Clark. There were offsetting penalties: holding on Forte and illegal contact on Haggan, resulting in a replay of 1st and 10 from the Broncos 48-yard line.

Q2 – 1:46: Before the Bears can get a play off, the Broncos call their final timeout of the half. Out of the break, Cutler finds an open Aromashodu out in the flat for eight yards. Dumervil makes the tackle at his new outside linebacker/defensive end post, setting up 2nd and 2 from the 40-yard line.

Q2 – 1:12: Flushed right, Cutler takes a deep shot to Aromashodu, but Goodman steps in to break it up with his right hand. He shakes his head no in approval of the play.

Q2 – 0:37: Cutler finds an open Hester for 11 yards, setting up another first down at the Broncos 29-yard line. Dumervil’s a victim of the flag on the following play, as he’s whistled for a roughing the passer penalty that backs the defense up to the 14-yard line. Working the hurry-up offense, Cutler finds Bennett for eight yards, pushing the Bears to the six-yard line before they burn their final timeout. The clock sits at 24 seconds remaining in the half.

Q2 – 0:19: The Bears sport four wide on 2nd and 2, and Cutler’s pass for Bennett is short, setting up third down.

Q2 – 0:13: Woodyard and Ayers wave their arms, urging the crowd to get on its feet as the Bears face the third down. Cutler rolls right and finds a crossing Forte in tight coverage from Woodyard for a 6-yard touchdown. The officials receive word from upstairs that the play is going to be reviewed, and Hochuli heads to the booth for the second time during this second quarter.

Q2 – 0:13(2): Hochuli informs the crowd that the ruling on the field stands. Gould’s extra point is good: Bears 17, Broncos 3.

Q2 – 0:06: Matthew Willis returns the kickoff 30 yards to the 35-yard line. Rookie Tom Brandstater is in at quarterback, and hands off to Buckhalter for a short gain. We have reached halftime, with the Bears leading the Broncos, 17-3. Chicago will receive the kick to start the second half. Keep it here for more updates.

Tags: Chicago Bears, First Half Live Blog, inactives, live game blog, Preseason

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