CHICAGO – With their up-and-down season hanging precariously in the balance, things looked bleak for the Bears late in Sunday’s home game against the Denver Broncos.

Even after the electrifying Devin Hester had twice tied the score in the third quarter with touchdown returns of 75 yards on a punt and 88 yards on a kickoff, Chicago still trailed 34-20.

With 10 career kick return touchdowns, Devin Hester ranks fourth in NFL history, three behind all-time leader Brian Mitchell.

But in a game that players and coaches had both deemed a must-win to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Bears stormed back in dramatic fashion to stun the Broncos 37-34 in overtime.

Robbie Gould’s 39-yard field goal with 11:19 remaining in the extra session allowed the Bears (5-6) to snap a three-game home losing streak and climb to within one game of the second and final wildcard spot in the NFC playoff hunt.

“We talk about playing a 60-minute game,” said coach Lovie Smith, whose team erased a fourth-quarter deficit to win for the fourth time this season. “Sometimes it even takes a little bit more. It wasn’t looking real good there in the fourth quarter, but our team really stepped up.”

The Bears trailed by 14 points when Charles Tillman swung the momentum midway through the final period by blocking a Todd Sauerbrun punt deep in Broncos territory.

Brandon McGowan recovered the ball at the Denver 18, setting up Adrian Peterson’s 4-yard TD run four plays later that drew the Bears to within 34-27 with 5:17 to play in the fourth quarter.

“That blocked punt was the turning point of the game,” said offensive coordinator Ron Turner.

Tillman blocked the punt by executing a creative “corner roll” play designed by special teams coordinator Dave Toub. The Bears cornerback initially lined up across from the gunner, but sprinted inside just before the snap and rushed upfield without being touched.

“We thought we had a chance coming from the boundary with the ball on that hash,” Toub said. “We thought we had a chance to get one there with a good player coming, Charles Tillman.”

Peterson entered the game early in the second quarter after starter Cedric Benson was carted from the field to the locker room with an ankle injury he sustained on a 21-yard run.

Trailing by seven points, the Bears took over at their own 35 with 2:58 remaining after Adewale Ogunleye’s second sack of the game on third-and-11 had forced a Denver punt.

The Bears offense had struggled throughout the contest, failing to score a touchdown on its first 12 possessions despite starting drives at the Denver 16- and 14-yard lines following an Ogunleye fumble recovery and Tillman’s first interception of the season.

But Rex Grossman, who had accounted for three turnovers with two lost fumbles and an interception, capped a 12-play, 65-yard drive with a game-tying 3-yard TD pass to Bernard Berrian in the right corner of the end zone on fourth-and-goal with just :28 remaining.

“Offensively, the stats don’t look as good as you would like,” Smith said, “but in the end when we needed to make some plays, I thought we came through and did that.”

Berrian beat cornerback Champ Bailey with a double-move, hauling in the pass as he dove toward the sideline. The play was reviewed by referee Larry Nemmers, who upheld the call on the field after seeing that Berrian’s left knee had hit the ground before he slid out of bounds.

“It was an amazing catch,” Grossman said. “He’s a great player. He has real long arms and has great hand-eye coordination obviously to pull that one in. He ran a good route. The corner didn’t bite as much as we thought, so I kind of had to back-shoulder it and he did a great job adjusting to the ball and pulling it in.”

Asked whether he was holding his breath during the review, Smith said: “There wasn’t a whole lot we could do at that time. Quite a few prayers were going out at that time. Thank God they came through.”

The Bears won the overtime coin flip and took over at their own 24. Executing a nifty play-action fake on the first snap, Grossman tossed a 39-yard pass to Desmond Clark to the Denver 37. Peterson then gained 14 yards on four carries, setting up Gould’s game-winner.

“When you’ve got your back against the wall, you’ve got to react and we reacted,” Clark said. “We didn’t want the season to end tonight. We had to react and do something about it.”

At 5-6, the Bears are now in a six-way tie with the Eagles, Falcons, Redskins, Saints and Vikings, one game behind the Lions (6-5) for the second and final wildcard spot in the NFC.

“Right now, we’re back,” said special teams standout Brendon Ayanbadejo. “Our playoffs started today. We’re still in the playoff race.”

Tight end Desmond Clark's 39-yard reception on the first play of overtime set up Robbie Gould's 39-yard game-winning field goal Sunday.

Before the late comeback, Hester single-handedly kept the Bears in the game. The dynamic second-year pro electrified the crowd by returning a punt 75 yards for a TD, tying the score 13-13 with 12:49 left in the third quarter.

Hester broke two tackles and leaped over Sauerbrun before disappearing into the tunnel that leads to the Bears locker room at the northwest corner of Soldier Field.

The score enabled Hester to break Gale Sayers’ Bears record with nine combined kick return TDs (six punts and three kickoffs). But the former Miami star wasn’t done.

After Cecil Sapp’s 5-yard TD run with 2:38 left in the third quarter had given the Broncos a 20-13 lead, Hester returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a TD, tying the game 20-20.

The 2006 second-round pick dashed up the middle, picking up blocks from Ayanbadejo, Rod Wilson and Israel Idonije.

“What else can you say [about Hester]?” Smith said. “He gave us a boost, turned the momentum. We could talk the rest of the night about him. I’m just glad he’s on our football team.”

After Hester’s second TD, the Broncos retook a 27-20 lead on the next play from scrimmage as Brandon Marshall burned Ricky Manning Jr. for a 68-yard TD pass from Jay Cutler.

Denver eventually extended its lead to 34-20 on tight end Tony Scheffler’s 14-yard TD reception with 10:38 left in the fourth quarter before the Bears rallied.

Grossman completed 17 of 33 passes for 193 yards with 1 TD, 1 interception and a 66.9 passer rating. Benson exited after gaining 47 yards on eight carries. Peterson added 45 yards on 17 attempts and had a team-high five catches for 41 yards.

For the Broncos, Cutler completed 17 of 31 passes for 302 yards with 2 TDs, 1 interception and a 96.4 passer rating. Hall, who spent part of the 2006 preseason with the Bears, rushed for 98 yards and 1 TD on 26 attempts.

Gould’s 24-yard field goal had given the Bears a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter. But the Broncos scored the next 10 points on Jason Elam’s 23-yard field goal after Hester muffed a punt and Andre Hall’s 16-yard TD run.

The Bears closed to within 10-6 on Gould’s 44-yard field goal, but Elam answered with a 22-yarder with :13 left in the half after Hall had turned a screen pass into a 65-yard gain.

The Bears rallied to win after being plagued by dropped passes, missed tackles and costly penalties, including a holding infraction on Fred Miller that nullified Grossman's 25-yard TD pass to Greg Olsen in the second quarter. They were also outgained 430-293 and lost the turnover battle 4-2.

But Smith wasn’t about to start listing his team’s faults after such a crucial comeback victory.

“I’m not going to complain a lot about what we were able to do,” said the Bears coach. “The team fought throughout and made plays at the end to win the football game.”