CHICAGO – Jay Cutler and the Bears rebounded from their season-opening loss in a huge way Sunday, stunning the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers with a fourth-quarter rally at Soldier Field.

In turning a late 14-7 deficit into a thrilling 17-14 victory, Cutler showed why he’s considered a franchise quarterback. He rifled a 7-yard touchdown pass to rookie Johnny Knox to tie the score with 6:21 remaining and then engineered another scoring drive that resulted in Robbie Gould’s game-winning 44-yard field goal with just :15 to play.

Jay Cutler threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in Sunday's comeback victory.

“It was Week 1 to Week 2," Cutler said. "That's kind of when you make the biggest jump, and guys were in sync. We started off pretty basic. We wanted to kind of see what they were doing, and as the game went on we started making more and more plays.

“Guys fought hard today. We knew it was going to be 60 minutes. We knew it was going to come down to the last couple drives, and guys hung in there and we made plays when we had to.”

The eighth game-winning kick of Gould’s career came after Steelers kicker Jeff Reed missed two field goal attempts wide left in the fourth quarter. His 38-yard try could have extended Pittsburgh’s 14-7 lead, while his 43-yarder could have snapped a 14-14 deadlock with only 3:18 to play.

The Bears capitalized on Reed’s first miss as Cutler completed 6 of 7 passes for 70 yards on a nine-play, 72-yard game-tying drive. He connected with Devin Hester for 13 yards on third-and-three and hooked up with Greg Olsen for 29 yards down the middle before hitting Knox for the score.

After Reed’s second miss, Cutler completed passes of 12 yards to Matt Forte—Olsen alertly recovered a fumble on the play—and five yards to Hester on third-and-four to set up Gould’s winning kick.

“Anytime you can beat the Super Bowl champion, you have to be excited about it, and we are,” said coach Lovie Smith. “I thought Jay was outstanding all day.”

Under intense pressure from a Steelers defense that led the NFL in points allowed and total yards last season, Cutler completed 27 of 38 passes for 236 yards with 2 TDs, no interceptions and a 104.7 passer rating that was a vast improvement over the 43.2 he posted a week earlier in Green Bay.

Asked by a reporter after the game what was the difference, Cutler said: “I didn’t throw four picks.”

Cutler was especially sharp on the Bears’ final two scoring drives, completing 9 of 10 passes for 92 yards with 1 TD and a 138.3 passer rating.

“He was no different at the end than he was in the beginning,” Olsen said. “He’s always in total control. That’s kind of what everyone comes to expect from him, and he delivered.”

The Steelers dominated early, marching 92 yards on 13 plays on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead on Ben Roethlisberger’s 1-yard TD pass to tight end Matt Spaeth on fourth-and-goal. In completing 8 of 9 passes for 84 yards on the drive, Roethlisberger had all day to throw.

The Bears defense rebounded, however, to produce key plays in clutch situations. Alex Brown, who exited late with a sprained ankle, registered his team’s only two sacks—both on key third-down plays. His second sack pushed the Steelers back nine yards, and Reed missed from 38 yards on the next snap.

Robbie Gould watches his game-winning 44-yard field goal sail through the uprights.

Brown also pressured Roethlisberger into an errant throw that was intercepted by Charles Tillman at the Bears’ 5 early in the second quarter. The pick was Chicago’s first takeaway of the season.

The Bears registered a second takeaway on the kickoff following Gould’s game-winning field goal as Jamar Williams forced a Stefan Logan fumble that Craig Steltz recovered to ice the victory.

“I’d like to tip my hat to Lovie Smith and the Chicago Bears,” said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. “They played a very good football game. They fought until the very end. They didn’t blink, and they found a way to win it. We desired to do some things today, and we were unable to do them.

“I thought Jay Cutler was very good with the football. He faced some pressure, but he made great decisions. He put the ball in great locations, and the Bears converted third downs. They did enough to win, and we didn’t.”

The Bears offense received huge contributions from two inexperienced players, both of whom scored their first NFL touchdowns. Knox had a team-high six receptions for 70 yards, while second-year tight end Kellen Davis—who was subbing for the injured Desmond Clark—had five catches for 38 yards.

Davis snared a 6-yard TD pass from Cutler on third-and-goal to cap a 13-play, 97-yard drive and tie the score 7-7 with :19 remaining in the first half. Cutler looked to Olsen in the left corner of the end zone, then came back to Davis on the right side of the field, rifling the pass between two defenders.

Roethlisberger completed 23 of 35 passes for 221 yards with 1 TD, 1 interception and an 80.8 passer rating. Hines Ward caught six passes for 57 yards and Santonio Holmes had five receptions for 83 yards. Willie Parker rushed for 47 yards on 14 carries, and Rashard Mendenhall had 39 yards on three attempts.

The Bears played with four new starters on defense: Hunter Hillenmeyer replaced the injured Brian Urlacher at middle linebacker, Nick Roach started in place of the injured Pisa Tinoisamoa at strongside linebacker, and cornerback Zackary Bowman and free safety Danieal Manning returned to the spots they held before missing the first three preseason games with hamstring injuries.

With the win, the Bears (1-1) pulled into a second-place tie in the NFC North with the Packers (1-1), who lost to the Bengals Sunday. The Vikings (2-0) lead the division after beating the Lions (0-2).

“It means a lot,” Cutler said after his first Bears victory. “It means a lot to this team. We've got a lot of pressure and expectations on us since I got here, since Orlando [Pace] got here, since the defense has stepped it up. 

"We're glad to get this one off our back and move on. We went to Green Bay with the whole city of Chicago on us, which is fine. We love it. We expect it out of ourselves. So to get this first one behind us and get rolling, it's going to be good for us."