Bears beat Bucs on a last-second kick despite four Caleb Williams interceptions
Cairo Santos kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired to give the Bears a 27-24 win over the Buccaneers, even though Caleb Williams threw four interceptions.
The Chicago Bears beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-24 on Sunday Night Football at Soldier Field in Week 9, with Cairo Santos kicking a 38-yard field goal as time expired, according to the team's game recap. It was the Bears' fourth straight win, and it came on a night when quarterback Caleb Williams threw four interceptions.
How did the Bears win the Buccaneers game?
Chicago led 14-0 after the first quarter and 24-13 entering the fourth, then watched Tampa Bay tie it at 24-24 with 2:51 to play, per the team recap. Williams answered with an eight-play, 49-yard drive, highlighted by a 38-yard completion to a wide-open Colston Loveland that set up Santos.
The defence did the heavy lifting in between. Jaylon Johnson intercepted Baker Mayfield and returned it 67 yards for a touchdown, and the Bears also stopped Mayfield on a fourth-down quarterback sneak at the goal line, with Devin Bush and James Lynch credited on the team's highlights page. The recap says the defence added two interceptions and four sacks and held Mayfield to a 54.6 passer rating.
What did Caleb Williams' four interceptions mean?
The Fox Sports box score lists the four picks as a career high for Williams, and shows Chicago committed five turnovers to Tampa Bay's two. Zyon McCollum had two of the interceptions for the Buccaneers. Despite that, Williams finished 22 of 37 for 279 yards and two touchdowns, according to the Bears' recap.
Luther Burden III caught seven passes for 97 yards and a touchdown, and Rome Odunze opened the scoring with a sliding 10-yard touchdown catch, per the team's highlights. The stat sheet is a reminder of how thin the margin was: the Buccaneers had 352 total yards to Chicago's 349 and held the ball for 32:52 to 27:08, and Bucky Irving ran for 97 yards and two touchdowns for Tampa Bay.
Add Binatec Pulse as a preferred source on GoogleSee more of our stories in Google Top Stories.What are the Bears' and Buccaneers' records now?
The Bears are 7-2, and head coach Ben Johnson said it was their fourth consecutive victory, according to the recap. Chicago has now won four straight prime-time games, the team says, its longest such streak since 2013. Tampa Bay drops to 3-6.
NFL.com's Week 9 coverage turns to the playoff picture, with a segment on the NFC picture after the Bears' win, but it does not publish a full table, so we have not listed seedings here.
What should the Bears worry about?
The turnovers. Chicago finished minus-three in the turnover battle, and the Buccaneers only converted the fifth Chicago turnover, a fumble, into a touchdown later. A cleaner night from Williams would have made this a comfortable win. The positives are that the offence still moved the ball when it counted and that the defence took the ball away at the right moments.
On the other side, Tampa Bay lost a game it led in several statistical categories, and that kind of loss tends to sting for a team on the wrong side of .500.
Questions people are asking
What was the final score of Bears vs Buccaneers?
The Chicago Bears beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-24 on Sunday Night Football in Week 9 at Soldier Field.
Who kicked the winning field goal?
Cairo Santos, from 38 yards as time expired, after Tampa Bay had tied the game at 24-24 with 2:51 left.
How many interceptions did Caleb Williams throw?
Four, a career high according to the Fox Sports box score, though he still led the game-winning drive.
What are the Bears' and Buccaneers' records?
The Bears are 7-2 after four straight wins. The Buccaneers are 3-6.
