Bears v. Buccaneers Upon Further Review: A Closer Look at the Referees

Upon Further Review — Week 9: Bears 27, Buccaneers 24
Sunday Night, November 8, 2026. Soldier Field, Chicago.
Crew: Ronald Torbert (R #62), Barry Anderson (U #20), Jay Bilbo (DJ #84), Tripp Sutter (LJ #37), Ryan Dickson (FJ #25), Keith Washington (SJ #7), Courtney Brown (BJ #48), Kevin Stine (RO #0).

Hello Chicago Bears fans! Well, what to say about this one? Chicago survived a turnover-filled night at Soldier Field and left with a 27–24 walk-off win on Cairo Santos’s 38-yard field goal. So how did

the officating affect this game? Spoiler alert: quite a bit. Official totals: Bears 9–74, Buccaneers 8–45. Seventeen total accepted penalties for 119 yards (18 total flags). Every accepted flag and every meaningful no-call is accounted for in our review. Let’s get into it.

UFR method: Every accepted flag and every meaningful no-call is graded on the same four-tier scale: Correct, Arguable, Incorrect, Horrible. Weight runs 1–4 by impact: 1 for housekeeping/pre-snap process, 2 for drive disruption or field-position damage, 3 for scoring/red-zone leverage or automatic first down that changes a drive, 4 for wiped score, turnover, or game-ending leverage. Replay overturns are judged against the “clear and obvious” standard. No-calls receive identical grades and weights as thrown flags. Bright-line process fouls (false starts, clear offside, delay of game when the clock hits zero, kickoff short of landing zone) are Correct when the rule is met. Judgment calls (holding, PI, unnecessary roughness) are evaluated against the rule text, available angles, All-22 when reviewed, and broadcast rules analysis. The Flag of the Game is the single most egregious or impactful snap. The League File covers the week’s most contested NFL controversy. And this week we have a special College Flag Focus included for that unbelievable game between Texas and Missouri.

First Quarter

Bears open with a long drive. Rome Odunze 9-yard touchdown from Caleb Williams. Santos kick. CHI 7, TB 0. Luther Burden III then takes a 56-yard touchdown pass from Williams. CHI 14, TB 0.

Kickoff Short of Landing Zone — Cairo Santos (CHI), 0 yards. Q1 9:38.
Santos kicks 42 yards short of the landing zone. Ball placed at the Bucs 40. Bright-line special-teams process. Correct. Wt 1. Cairo is a quality field goal kicker, but he is boom and bust on kickoffs. We may need to consider going another direction if he continues to have these problems.

Second Quarter

Santos and Chase McLaughlin trade field goals. CHI 17, TB 6 at the half.

Delay of Game — Unnamed (TB), 5 yards. Q2 14:07, 4th-and-4 at CHI 4.
Clock expires before the snap on fourth-and-goal. No play. McLaughlin later kicks a 27-yard field goal. Bright-line. Correct. Wt 1.

Unnecessary Roughness — Zavion Thomas (CHI), 15 yards. Q2 8:37, 1st-and-8 at TB 8.
After D’Andre Swift’s 2-yard run to the TB 6, Thomas is flagged for late contact to the helmet on a block. Enforced at the TB 6. Backs the Bears up and contributes to a later interception. Bright-line late hit. Correct. Wt 2.

False Start — Tristan Wirfs (TB), 5 yards. Q2 5:35, 3rd-and-5.
Pre-snap movement. Bright-line. Correct. Wt 1.

False Start — Cade Otton (TB), 5 yards. Q2 2:56, 1st-and-10.
Pre-snap movement. Bright-line. Correct. Wt 1.

False Start — Cody Mauch (TB), 5 yards. Q2 0:25, 2nd-and-10.
Pre-snap movement. Bright-line. Correct. Wt 1.

Defensive Holding — J. Johnson (CHI), 5 yards. Q2 0:25, 2nd-and-15.
Defensive holding flag on Johnson. Available tape and the user’s All-22 review show the contact does not meet the standard for defensive holding. Incorrect. Wt 2.

Third Quarter

Bucky Irving scores from 2 yards. CHI 17, TB 13.

Offensive Holding — D’Marco Jackson (CHI), 10 yards. Q3 11:37 (Flag of the Game).
Zavion Thomas fields the kickoff at the Chicago 8 and returns it 91 yards to the Tampa Bay 1 (pushed out of bounds). Officials flag Jackson for holding. The 10-yard penalty is enforced from the Chicago 30, leaving the Bears at their own 20. Available angles and slow-motion replays show an open-palm block on the chest/shoulder area with no sustained grab of the jersey or restriction that meets the holding standard. Josh Blackwell called it a “terrible call” that “took a touchdown off the board for nothing that was really even there.” Broadcast rules analysis did not support a hold. This is not borderline. Horrible. Wt 4. Erased a near-touchdown or first-and-goal at the 1. We will get into this more with our Flag of the Game highlight.

False Start — Luke Goedeke (TB), 5 yards. Q3 10:31, 1st-and-10.
Pre-snap movement. Bright-line. Correct. Wt 1.

Offensive Holding — Stephen Carlson (CHI), 9 yards. Q3 7:26, 3rd-and-1.
Holding flag on Carlson. Judgment call on technique. Available angles show borderline restriction. Arguable. Wt 2.

Offensive Holding — Bauer Sharp (TB), 10 yards. Q3 6:52, 1st-and-10.
Holding flag on Sharp. Judgment call. Arguable. Wt 2.

False Start — Jack Sanborn (CHI), 5 yards. Q3 0:33, 4th-and-4.
Pre-snap movement. Bright-line. Correct. Wt 1.

Jaylon Johnson intercepts Baker Mayfield and returns it 67 yards for a touchdown. CHI 24, TB 13.

Fourth Quarter

McLaughlin field goal. CHI 24, TB 16.

Delay of Game — Unnamed (TB), 5 yards. Q4 11:28, 4th-and-4.
Clock expires. Bright-line. Correct. Wt 1.

Delay of Game — Unnamed (CHI), 5 yards. Q4 8:10, 4th-and-7.
Clock expires. Bright-line. Correct. Wt 1.

False Start — Tristan Wirfs (TB), 5 yards. Q4 7:25, 2nd-and-3.
Pre-snap movement. Bright-line. Correct. Wt 1.

Face Mask — Austin Booker (CHI), 15 yards. Q4 7:19, 3rd-and-8.
Booker is flagged for grabbing the facemask while sacking Mayfield. Clear contact. Correct. Wt 2.

Offensive Holding — Cam Lewis (CHI), 10 yards. Q4 4:41, 4th-and-11.
Holding flag on Lewis. Judgment call on special teams or coverage technique. Arguable. Wt 2.

Unnecessary Roughness — Anthony Robinson (TB), declined. Q4 0:03.
Flagged on the final play sequence; declined. Bright-line if enforced. Correct (declined). Wt 1.

No-call: Helmet-to-helmet hit on Luther Burden III by Rueben Bain Jr. (fumble + concussion).
Late fourth quarter, third-and-long near the Bears’ own 15–17. Williams throws a short screen to Burden. Bain delivers clear helmet-to-helmet contact. Burden’s head is driven into the turf; he is knocked unconscious, fumbles, and is diagnosed with a concussion (confirmed by Ben Johnson postgame). Ifeatu Melifonwu recovers. No flag. The contact is forcible to the head/neck area on a player who had just caught the ball and was still a receiver. It is not incidental shoulder-to-chest. The play produces a turnover that Tampa Bay converts into a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie the game at 24. Incorrect (no-call). Wt 4. Had the flag been thrown, the fumble is wiped, Chicago keeps the ball with a 15-yard penalty and automatic first down, and the tying score does not happen on that possession.

Bears answer with a drive featuring a 38-yard pass to Colston Loveland. Santos hits the 38-yard walk-off field goal. CHI 27, TB 24 final.

Calls and No-Calls Against Chicago (every accepted flag + covered no-calls, individual lines)

Chicago accepted: 9–74. Every accepted flag listed individually above, plus the covered no-call.

Calls and No-Calls Against Tampa Bay (every accepted flag + covered no-calls, individual lines)

Tampa Bay accepted: 8–45. Every accepted flag listed individually above.

Crew card (Ronald Torbert): Accepted flags mostly Correct on bright-line process fouls (false starts, delays of game, kickoff short, face mask, unnecessary roughness on Thomas). One Horrible against Chicago (Jackson holding that wiped the Thomas return). One Incorrect against Chicago (defensive holding on Johnson). One Incorrect no-call against the Bucs (Bain helmet-to-helmet on Burden that produced the fumble and concussion). No Horrible flags against Tampa Bay.

Differential. Accepted volume is close (9–74 vs. 8–45), but the two Weight-4 items both hurt Chicago: the Horrible holding call that erased a near-touchdown return, and the Incorrect no-call on the Burden hit that flipped possession and produced the tying score. Those two snaps represent the largest officiating swing of the night. The game was ultimately decided by the Bears’ defense (Jaylon Johnson pick-six) and Santos’s walk-off kick more than by the cumulative process flags.

Grade: One Horrible and one Incorrect against Chicago; one Incorrect no-call against Tampa Bay. Otherwise clean enough on the process tape.

Flag of the Game: Offensive holding on D’Marco Jackson, third quarter.

Early in the third quarter, Tampa Bay had just cut the lead to 17–13 on Bucky Irving’s 2-yard touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, Zavion Thomas fielded the ball at the Chicago 8 and raced 91 yards down the left sideline to the Tampa Bay 1, where he was pushed out of bounds. Tracking data later showed Thomas reached 21.8 mph (fourth-fastest ball-carrier speed of the season) and covered 111.5 yards of total distance on the return. It was the closest he has come to a return touchdown this year.

Officials flagged linebacker D’Marco Jackson for offensive holding. The 10-yard penalty was enforced from the Chicago 30, leaving the Bears at their own 20 — a net loss of roughly 79 yards of field position. Chicago gained seven yards on the next three plays and punted. The near-score was erased.

Available angles and slow-motion replays show Jackson delivering an open-palm block into the chest/shoulder area of a Buccaneers defender. There is no sustained grab of the jersey, no wrapping of the arm, and no clear restriction that meets the standard for offensive holding on a special-teams return.Broadcast rules analysis did not support the call. The contact is the kind of physical engagement that occurs on nearly every kickoff return block.

Player reaction (Josh Blackwell, postgame):
“Terrible call. I didn’t think it was a good call. You just took a touchdown off the board for nothing that was really even there. That’s annoying.”

Fan and media reaction (selected):

• “That’s really bad.”
• “Horrible call.”
• “That wasn’t even holding.”
• “Bulls—t call!”
• “AWFUL CALL.”
• “Fake a-s penalty.”
• “Soft f——-g call.”
• “A flag negates a beautiful 92-yard kickoff return by Zavion Thomas. That was NOT a penalty.”
• “Zero accountability, zero repercussions, same [expletive] every week.”
• Chicago Sun-Times: “A D’Marco Jackson hold — questionable, but a hold — brought back a 91-yard kickoff return by Zavion Thomas.”
• One write-up called it a “phantom penalty.”

Jackson’s flag alone shifted Chicago’s starting position by approximately 79 yards. The Bears went from first-and-goal at the 1 (or a near-touchdown) to needing 80 yards. In a game that finished 27–24, the swing was massive. Replay cannot review the judgment of whether holding occurred; only the administration of the penalty is reviewable. The call stands as one of the clearest examples this season of a non-existent hold wiping a game-changing special-teams play.

UFR grade remains Horrible, Weight 4. It is not borderline. It is not a close judgment call. It is an egregiously wrong flag that removed a near-touchdown and handed the Buccaneers a massive field-position advantage in a one-score game.

League File — Broncos vs. Panthers, Nov. 8.
Devon Key end-zone interception after Sean Payton challenge-flag timing.

Bryce Young’s pass to Tommy Tremble in the end zone is tipped and intercepted by Broncos safety Devon Key before the ball hits the ground. Officials rule incomplete. Carolina lines up and snaps the next play (Chuba Hubbard stuffed at the 1). After the play ends, officials announce a challenge was granted.

NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth told the pool reporter that replay angles confirmed Payton’s red challenge flag was out prior to the snap, so the challenge was permitted. The review overturned the call to an interception (touchback). Denver took over, drove for a touchdown, and won 26–21.

The interception itself is clear on the tape. The process controversy is whether the flag was timely. Officials used additional angles to confirm it was out before the snap. On broadcast and some sideline views it looked extremely close or after. Under the rule as applied by the replay center, the challenge was allowed. The sequence is unusual: a full play was run before the challenge was processed. Weight 4 (turnover that flipped a potential score into a touchback and subsequent Denver score).

College Flag Focus — Texas vs. Missouri (Nov. 7, 2026). No. 7 Texas 34, No. 18 Missouri 20.

Focus play: Arch Manning “fumble” ruled incomplete forward pass.
Third-and-10, Missouri leading 20–13 late in the third. Manning is hit by Brian Huff as he begins his throwing motion. The ball comes out forward, travels ~14 yards downfield, and is recovered by Texas. Officials rule fumble on the field. Replay upholds. Texas keeps the ball and scores a touchdown three plays later to tie the game, then scores 21 unanswered.

The ball leaves Manning’s hand with clear forward movement as part of a pass attempt. There is no immediate recovery by Texas; the ball is loose and travels downfield before a Texas player gathers it. Rules analysis (Steve Shaw on the broadcast) noted that any intentional forward movement of the hand with control makes it an incomplete pass. Commenttors Joe Tessitore and Jesse Palmer ciriticized the call. The ruling on the field and the upheld review treat it as a fumble. This is Incorrect (and borderline Horrible given the impact). Weight 4. It wiped a likely punt and produced a tying touchdown.

Additional reviews that all went against Missouri:

• Missed intentional grounding on Manning (no flag).
• Overturn of a caught pass by replay against Missouri.
• Receiver with a toe down, ball ruled no catch.
• Rushing touchdown where the ball appears to break the plane over the pylon; too close for a clear-and-obvious overturn, yet ruled short or incomplete.

Five or more reviews went against the Tigers. The Manning fumble is the clearest and most consequential. The University of Missouri Athletic Director has requested a formal review.

But what did you think about the officiating, in the college games, in the NFL, and in the Bears v. Buccaneers game this week? Tell us in the comments below!