If you’re a long-time fan of the Chicago Bears, then this 27 to 24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers must have felt familiar. The offense kept shooting itself in the foot, so the defense had to bail them out, and then the special teams won it in the end.
The Bears looked unstoppable early, but after jumping out to a 14-point lead, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. But this team found a way to win, and if it felt like “the Bears are who we thought they were” type of game, you’d be right.
The Bears became just the second team in NFL history to win a primetime game despite throwing at least four interceptions and rushing for fewer than 75 yards. The first team to do it was the 2006 Chicago Bears against the Cardinals in the “the Bears are who we thought they were” game.
Last night the Bucs had more total yards (352 to 349), more first downs (18 to 15), ran more plays (64 to 60), and had the time-of-possession edge (32:52 to 27:08). They also had fewer penalties, with 8 for 45 yards to 9 for 74 for Chicago.
The Bears did get the better of the Bucs on third downs as Tampa Bay was just 2-12 (16.7%) to Chicago’s 7-13 (53.8%).
Tampa Bay’s record may not look it, but that’s a good football team that just happened to run into a better one on Sunday night.
This nugget from CBS Sports’ Doug Clawson shows just how good the Bucs have been playing. “The Bucs are the 1st team with 1,000+ rush yards and 17+ takeaways in a 5-game span since the 1985 Bears.”
And this nugget from OptaSTATS shows how much the Bears had to overcome to get the victory, as they are the only team in NFL history to have 5+ turnovers, 9+ penalties, have no 10+ yard rushes, blow a 14+ point lead, and yet still win the game.
Let’s look at the Bears’ playing-time breakdown and a few individual stats from the game.
OFFENSE
This was one of the worst games of Caleb Williams’ career, and the first time he ever threw four interceptions in a game. After the game, he immediately recalled that he threw three picks once in high school and threw three in one game in college. Considering he’s one of the least-intercepted quarterbacks in league history, I’ll view this stinker as an anomaly. He’ll learn from it and come out after the bye focused, playing like the same Caleb we’ve gotten used to.
Despite the poor performance, he did lead the offense down the field on a game-winning drive, which was his first this year after a league-leading 6 a season ago.
DEFENSE
Statistically, Jeffery Simmons had a “quieter” game than his debut, but he still filled the stat sheet, and his presence allowed his teammates to make plays. Simmons plays with a high motor (and he only missed 2 snaps), and that’s infectious to the entire unit. If Simmons can chase wide receiver Emeka Egbuka 20 yards downfield to make a tackle, then every other defender can play with that same kind of effort.
Devin Bush had a season-high in tackles and passes defended.
Grady Jarrett and Shemar Turner picked up their first sacks of the year. Turner’s was his first career sack.
Montez Sweat had his most tackles in a game since he had 7 on October 26, 2025.
SPECIAL TEAMS*
*The above image has players who only played in the third phase.
Cairo Santos was 3 for 3 on extra points and made both field goals, including the 38-yard game-winner.
Tory Taylor punted 4 times for a 40.3-yard average, and he had 1 blocked for a second straight game.
Zavion Thomas had a 29.3-yard average of the 3 kickoffs that counted.
Kalif Raymond had 6 punt returns for 48 yards and 1 fumble that he recovered.
Roschon Johnson had 2 special teams tackles.
To check out the complete Bears vs. Bucs box score, I find ESPN’s site is easy to navigate.
All statistics and snap counts, as well as the accompanying pictures, are taken directly from the NFL’s Game Statistic and Information System.
