Bears defense saves the day vs. Buccaneers

Nam Y. Huh/AP SHARE COPY LINK Share CLOSE Twitter Facebook Bluesky Email Reddit Flipboard Yes, the ball landed in their cornerbacks’ arms, at times, as though it had been flown in via remote control. Yes, the opposing receivers dropped passes like they the ball was made of molten lava. But say this: the Bears built a defense that could win a game when their offense was just as bad Sunday night. The Bears beat the Buccaneers 27-24 in a slopfest because their defense overcame their offense. The Bucs helped, of course. They had five false starts. Their quarterback, Baker Mayfield, was worse than Caleb Williams. But the defense carrying the team to victory would have seemed impossible after Week 1, when the Bears outscored the Panthers 59-37, or Week 5, when the Packers hung 31 on the Bears. They improved to 7-2 despite Williams, whose four interceptions doubled his previous career high, and in spite of penalties that cost the Bears a kickoff return touchdown and, perhaps, a successful fake punt. They won despite the Bears going the entire third quarter without a first down. Credit cornerback Jaylon Johnson, whose struggles this season have been myriad and well-documented, returning a Mayfield pass 67 yards for a touchdown with about four minutes left in the third quarter. He ran up the left flank and into the north end zone for the second pick-six of his career, and first since 2023. Montez Sweat was his lead blocker, shoving Mayfield out of the way at the 15. Asked what he told Sweat, Johnson smiled and said, simply, “Thank you.” The Bears’ offense turned the ball over five times. Their defense gave up 11 points on the Bucs’ ensuing drives, with the lone touchdown coming after Luther Burden fumbled at the Bears’ 17 with 3:38 left in the game. He was concussed on the play. “That was really the story of the game — those guys stepping up,” coach Ben Johnson said. The Bears led 14-0 less than nine minutes into the game but watched their play degrade by the second. When Johnson intercepted the pass, the Bears were ahead by just four points. Soldier Field exhaled. “That’s just who we are — we always fight,” said Jaylon Johnson, who got the only game ball handed out by his head coach. Credit Cam Lewis, who started at safety and shuffled to slot cornerback when Kyler Gordon was briefly hurt in the third quarter, picked off Mayfield at the Bears’ 34 in the second quarter. And credit Jeffery Simmons, the Bears’ best defensive player, who ran a longer distance during the entirety of the first half than Bucs running back Bucky Irving. He sacked Mayfield with about six minutes left in the fourth quarter, one play after Austin Booker’s third-down sack was wiped out by the fact he grabbed Mayfield’s facemask. One play after Simmons’ sack, Daniel Hardy and Grady Jarrett shared a sack. Two plays later, the Bucs, down by eight, were forced to punt with about 4:30 to play. Simmons said he was double-teamed 99% of the time, but he found a way to make an impact. “How can I affect the game when I’m not hitting the quarterback?” he said. “When I’m not getting tackles for loss in the backfield? When teams know they’re not running the ball inside and are bouncing the ball outside. How can I be around the football? I took a lot of pride in being around the football. You just never know. The ball may pop out. I can force a fumble. I can save a touchdown just by running to the ball.” Sunday, they needed every ounce of his energy to win the game. “Once we put a complete game together, good luck,” Simmons said. SHARE COPY LINK Share CLOSE Twitter Facebook Bluesky Email Reddit Flipboard Patrick Finley Chicago Sun-Times Chicago Bears reporter Next Up In Chicago Bears Bears' Cairo Santos 'had to have my teammates’ backs' with game-winner Halas Intrigue podcast: Slopfest Bears' Jeffery Simmons: fans' orange tribute was 'amazing' Bears QB Caleb Williams on 4-interception game vs. Bucs: 'Going to keep gripping it and keep ripping it' Bears survive Caleb Williams' 4 interceptions to beat Buccaneers 27-24 on Cairo Santos' late field goal Bears' grades are in. How did they do against the Buccaneers?