Bears rookie wide receiver Zavion Thomas hasn’t had a lot of production so far this season, and he may have even less after head coach Ben Johnson benched him during Sunday night’s win over the Buccaneers.
In the second quarter, with the Bears at the Buccaneers’ 6-yard line, Thomas got into a shoving match with Buccaneers cornerback Jacob Parrish and was flagged for unnecessary roughness, moving the Bears back to the 21-yard line. On the next play, Caleb Williams threw an interception, on a play that wouldn’t have been called if the Bears were still at the 6, ending a promising drive. Johnson was not happy.
Asked after the game whether he said anything to Thomas, Johnson answered, “Yeah, I don’t know that he played on offense after that.”
Johnson didn’t need to say any more than to tell Thomas he wouldn’t be going back into the game on offense. (Thomas did keep playing on kickoff returns.) Thomas is a speedy receiver and a talented playmaker, but Johnson wants him to know that he’s not good enough to get away with committing 15-yard penalties.
Bucs Clips
The Buccaneers forced five turnovers on Sunday night, and that still wasn’t enough to win at Soldier Field. The Chicago defense had something to do with that.
After the game, grievances were aired about the Bears defense.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield says that Bears players were barking out the cadence, prompting Bucs offensive linemen to commit false starts. Right tackle Luke Goedeke had a more specific gripe, about new Bears defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.
Via Kalyn Kahler of ESPN, Goedeke explained why he had a couple of moments with Simmons on Sunday night.
“I mean, you’re holding me on one, you came right at my head,” Goedeke told Kahler. “I mean, that’s always fun. He’s known for it on pass pro, just holding the tackle so that the DE can run free, so I got that twice. So that’s always a good one. But, yesh, just kind of going back and forth. I mean, respect the guy, but some of the stuff he can really take out of his game. It’s just kind of old, to be honest.”
Goedeke added that Simmons is known for holding the tackle so that the defensive end can get a free run at the quarterback. Asked whether Goedeke talks to the officials about it, he said, “It won’t get called.”
Goedeke said “not too many other” defensive tackles use that technique. “I think maybe it happens too fast,” he said. “I mean, I have told the refs multiple times. It’s what happens, and nothing happens, nothing changes. So it is what it is.”
It will be interesting to see whether it continues, if it’s indeed happening. It also will be interesting to see whether officials watch more closely in an effort to catch Simmons in the act.
Whatever he’s doing, it’s effective. On a night when the Chicago offense was coughing up the football like a cat with a gullet full of hairballs, Simmons and the defense basically saved the day.
And whatever he was doing apparently worked. On a night when the Bears probably should have lost, they won. Simmons had a lot to do with that.
The Buccaneers were flagged for five false starts on Sunday night, and quarterback Baker Mayfield said at least one of them was caused by an illegal tactic by the Bears.
Mayfield said left tackle Tristan Wirfs jumped when Bears players yelled Mayfield’s cadence, something that is a penalty when the officials notice it but is hard for the officials to know. Mayfield said he’s not sure what else the Bucs could have done.
“I don’t know,” Mayfield said. “The last one, I know they were barking out the cadence, which you can’t do that. It’s tough for the refs to call that because they’re not right there at the line of scrimmage. They called that on Tristan, but you can’t do that.”
That last false start Mayfield referenced came during a brutal stretch for the Bucs’ offense: Immediately after that false start, Mayfield was hit while throwing an incomplete pass, and on the next three plays Mayfield was sacked, although one of the sacks was wiped out by a penalty. The Bucs’ offensive line looked out of sorts, and Mayfield thinks the Bears’ cheating was a contributing factor.
It was a wild one in Chicago, but the Bears were able to pull out a 27-24 victory over the Buccaneers and move to 7-2 on the season.
Caleb Williams and the Bears’ offense started out white hot, but an interception midway through the second quarter threw off the unit for nearly the rest of the night. Williams ended up tossing four interceptions — the most in a single game he’s had in his college or pro career.
But even with five giveaways — Luther Burden also had a fumble in the fourth quarter — the Buccaneers scored just 10 points off of them. Tampa Bay couldn’t turn a blocked punt into points either, despite getting the ball at midfield.
Chicago began the game with a 14-0 lead, as Williams tossed touchdowns to Rome Odunze and Burden. The Buccaneers got on the board with Chase McLaughlin’s 27-yard field goal in the second quarter before Cairo Santos hit from 25 yards to make the score 17-3 with 3:02 left in the half. McLaughlin drilled a 21-yard field goal to end the half, with Bucs head coach Todd Bowles explaining in his halftime interview on the NBC broadcast that he felt his team could score to start the third quarter.
That turned into reality, as Bucky Irving scored a 2-yard touchdown to cap Tampa Bay’s opening drive in the second half, narrowing Chicago’s lead to 17-13.
While Williams threw his fourth interception, Baker Mayfield then threw a pick of his own to Jaylon Johnson, who returned it 67 yards for a touchdown.
McLaughlin again made it a one-possession game with a 35-yard field goal with 11:24 in the fourth quarter. Then Burden’s fumble gave the Buccaneers the opportunity to tie it deep in Bears territory, with Irving scoring on a 6-yard run. Mayfield made the two-point conversion successful by scrambling up the middle to the end zone.
But even with the offensive challenges, the Bears got the play they needed to win it. Williams connected with Colton Loveland for a 38-yard pass all the way down to the Tampa Bay 16.
After running time off the clock, Santos sent the ball through the uprights as the fourth quarter expired for a 38-yard, game-winning field goal.
Williams finished the contest 22-of-37 for 279 yards with two touchdowns and four picks. Burden led with seven catches for 97 yards with a TD. He had to be examined in the sideline medical tent after his fumble in the fourth quarter and was subsequently taken back to the locker room for further evaluation.
Mayfield finished 18-of-32 for 243 yards with two picks. Irving had 97 yards on 20 carries with two TDs, plus four catches for 28 yards.
With the win, the Bears are 7-2 in the league’s best division — as all teams in the NFC North have at least six wins. Chicago will be on its bye in Week 10 before hosting the Saints in Week 11.
At 3-6, the Buccaneers will also be on their bye in Week 10. They’ll look to get back on track on the road against the Lions in Week 11.
Though they didn’t score off a blocked punt in the third quarter, the Buccaneers did get another takeaway with a fourth interception off Caleb Williams.
But Tampa Bay couldn’t score off that either.
Instead, Jaylon Johnson picked off Baker Mayfield and returned it for a 67-yard touchdown to push Chicago’s lead to 24-13 with 3:39 left in the third period.
Mayfield was clearly targeting Cade Otton on the second-and-9 play following an interception by Bucs linebacker Alex Anzalone. That’s part of why Johnson was able to easily step in front of the throw and dart back down the field.
Mayfield was effectively the only man to beat, and he got blocked as Johnson made his way to the end zone.
The Buccaneers have now picked up four interceptions and a blocked punt and scored just three points off of those plays.
In his halftime interview with NBC, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said that he didn’t go for a touchdown to close the second quarter largely because his team was going to receive the second-half kickoff with a chance to double up.
Now that opportunity has become reality.
Bucky Irving put a 2-yard run in the end zone, cutting Chicago’s lead to 17-13 with 11:37 left in the third quarter.
The score was set up by a 58-yard pass from Baker Mayfield to Tez Johnson.
That came after Mayfield had converted third-and-3 with a 7-yard pass to Chris Godwin.
It was a big boost to an offense that had scored just three points off three interceptions in the first half.
Mayfield is now 13-of-21 for 204 yards.
On the injury front, Bears defensive back Tyrique Stevenson is questionable to return with a hand injury. Chicago cornerback Kyler Gordon also went down on Mayfield’s deep pass to Johnson, holding his left arm as he came off the field.
Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield is out with an ankle injury.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams started out hot on Sunday night, but three second-quarter interceptions have allowed the Buccaneers to stay in it. But Tampa Bay hasn’t been able to do much with all the extra opportunities.
Chicago leads 17-6 at halftime.
With a 14-3 lead in the second quarter, the Bears looked like they were about to go up 21-3, as they’d faced little resistance from Tampa Bay’s defense.
But on second-and-21, Williams was looking for Rome Odunze in the end zone when Tykee Smith stepped in front of the pass to pick it off. The Bucs gave it right back when Baker Mayfield was stuffed on a QB sneak on fourth-and-1 from their own 35.
Williams gave it away again on his next pass, when he heaved a downfield throw while getting hit. That pass was picked off by Zyon McCollum.
But again, the Bucs got nothing out of it, as they had to punt.
Williams’ third interception came on what looked like a throwaway attempt. But McCollum was able to pick off another with a dive, and the play was reversed upon review.
Chase McLaughlin hit a 21-yard field goal as time expired in the second half, as head coach Todd Bowles decided not to go for a touchdown with the clock stopped at :03.
That meant the Buccaneers managed just three points off of three second-quarter takeaways.
A week after not completing a single pass in a victory, Baker Mayfield is 11-of-19 passing for 139 yards with an interception. The Bucs are just 1-of-6 on third down.
Williams is 14-of-23 for 193 yards with two touchdowns and three picks. It’s his first multi-turnover game since Week 3 of his rookie season in 2024. Williams had never thrown three picks as a pro before this game.
Luther Burden has three catches for 81 yards with a touchdown. Rome Odunze has four receptions for 60 yards with a TD.
The Bears are 6-of-7 on third down.
Tampa Bay will receive the second-half kickoff with a chance to double up.
The last time the Bears played at home, Luther Burden went off for 130 yards.
He’s picking up right where he left off.
Caleb Williams connected with Burden on third-and-8 with a short pass over the middle, and Burden turned on the jets to outrun the Tampa Bay defense and score a 56-yard touchdown.
It’s the fourth touchdown reception of the season for Burden.
So far, the Bears have converted all three of their third-down attempts on their first two drives.
The Buccaneers went three-and-out on their opening possession. After going 0-of-3 passing last week in heavy rain, Baker Mayfield completed his first passing attempt of the day for a 3-yard gain.
It took a couple of attempts, but Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze connected for a score on Chicago’s opening drive to take a 7-0 lead over Tampa Bay.
It’s Williams’ seventh passing touchdown of the season, as the young quarterback looked sharp on the Bears’ first set of plays.
He moved the chains with a 7-yard scramble on third-and-6. Then he got another first down with his legs with a 4-yard scramble.
A pass to receiver Zavion Thomas put the Bears on the 13-yard line. While Odunze originally appeared to have brought in a 13-yard touchdown over the middle in the end zone, he had actually bobbled the ball and didn’t secure possession until he was out of bounds.
So, after a D’Andre Swift 4-yard run, Williams went to Odunze again on third-and-6. This time, a wide-open Odunze slid and caught it for his first receiving touchdown of the season.
The Buccaneers will have one of their key offensive players for Sunday night’s game against the Bears.
But Chicago will not.
Bucs receiver Emeka Egbuka is active for the contest after he was listed as questionable with a foot injury. He missed the last two games with the injury but was a full participant on Thursday and Friday’s injury reports.
Chicago running back Kyle Monangai, however, is out once again with thumb and toe injuries. Monangai was limited in practice on Friday.
For Tampa Bay, outside linebacker Yaya Diaby, cornerback Ayden Garnes, guard Trevor Keegan, guard Billy Schrauth, and defensive lineman DeMonte Capehart are all inactive.
For the Bears, Monangai, cornerback Malik Muhammad, linebacker Keyshaun Elliott, defenisve tackle Jayden Loving, and quarterback Case Keenum are inactive.
