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.
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.
