Chicago, IL — Tampa Bay jumped out to a 13-0 lead and looked like they would cruised to a victory. But the Bears turned it around in a flash, with two touchdowns in the final 1:48 of the half.
Nick Foles and the Chicago Bears made some adjustments on offense in the second half to slide past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-19 on Thursday night after Cairo Santos kicked a 38-yard field goal through the uprights with 1:17 left in the game.
Safety DeAndre Houston-Carson broke up Brady’s fourth-down pass with 33 seconds left in the contest after Santos kicked the go-ahead field goal. There was some confusion on Brady part because he put up four fingers, as if he had one more down. The Bears took possession and came away with the slim victory.
“I know we needed a chunk and I was thinking about more yardage and it was bad execution,” Brady said. “I had a great opportunity there. Just didn’t execute when we needed to.”
Tom Brady threw for 253 yards and one touchdown. The Bucs (3-2) had their three-game win streak snapped.
“It was a fistfight,” said Foles, acquired from Jacksonville in an offseason trade. “It reminded me of like, a good old fistfight from Philly. Now, I get to do it in Chicago. I really enjoyed getting in the locker room and celebrating with my teammates. I’m probably a little more tired than I thought I’d be just because of everything, but I’ll sleep well tonight. I think everyone is really excited about the victory.”
Chicago linebacker Khalil Mack ramped up the pressure in the second half had two sacks, and the Bears (4-1) bounced back from a horrible loss to the Colts.
Nick Foles completed 30 of 42 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown in his second start after replacing Trubisky.
“All in all, the offense made plays when they had to and I think that’s one of the special traits that I think Nick has,” coach Matt Nagy said.
After Chicago marched down the field for a 75-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes of the half, a controversial turnover that was ruled only after video review handed the ball back to the Bears deep in the Buccaneers’ territory. Chicago made good of the excellent field position with another touchdown, and the Bucs looked stunned heading into the half, now down 14-13.
The Bears Allen Robinson had 90 yards receiving. Tight end Jimmy Graham caught a touchdown pass and David Montgomery ran for a score.
Ryan Succop kicked four field goals, including a 25-yarder to give the Bucs a 19-17 lead with 4:49 remaining.
Tampa Bay committed 11 penalties for 109 yards in losing for the first time since the opener at New Orleans.
The Bucs were banged-up on offense side of the ball, but it wasn’t the skill positions that struggled Thursday night. Ronald Jones II ran for 100 yards for the second straight week, Mike Evans caught his sixth touchdown in five games this season, and rookie Tyler Johnson led the team with 61 yards on four receptions. Rob Gronkowski had his best game in a Buc uniform, catching three passes for 52 yards.
“I think turnovers, penalties, field position all those lead to points and it comes down to third down, red area, ultimately, you are trying to score more points than the other team and turnovers are a big part of it and penalties are another big part of that because you are not possessing the football if you are third and long yardage,” Brady said. “You need to have clean games where you stay ahead on down and distance.”
