Bears survive Caleb Williams' four interceptions, beat Buccaneers 27-24 on final-play kick
Caleb Williams threw a career-high four interceptions, then set up Cairo Santos' walk-off field goal as the Chicago Bears beat Tampa Bay 27-24 to reach 7-2.
The Chicago Bears won a game Sunday night that they spent most of the evening trying to give away. Caleb Williams threw a career-high four interceptions, the Bears turned the ball over five times and let a 14-point first-quarter lead disappear, and they still beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-24 when Cairo Santos made a 38-yard field goal as time expired at Soldier Field.
Williams said afterward that the mistakes would not make him more careful. "I don't get gun shy," he told ESPN's Courtney Cronin, and he backed it up on the last drive. Chicago got the ball with 2:51 left and all three timeouts, and Williams found tight end Colston Loveland open for 38 yards to put Santos in range. According to ESPN, it was the first time all season the Bears needed a winning drive from their quarterback in the fourth quarter or overtime. He had six of those in 2025.
The interceptions were out of character. ESPN reported that Williams had thrown four interceptions total over his previous 15 regular-season games. Tampa Bay blitzed him on 66% of his dropbacks, and three of the four picks came against pressure. Two came on throws he meant to put out of bounds. Another came at the goal line, when he admitted he "got greedy" trying to hit Rome Odunze between two defenders. The blitz worked against the Bucs, too: both of his touchdown passes came against it.
The costliest turnover was the last one. Luther Burden III, who scored in the first half, took a helmet-to-helmet hit on Chicago's second-to-last drive and lost the ball deep in Bears territory. Bucky Irving ran in from 6 yards and Baker Mayfield converted the 2-point try to tie it at 24. Ben Johnson said after the game that Burden had a concussion, according to the Chicago Tribune's Sean Hammond as cited by Sports Illustrated. That leaves his status in question, and more of the passing game could shift to Odunze, Loveland and Kalif Raymond.
Johnson admitted he was unhappy with how the game went but said there was value in finally winning a tight game late. ESPN Research found the Bears are only the third team in 20 seasons to commit at least five turnovers, win, and never trail.
What it means for the Saints game
At 7-2, Chicago has won four straight and hasn't trailed at any point in any of them. In that stretch the Bears have outscored Tampa Bay, Seattle, New England and Atlanta 122-88. They have scored 241 points and allowed 184 this season, a margin of 57. Both losses were games where the offense didn't show up: 9-3 at home against Minnesota and 31-7 at Green Bay.
New Orleans visits on Sunday, Nov. 22, on Fox. That gives Chicago nearly two weeks before its next kickoff. The extra time matters most for Burden, who will have to clear the concussion protocol. It also gives Johnson's staff time to work on the blitz problem Tampa Bay exposed, since the Saints will have seen the film. The Bears are 4-1 at home this season, and their only home loss was to the Vikings. A cleaner game from Williams against New Orleans would keep Chicago near the top of the NFC.