Bears' Win Over Buccaneers Came Despite Two Costly Officiating Misses, Review Finds
A play-by-play officiating review of the Bears' 27-24 win over Tampa Bay finds the two biggest misses both cost Chicago.
The Chicago Bears beat Tampa Bay 27-24 on a walk-off field goal, and a snap-by-snap review of the officiating says they had to overcome the two most damaging decisions of the night to do it. Donald Gooch's weekly film review for Windy City Gridiron, SB Nation's Bears site, graded every accepted flag and every major no-call from Ronald Torbert's crew. It found that both of the game's highest-impact misses went against Chicago.
The first came early in the third quarter, just after Bucky Irving's touchdown cut the Bears' lead to 17-13. Zavion Thomas caught the kickoff at his own 8 and ran it 91 yards before being pushed out at the Tampa Bay 1. Linebacker D'Marco Jackson was flagged for holding, which put the ball back at the Chicago 20. That is a swing of roughly 79 yards. The Bears went three-and-out. Gooch graded it the worst call of the game, saying replays showed an open-palm block with no sustained grab. Josh Blackwell was blunter after the game, calling it a "terrible call" that took points off the board, according to the review. Not everyone went that far: the Chicago Sun-Times called the hold questionable but still a hold.
The second came late in the fourth. Rookie linebacker Rueben Bain Jr. hit Luther Burden III helmet to helmet right after a short catch deep in Bears territory. No flag was thrown. Burden fumbled, Tampa Bay recovered and turned the takeaway into a touchdown and two-point conversion that tied the game at 24. Gooch argued that the correct call would have wiped out the fumble and given Chicago a 15-yard penalty and a first down. Instead, the Bears needed a 38-yard catch by Colston Loveland and a 38-yard Cairo Santos field goal to win it.
Accepted penalties were close in number, nine for 74 yards against Chicago and eight for 45 against Tampa Bay. Most of the Buccaneers' flags were simple procedural fouls, including five false starts. The review also flagged a defensive holding call on Jaylon Johnson as incorrect. Johnson still had the biggest play of the night, a 67-yard interception return for a touchdown.
The fallout that matters most is Burden's health. Ben Johnson said after the game that the receiver suffered a concussion, ProFootball Talk reported. Burden has to clear the league's concussion protocol, and the bye week gives him extra time to do it.
What it means for the Saints game
The Bears are 7-2 and have won four straight, beating Atlanta, New England, Seattle and now Tampa Bay. The two losses came against division opponents, 9-3 at home to Minnesota and 31-7 at Green Bay. New Orleans visits Soldier Field on Sunday, November 22, on Fox. Burden's status will be the main health question that week, since he caught a 56-yard touchdown from Caleb Williams in the first quarter against the Buccaneers.
The market expects a comfortable Chicago win. On this site's board, which tracks seven venues, the Bears are favored at -545 on the moneyline at Novig. The best price anywhere on Chicago is DraftKings at -485. The Saints are +441 at Novig. The spread is Chicago -9.5 everywhere, priced at -115 on Novig and -110 at DraftKings. The total sits between 48.5 and 49.5 depending on the venue. Sportsbook hold runs 4.2% to 4.6% on the moneyline, so the gap between venues is small but real, mostly on the price of the favorite.