Bears QB Caleb Williams Throws Four INTs but Team Rallies to Defeat Buccaneers

CHICAGO -- When Caleb Williams threw his four interception of the night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that mistake could have snowballed into disaster for the Chicago Bears. 

The Buccaneers were down just four points and were on Chicago's side of the field with 4:32 remaining in the third quarter. But like the three previous interceptions, the defense anchored down, preventing their quarterback's mistake from becoming more than just that, a singular mistake. 

Linebacker Devin Bush delivered a huge hit on a run from wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, limiting him to a 1-yard gain. Then on second-and-9, veteran cornerback Jaylon Johnson made one of the biggest plays of the night. He jumped in front of tight end Cade Otton, intercepting quarterback Baker Mayfield. Defensive end Montez Sweat blocked the Buccaneers' quarterback to clear the path for Johnson to score on a pick-6.

“I think it was a big play all around," Bears head coach Ben Johnson said after the game. "You really could feel the momentum swing back in our favor after that one. He did a great job. I thought it was a great call by DA. Just mixing up some coverages on him, and he was in a great spot. And once again, I thought Sweat showing up and leading the way with the lead block there to spring us free. That was huge for us.”

The Bears would go on to win, 27-24, thanks to a Cairo Santos game-winning field goal, but this primetime matchup was defined by the complete team effort it took for Chicago to improve to 7-2 on the season heading into their Week 10 bye. 

Defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons made his Soldier Field debut on Sunday night and he spoke about the mentality that was needed to win this football game. 

"We got to continue to have each other's backs," Simmons said. "That's the game. That's the game of football. Sometimes the defense may be slow, but our offense did a hell of a job on that last drive. Go down there, Caleb, two minute situation to get them down there and get in field goal range, but sometimes when you playing defense it's just about drawing a line. Defend every blade of grass when you go out there, don't matter sudden change. When things like that happen, turnovers happen, it's a mindset. You draw a line, play the next play. We control the controlables, everyone do their job and I think we did a hell of a job today."

Despite Williams throwing four interceptions, three in the second quarter and the final one in the third quarter, the defense allowed just one field goal off of those mistakes. 

"That's just who we are, we always fight," Jaylon Johnson said. 

This team doesn't view mistakes, like Williams' interceptions or Luther Burden's fumble, as a road block they can't pass. It's a slight hiccup, and wide receiver Rome Odunze touched on that mindset in the postgame locker room. 

"At the end of the day, we go to the next play, focus on that play," Odunze said. "You can't change the past and you're going to have mistakes in the game, but it's just about executing the next play and try to get drives going."

This wasn't a pretty win by the Bears by any means, but it was a win and that is something the Bears can embrace as they head into the bye week. 

“It's hard to win with five turnovers, and yet we found a way to do it," Johnson said. "They know that we didn't play as well as we're capable of playing. But I believe the best is yet to come in terms of our football in the back half of this season. We'll continue to build that as we go forward. They need some rest right now. That's what they need. They need to get away from these coaches. We'll clean up some things over the next couple of days and get them free from us for a little bit.”