Sunday night's Bears-Bucs game possessed the major ingredients necessary for a Chicago fan freakout. Franchise quarterback Caleb Williams looked lost for much of the action, throwing four interceptions and stalling on three second-half three-and-outs. The team as a whole, meanwhile, surrendered a first-half 17-3 lead, allowing the game-tying touchdown following a fumble in the final stages of the fourth quarter. But the concerns one would have about the Bears' offense feel relatively minor today, because despite all their errors, a buzzer-beating Cairo Santos field goal and a stout defensive performance allowed Chicago to notch their fourth straight win, improving to 7-2 as they fight for first place in the NFL's toughest division.
The first nine minutes at Soldier Field were a party. The Buccaneers, entering the game as clear underdogs but coming off their two best outings of the season, got steamrolled, allowing a pair of Williams TD passes while mustering just six yards of their own. From that point on, however, everything became a struggle. Williams chucked a pick near the end zone to conclude a drive, then tossed another on his very next chance when he tried and failed to loft the ball out of bounds to avoid a sack. Before halftime arrived, he'd gift a third pass to the defense, making a silly decision to just huck the ball forward under pressure. Watching from afar, it felt like Williams's early success had put him in a consequence-free mindset on the field, and in his postgame it did very much sound like confidence was the culprit.
"I'm going to throw until I can't throw anymore," Williams said. "That's how I live. I work my tail off to be in this position. I'll never not throw the ball. I could throw 100 picks in one game. ... That's how I grew up. That's who I am. I don't get gun shy."
Williams is able to brag about his conviction because the Bears defense continually bailed him out after these turnovers. Earlier in the season, the D had to work in tandem with the offense to produce results, limiting their opponents' scoring in large part by leading the league in time of possession. But in the last two weeks, they've become a different animal, because the attention drawn by just-acquired lineman Jeffery Simmons makes life easier for all the other players on the unit. Despite losing the TOP battle in this game, these guys took advantage on play after play to stymie Tampa's advances. After Williams's first interception, they stuffed QB Baker Mayfield on a fourth-and-one run. After his second, they forced a quick punt in the Bucs' own end. His third did lead to a Tampa field goal, but his fourth was followed by Jaylon Johnson swiping one right back and taking it to the house. Their own success was contrasted with the Bucs' defining mistake of the ballgame, when they accidentally left Colston Loveland way the hell open for a 38-yard pass on the game-winning drive.
This defensive dominance, which also included four sacks on Mayfield, brought back memories of the 2006 Bears, who more than made up for Rex Grossman's inadequacies at quarterback with a defense capable of leading the team to the Super Bowl. Williams is an infinitely more impressive playmaker than Grossman, but this was, in fact, the first time since '06 that the Bears won a contest in which they were responsible for five giveaways—the infamous "The Bears are who we thought they were!" game. On paper, it should have been a sobering, take-it-on-the-chin setback for Chicago. But the defense, at least when they weren't forced to take the field inside their own 20, looked practically invincible.
And invincible is almost the standard for the NFC North so far this year. The Vikings, Lions, and Packers all have their flaws, too, but this division sets the pace for the rest of the NFL. Minnesota is 6-1, about to challenge Buffalo on Monday night. The Lions won their fourth straight on Sunday in Miami, right after handing the Vikes their first loss. And the Packers, at 6-3, just delivered a haymaker to the Patriots in Sunday's most-anticipated match-up. Everybody is breathless trying to keep up with everybody else, and the Bears squeaking out a messy half-great and half-awful home-field escape act keeps them within spitting distance of their rivals. What could just as easily have been an embarrassing wipeout is instead another step forward.
