Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams refused to let a career-high four interceptions rattle his confidence, leading Chicago to a 27-24 walk-off victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night. Williams connected with tight end Colston Loveland for a 38-yard reception that set up Cairo Santos' 38-yard winning field goal as time expired.
"I'm going to keep grippin' it, keep rippin' it," Williams said. The Bears committed five turnovers and surrendered a 14-point lead but never trailed. According to ESPN Research, they are the third team over the past 20 seasons to win and never trail in a game with at least five turnovers. Tampa Bay blitzed Williams on 66% of his dropbacks.
Chicago's final drive started with 2 minutes, 51 seconds remaining and all three timeouts. Wide receiver Luther Burden III lost a fumble after a helmet-to-helmet hit, leading to Bucky Irving's 6-yard touchdown and Baker Mayfield's 2-point conversion that tied it at 24-24. Coach Ben Johnson said his team was prepped for the crunch-time scenario.
It marked the first time this season the Bears needed Williams to engineer a winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime. Chicago has not trailed at any point over its past four games, all wins.
Source: ESPN NFL · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing