Caleb Williams Threw Four Picks — and Still Beat the Bucs at the Gun

CHICAGO

Caleb Williams got the ball back with 2:51 left, the score tied, and four interceptions sitting on his line. Chicago started at its own 31. He hit Kalif Raymond for eight yards on third-and-4 to keep the drive breathing, then found Colston Loveland alone down the left side in the final minute — 38 yards, out of bounds at the Tampa Bay 16. Two kneel-downs bled the clock to three seconds. Cairo Santos drilled the 38-yarder as time expired, and the Bears walked off 27-24 winners in a game their quarterback spent three quarters trying to hand away.

The two quarterback lines read like a bet neither man would take. Williams finished 22 of 37 for 279 yards, two touchdowns and the four interceptions. Baker Mayfield went 18 of 32 for 243 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions of his own, and took four sacks. Chicago turned the ball over five times in all, and Tampa Bay turned those gifts into 11 points. On most nights that arithmetic ends the conversation. Sunday night it only set up the last drive.

Chicago led 14-0 before Tampa Bay settled in. Williams hit Rome Odunze for a 9-yard score, then Luther Burden III for 56 yards, both inside the first nine minutes. Then the interceptions came — three in the second quarter alone. Zyon McCollum got two of them, the second a diving pick at the Chicago 43 that replay awarded to Tampa Bay and cashed into a field goal before the half. Tykee Smith took another at the Tampa Bay 3. Alex Anzalone added the fourth in the third quarter, off a deflection. It was the first four-interception game of Williams' career, college included, per USA Today. He shrugged it off afterward. "I don't get gun shy," Williams said, per the Associated Press. "That's not me. That's not my identity."

Tampa Bay's offense kept arriving late to its own comeback. Chase McLaughlin kicked three field goals, the last a 35-yarder with 11:24 to play that cut the lead to 24-16 and kept Chicago's offense from ever getting comfortable. Bucky Irving ran 20 times for 97 yards and both Buccaneers touchdowns, the first a 2-yarder in the third quarter after Tez Johnson's 58-yard catch dragged Tampa Bay down to the 2. But Mayfield's worst throw answered two plays after Anzalone's pick: Jaylon Johnson read a pass meant for Cade Otton, took it 67 yards the other way, and Chicago led 24-13. The pick sat inside a rough night for Mayfield — Chicago's pass rush sacked him four times. "That obviously was the difference in the game," Mayfield said.

The tie came gift-wrapped anyway. With 3:48 left and Chicago up eight, Williams completed a short pass to Burden, who was hit hard, fumbled, and left the game with a concussion. He had been Chicago's most productive receiver all night — seven catches, 97 yards and the 56-yard touchdown. Ifeatu Melifonwu recovered the fumble and returned it to the Chicago 17. Irving scored from the 6 two plays later, and Mayfield ran in the two-point conversion. 24-24, 2:51 to play — and the quarterback with four interceptions had the ball and the last word.

Chicago is 7-2 with four straight wins and a bye week to enjoy them. Tampa Bay fell to 3-6, also into its bye. Per the Associated Press, it was the Bears' first win with five turnovers since December 2006 — a 23-13 win over Minnesota nearly twenty years ago.

The bye will soften the tape, but the four picks travel. A defense that scores and a kicker who never blinks can cover a quarterback's worst night in November; January sends a different bill, and Chicago's margin for this act is already spent.

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