Bears Win a Wild One at the Buzzer, Packers Hang 45 on the Patriots

CHICAGO

The Chicago Bears spent most of Sunday night trying to hand a game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Tampa Bay kept handing it back. Chicago turned the ball over five times at Soldier Field, watched an 11-point fourth-quarter lead disappear, and still won it at the buzzer, 27–24, when Cairo Santos drilled a 38-yard field goal as time expired. It was the wild finish on a Sunday that also saw the Packers hang 45 points on the Patriots in Foxborough. The Bears are 7–2, winners of four straight, and alone in charge of the NFC North. The Buccaneers are 3–6 and running out of season.

Caleb Williams authored both halves of the chaos. He threw for 105 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter — one to Rome Odunze, one to Luther Burden III — and Chicago led 14–0 before Tampa Bay settled in. Then came the career-high four interceptions, two of them on back-to-back throws in the second quarter, and a game that should have been a rout turned into a survival exercise. Jaylon Johnson's interception return for a touchdown pushed the lead to 24–13 late in the third, and the Bears' defense spent the rest of the night buying back what the offense kept spending.

Tampa Bay's comeback was real. Bucky Irving ran for 97 yards and two touchdowns, the second of them tying the game at 24 with 2:51 left after Baker Mayfield scrambled in for the two-point conversion. That left Williams one drive, and he took it: a 38-yard strike to tight end Colston Loveland, pushed out at the Tampa Bay 16 with 40 seconds left, two kneel-downs, and Santos from 38 in front of 60,470 people. Williams finished 22 of 37 for 279 yards. Ugly line, perfect ending — and with a bye week next, Chicago gets to clean up the interceptions while sitting on the division lead.

The afternoon's loudest statement came in Foxborough. Green Bay hung a season-high 45 points and 478 yards on New England in a 45–27 win that was never particularly close after halftime. Jordan Love threw for 372 yards and three touchdowns, ran for a fourth score, and did not turn the ball over. Christian Watson and Matthew Golden combined for 17 catches on 18 targets, 335 yards and two touchdowns — Watson 7 for 171, Golden 10 for 164 — and Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez, playing on a $135 million deal, had the worst afternoon of his career chasing them. Drake Maye was intercepted on the second play from scrimmage, and Green Bay's defense finished with four takeaways. Josh Jacobs broke a finger and watched most of it. The Packers are 6–3 with five wins in six games; New England falls to 5–4 and flies to Munich next week to face Detroit.

The day started in Madrid, where Cincinnati's offense traveled better than Atlanta's did. Joe Burrow went 24 of 29 for 271 yards and three touchdowns and ran for a fourth score as the Bengals beat the Falcons 34–17 at the Santiago Bernabéu, their fourth straight win. Cincinnati is 6–2, tied with Pittsburgh atop the AFC North — the Steelers, who were on their bye, hold the head-to-head edge — and the two of them meet next Sunday night in Cincinnati with first place alone on the table. Atlanta drops its second straight and heads home to face Kansas City.

San Francisco came off its bye and treated the Raiders like a scrimmage that got out of hand. The 49ers forced five turnovers, all of them in the second half, and beat Las Vegas 38–17 at Levi's Stadium to reach 7–1. Rookie linebacker Jaden Dugger opened the half by returning a Kirk Cousins interception 35 yards for a touchdown; Cousins threw two more picks, finished 22 of 32 for 216 yards, and watched tight end Michael Mayer lose a fumble at the goal line with the Raiders close to making it a game. Brock Purdy threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third. Christian McCaffrey scored twice — the full story of his record 37th career receiving touchdown is here. Las Vegas is 4–5 and has now allowed at least 30 points in six straight games.

Kansas City remembered who it is. The Chiefs shook off a slow start and beat the Jets 35–12 at Arrowhead behind Kenneth Walker III, who ran for 102 yards, caught two of Patrick Mahomes' touchdown passes and scored a third time on the ground — 143 total yards and his 10th touchdown in eight games. Kansas City outgained New York 152 to minus-14 in a third quarter that ended the argument, and Travis Kelce added a 1-yard scoring run. The concern is Mahomes' right elbow: he called the injury "scary" afterward, did not miss a play, and will have more testing this week. The Chiefs are 6–2 after back-to-back losses; the Jets are 2–7 after four straight defeats, with Geno Smith held to 165 passing yards.

Detroit won the ugly one in Miami Gardens, 19–9, the game's only touchdown an 8-yard Jahmyr Gibbs run late in the third quarter. Jake Bates kicked four field goals, the Lions' defense sacked Malik Willis three times and intercepted him once, and Detroit (6–2) ground out its fourth straight win on 270 total yards. The Dolphins are 1–7. Denver needed a fourth-quarter push in Charlotte and got it, beating the Panthers 26–21 to reach 7–2; Jonah Coleman carried the closing workload and punched in the go-ahead score after setting it up with a 51-yard catch. Seattle's defense did the rest of the day's suffocating, holding Arizona scoreless after an opening field goal in a 17–3 win in Seattle. The Cardinals are 3–6; the Seahawks are 5–4.

Three of Sunday's games already have their own room on Previously. Houston's C.J. Stroud tied his career high with five touchdown passes in a 44–22 rout of the winless Chargers. Dallas needed a 97-second comeback to escape Indianapolis 27–23, sealed by rookie Caleb Downs' first career interception. The Giants won in Philadelphia for the first time since 2013, 19–11 over an Eagles team that has now lost seven straight, and Shedeur Sanders threw for 297 yards and two touchdowns in his first start as Cleveland fell 23–22 in overtime at New Orleans. The Rams beat Washington 20–13 behind Myles Garrett's three sacks in his return — and a Puka Nacua knee injury that sends him to an MRI on Monday after he caught the game-winning touchdown.

That is the league at the turn: Chicago and San Francisco at the top of the NFC, a four-team pileup behind them in the North alone, and a trade deadline landing Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern with Indianapolis (2–7, five straight losses) staring at real decisions on Daniel Jones, Jonathan Taylor and Josh Downs, and the Rams weighing a move for a receiver room that just lost its best player to a knee. Week 9 closes Monday night. The standings say the contenders separated on Sunday. The injury reports get a vote on Tuesday.