Santos' Walk-Off Field Goal Saves Bears After Williams' Four-Pick Night in 27-24 SNF Thriller

It was the kind of game that should have been lost three different ways, and the Chicago Bears won it anyway. Cairo Santos sent a 38-yard field goal through the uprights as the fourth quarter expired at Soldier Field, and a wild Sunday night ended 27-24 to Tampa Bay's despair and Chicago's delight.

Caleb Williams will not want to watch the film. The Bears quarterback threw four interceptions, the most in a single game he has ever thrown in college or the pros, and the offence that started white hot fell apart in the middle of the night. Williams opened by connecting on four of his first five attempts, throwing touchdowns to Rome Odunze and Luther Burden as Chicago raced to a 14-0 lead, and then an interception midway through the second quarter threw the whole unit off for nearly the rest of the evening.

But the Buccaneers could not make the mistakes count. Even with five giveaways — the four picks plus a Burden fumble in the fourth quarter — Tampa Bay scored just 10 points off them, and could not even turn a blocked punt into points despite starting at midfield. That wastefulness kept Chicago alive long enough for the ending to belong to them.

The game swung on the defence. While Williams threw his fourth interception, Baker Mayfield threw a pick of his own to Jaylon Johnson, who returned it 67 yards for a touchdown and a 24-13 Bears lead with 3:39 left in the third quarter. Tampa Bay answered through Bucky Irving, who scored his second touchdown of the night on a six-yard run and then watched Mayfield scramble up the middle for the two-point conversion that tied it at 24 with 2:51 to play.

That should have been the story: the comeback complete, the Bears punished for their carelessness. Instead, Williams found the one play he needed. He connected with tight end Colston Loveland for a 38-yard catch all the way down to the Tampa Bay 16, and after the Bears ran time off the clock, Santos did the rest.

Williams finished 22 of 37 for 279 yards with two touchdowns and the four picks. Burden led the receivers with seven catches for 97 yards and a touchdown, though his night ended in the sideline medical tent after the fourth-quarter fumble and he was taken back to the locker room for further evaluation. Mayfield finished 18 of 32 for 243 yards with two interceptions, and Irving ran for 97 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns plus four catches for 28 yards.

The win moves Chicago to 7-2, their fourth in a row, in a division where every team in the NFC North now has at least six wins. Tampa Bay falls to 3-6, a two-game winning streak halted. Both teams are on their bye in Week 10; the Bears host the Saints in Week 11, while the Buccaneers travel to Detroit to face the Lions. Chicago found a way on a night when almost everything went wrong. That, as much as the record, is what makes this team look like a contender.