Updating Live Bears and Buccaneers

An in-game blog and live updates for Sunday's Bears and Buccaneers game in Tampa by Gene Chamberlain of BearDigest.com, as Chicago tries to take down Tom Brady for the second straight season.

 Fourth Quarter

• Fields finishes up 22 of 32 for 184 yards with three interceptions. 44.3 passer rating.

• The best thing Nagy did all day. They called timeout with 23 seconds left. If Tampa Bay was going to throw the ball so much with a four-touchdown lead, then they can stand on the sidelines for another 23 seconds.

• Herbert gets 2 yards for the first down and has 100.  Maybe they'll have a Club Dub for that.

• TWO-MINUTE WARNING!!!

• Herbert with a 9-yard run and needs 2 yards for a 100-yard game.

• Gabbert once ran straight up the middle 44 yards against the Bears untouched for a touchdown scrambling to get the 49ers in overtime and they beat the Bears 26-20. That was against Vic Fangio's defense in his first year as defensive coordinator under John Fox.

• Gabbert does pass and they get a 15-yard gain on a short throw.

• Blaine Gabbert in for greedy Brady and he hands off. Why stop passing now?

• Punt coverage team fouls up again and has chance to easily down it inside the 5 but can't get it done. A complete, total disaster day. This is like the Tennessee game last year without the late comeback. COVID and injuries were a big part of that poor effort too.

• Devin White hit on Fields  with two hands on his helmet. No call. Herbert catches a deflection. Then Fields stopped scrambling for a yard on third down. Now Nagy will punt from the Tampa Bay 44. In the second quarter they were going for it from their own territory. How is this any different?

• Cleveland was a street party compared to this game for the Bears.

• This is what happens when a team is too worried about social media, getting fined, you have injuries, a rookie quarterback and COVID-19 hits.

• Right now we're looking at the worst loss of the Nagy era, and the worst since Marc Trestman's team lost 55-14 to Green Bay in 2014.

• Brady doesn't get his TD pass as it's incomplete on third down too low and Succop kicks a 22-yard field goal. Buccaneers 38, Bears 3

• Apparently a 32-point lead isn't enough so Brady tries to throw for the TD from the 1 on second down and it's batted down.

• Brady throws another pass to Godwin to the 1 but Bears stuff Fournette on first down.

• Fields throws a pick down sideline on deep one underthrown for Robinson.

Third Quarter

• Misery loves company. The name of the game this weekend in the NFL is blowout games. Bengals beat Ravens 41-17; Patriots 54, Jets 13; Giants 25, Panthers 3; Titans 27, Chiefs 3; Raiders 33, Eagles 14, Cardinals 24, Texans 5.

• Bears stuff the fourth down dive by Jones as DHC gets in. That was a bit reminiscent of the playoffs when they stopped Drew Brees at the goal line on a QB sneak and got the ball back in a game already hopelessly lost.

• Brady throwing for the end zone on second-and-goal with a 35-3 lead. That's one to remember. On third down Jones is stopped inches away as Eddie Jackson makes the stop. 

• Actually, the problem with Nichols getting ejected is they don't have many players due to COVID-19.  It's going to tax some of the players  on the line who are playing to be out there in that heat. 

• Nichols playing despite a bad knee, too, and took a cheap shot then delivered one of his own. Nichols was kicked out of the game, which is actually a good thing. He can rest his bad knee. 

• Best thing that happened so far is Brady and Co. have decided to run the ball and run clock off.

• Khalil Mack is on the field with a bad foot in a 35-3 game. You have to admire his courage but why are coaches leaving him out there? This is a day you put subs in and heal up for the 49ers game.

• Bears took the ball from Jones on a 12-yard run up the middle but officials don't give it to them. Then Jones gashes them for 22.

• Angelo Blackson angered over being held, but officials called it. They should be worrying more about making plays than the official's calls.

• This is the kind of a game you worried about when they talked about the Bears offensive line problems with injuries in the preseason. It's the kind of game when you worry about Fields' development as a quarterback if he's not going to be able to set up and throw.

• Fields has Williams open for a TD but doesn't get him the ball under heavy pressure and the Bears are flagged for holding anyway. Then Fields throws an interception on  a tipped pass to Jordan Whitehead. It hit Darnell Mooney's hand and then went to Whitehead.  

Halftime

• Herbert has 91 rushing yards and the Bears are down 35-3. 

Second Quarter

• Bears have nine seconds left to just down the ball and go to the locker room.

• Evans with third TD catch was covered well initially but Brady stepped up in the pocket and found him.  Vildor didn't initiate enough contact at the start of the route.  Buccaneers 35, Bears 3

• Fournette gets the first down then Brady overthrows Howard at the back of the end zone as he had beaten Roquan Smith's coverage. No one open on second down and he throws it away.

• Bears have allowed 16 first downs and have only eight themselves.

• Brady with a nifty sprint to the right to avoid Mack and gets a 9-yard completion. Fourth-and-1 with 40 seconds left at the 11.

• A minute left in the half and Brady facing third-and-10 at the Bears 20.

• Brady completion for a first down and then an incompletion. The ball is at the 20.and Buccaneers have third-and-10.

• Brady overthrow on first down and dumps it down for 8. The Bears defense is really missing a golden opportunity here. The score doesn't matter now. What they should be doing is football's version of the beanball after a home run. The Buccaneers want to keep throwing deep, the Bears should blitz only with the purpose of getting Brady and mashing him to the ground.  They need to make Brady pay for what's going on and the score doesn't matter.

• Nagy decides to go for it on fourth down and Fields is sacked at the Bears 48. 

• Fields scrambles on third down to the 50 and Bears face fourth-and-4. 

• Robinson gets involved after a 6-yard Herbert run and makes a 12-yard catch with some nifty footwork. 

• About three weeks ago Johnson was way up in the Pro Football Focus cornerback rankings, top 10. He has plummeted since then and his grade looks like a regular second-year cornerback with weaknesses to his game.

• Evans shoves off and gets open in the end zone for a fade/back shoulder 2-yard TD catch. Beat Johnson on the play. Buccaneers 28, Bears 3

• Evans gets behind Jaylon Johnson on the bomb. Didn't leave Brady much room for error but he didn't need it. At the 2. 

• Brady gets time to find Godwin for 10 to Bears 48.

• Darden on end around for 12. Nice lane opened up for the play.

• This game has been over since the end of the first quarter. The Bears couldn't score 21 points on offense unless the opponent turned it over on the one three times.

• Santos makes his 35th straight field goal, this from 28. Buccaneers 21, Bears 3

• Flaws in the last two plays. They tried to roll Fields right, he didn't have Robinson available as a target then as he was way out left. Fields had to throw it away. Then, they try to throw a fade pass to the end zone and target their shortest tight end, Jesper Horsted. They have a 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-7 tight end on the field and they're throwing to the 6-3 tight end in the red zone.

• Herbert stuffed on first down for no gain. They got him moving laterally. He's excellent going downhill, not much laterally.

• Herbert for 6 to the 14 and then Fields drills a short one to Robinson as fans begin chanting "Let's Go Bears" at Tampa Bay's 9.

• Herbert blasts through for 13 and then Fields takes it for 5. Bears stay on the ground with Herbert off left tackle for 12. 

• Fields with best Bears pass play of the game for a first down to Mooney at the 50.

• Ryan Succop with a horrible field goal effort is wide right from 43 yards.

• Bears finally come after Brady and nearly get there. He throws incomplete on third down with Teez Tabor in coverage over the middle on O.J. Howard. Mario Edwards Jr. with the pressure and he doesn't get flagged for taunting or hitting anyone late. Just got fined nine grand for his penalty in the Packers game. 

• Tampa Bay from the Bears 25 after they are allowed to throw the ball forward on the ground on the return when play should have been dead. Incomplete pass by Brady on first two passes.

• Another strip sack as Jason Pierre-Paul gets there. Looked like he jumped the snap count but timed it close enough to get the sack. Buccaneers at the Bears 25. Tampa Bay threw the ball forward on the play but was allowed to advance it this way. Pierre-Paul did a good job waiting until Fields was about to throw before stripping it.

• James gets a 6-yard toss the other way off play action. The Bears need to be moving Fields like that. He can't be standing in one place in the pocket unless they want more sacks and fumbles.

• Running Herbert off left tackle again. Finding Peters and running behind him. Pretty simple. Gets 6.

• Jakeem Grant with an excellent 14-yard punt return, one cut and straight up field.  Not bad for someone running on one ankle. 

• A third-down pass defense to Duke Shelley over the middle. Excellent coverage, maybe his best play of the year too.

• Kindle Vildor with maybe the best pass defense he's had all year, knocking one down on sidelines. Third down.

• Jones with a pair of runs up the middle nets a first down. The Bears pretty much have no way to stop anything Tampa Bay does. It would be easy to give Tampa Bay credit, but they're able to focus  double teams on Mack and there is no pass rush on Brady.

• Even the punting by Pat O'Donnell is bad, averaging 38.6 a punt.

• Bears with two first downs. Fields isn't playing well and you have to think that first blitz did the trick. Has him looking around to get hit. They're 0-for-5 on third down, a familiar problem.

• An incompletion to Mooney over the middle and the Bears must punt. 

• Bears at the 30. Damien Williams makes first appearance since his COVID issue. Catches 3-yard pass OB. Bears face third-and-2. 

First Quarter

• First quarter ends on a poorly executed 5-yard screen to Kmet.  Buccaneers 21, Bears 0

• Evans with the 600th TD pass of Brady's career, slanting in from 9 yards. With six seconds left in the first quarter. Buccaneers 21, Bears 0.

• This looks like it could be the worst beat-down Nagy has ever taken. It's hard to blame the Bears for being totally flat in this one after so many players have come up with COVID in the last two or three days. DHC with a second-down pass breakup on throw to Brate at the goal line. 

• A strip sack and Bucs have the ball at the Bears 35 as Vea recovers.
• Herbert gains 6 off left guard. The Bears actually have run well against the No. 1 run defense. They should just keep running and forget about the pass today. They'll only get someone injured.

• A 4-yard TD pass over the middle to Godwin. How Godwin gets matched up on Danny Trevathan is a total flaw in the coverage. Trevathan can't cover a wide receiver. Buccaneers 14, Bears 0

• DHC in his first career start with a tackle of Fournette at the 4. Third-and-goal.

• Cameron Brate the target but Jackson breaks up the throw.

• Tampa Bay completes a couple short passes after the 26-yard INT return and is at Bears 30.  when Fields floats one in to Godwin at a soft spot in the zone. Tampa Bay at the 10.

• Actually Fields had the chance to complete that if he had pulled up and thrown but he had rush on his heels and really couldn't. Should have thrown it away or run with it.

• Delaney picks off Fields, who tries scrambling and throwing deep after pass rush and blitz nearly got  him. 

• Split Herbert out wide, which was weird. Naked backfield and a short pass to Kmet for 5 over the middle. Tight ends have killed the Buccaneers over the middle all year.

• Bears get it back on the punt. Jakeem Grant doing the returning which is good for the Bears but you have to wonder if he's healthy after that ankle injury.

• Roquan Smith just did on a screen what he does better than anyone. Totally snuffed it out for a loss on third-and-6. Diagnosed quickly, and arrived with force.

• Now Eddie Jackson decides to get physical. He has pass thrown right to his hands for a Pick-6 and drops it because he's worrying about making a hit.

• Tampa Bay gets away with a post-whistle hit after a 4-yard gain by Fournette. 

• Ball goes OB at the 16 apparently. The official did one of those slow prances down the sideline like he knew where it really went out, when obviously he had no idea.

• Cole Kmet drops a third-down pass for the first down. No excuse on that one. Perfect pass by Fields in terms of where he had to throw it and when. Bears punt.

• Blitz is on again and Fields sees it this time and scrambles for a yard. 

• Khalil Herbert behind Jason Peters for 29 yards. His longest run as a Bear and longest Bucs have allowed this year.

• Bears have started the game like a team missing a bunch of players who suddenly were taken away by COVID, which they are.

• Leonard Fournette powers past everyone to the 3. First down. No Akiem Hicks today and they caved in the line. Then on second down Fournette explodes into the end zone with 11:58 left in the quarter. Buccaneers 7, Bears 0

• Long after the play officials throw a flag on Kindle Vildor for pass interference on Chris Godwin. It might help to throw it sometime close to when the penalty occurred instead a week and a half later.

• Punt coverage hasn't been good for the Bears this year just so-so and they allow Darden a 43-yard return. Ball is at the Bears 32.

• An even worse idea, throw deep, with a rookie running back against the blitz. Sack, fumble and the Bears keep it.  They're going to get Justin Fields decapitated in this game if they aren't careful. The Bears punt.

• Attempt to run wide left by Khalil Herbert fails to gain. That's not a good idea.

• Bears receiving. Touchback.

Pregame

• Pregame rain in Tampa and that would be welcome by the Bears, who can't be used to playing in heat and humidity. Trouble is, in Florida rain now means sunshine and high heat in about 20 minutes.

UPDATING: It is raining in Tampa.

— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) October 24, 2021

• Bears with only four inactives. Players who are on reserve/COVID-19 don't count on the roster so you don't need to designate them as inactive. Even with all those players now on COVID reserve, Breshad Perriman can't get onto the active roster on game day.

• The Bears had more startling news in Sunday morning as right tackle Elijah Wilkinson became the fifth member of the team to go on the reserve/COVID-19 list, after reserve linebacker Caleb Johnson had become the fourth earlier in the morning. Wilkinson is a backup anyway, so the Bears are totally depleted. Lachavious "Pig" Simmons or Alex Bars could start. The regular starter, Germain Ifedi, is out with a knee injury. The Bears at tackle this year have lost four tackles to injury or COVID-19: Teven Jenkins, Larry Borom, Germain Ifedi and now Wilkinson. 
The other problem this could create is if they do use Bars at right tackle, it means Bill Lazor can't use his new favorite tactic of putting Bars in as an extra run-blocking tight end and sending him in motion. The running game was benefiting from doing this. 

INACTIVES

Bears

DL Akiem Hicks 

QB Nick Foles 

S Tashaun Gipson 

WR Breshad Perriman

Buccaneers 

QB Kyle Trask

CB Richard Sherman

LB Lavonte David

G Nick Leverett

WR Antonio Brown

TE Rob Gronkowski

NT Steve McLendon

Gameday J's @FiftyDeuce | #CHIvsTB pic.twitter.com/3hcRZ6DDao

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 24, 2021

📍 Enemy territory@Bose | #CHIvsTB pic.twitter.com/RAmLEnoTq6

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 24, 2021

Several Bears receivers going through pre-game warmups with masks on ... Mooney, Goodwin, Byrd.

Robinson has his around his chin.

— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) October 24, 2021

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven