LIKE THEY DREW IT UP
Foles guides Bears into field- goal range, Santos nails winning kick to beat Bucs
All the hand- wringing and talk about ‘‘ calibrating’’ the Bears’ offense came down to something pretty simple Thursday:
Quarterback Nick Foles had the ball in his hands near midfield with 2: 21 left and needed to gain about 25 yards to give the Bears a chance to kick a field goal and beat the Buccaneers.
And then he did just that, driving them Bears 32 yards in nine plays to set up a 38- yard field goal by Cairo Santos with 1: 13 left. A stop by the Bears’ opportunistic defense clinched the 20- 19 victory at Soldier Field.
It marked Foles’ first victory as a starter since — can you believe this? — Cody Parkey double- doinked the Bears into the playoff dustbin against the Foles- led Eagles in January 2019. The Bears’ 4- 1 record matches the start they had in the 2018 season.
‘‘ We got great field position at the end, and Cairo put it through the uprights to give us a chance,’’ Foles told Fox TV after the game. ‘‘ And the defense closed the door. Definitely a huge win.’’
With the Bears trailing by two after the defense forced the Bucs’ only three- and- out of the game, Foles began the final drive at his own 48. A third- and- nine pass to receiver Anthony Miller — and Miller’s wild scramble toward the sideline — put the Bears at the Bucs’ 42. A wheel- route pass to running back David Montgomery up the left sideline earned 17 yards more.
The Bears managed only five more yards, however, before Santos split the uprights.
Bucs quarterback Tom Brady got the ball back but didn’t go far. With no timeouts left, he couldn’t convert on fourth- and- six from the Bucs’ 41, throwing a pass that was broken up by third- string safety DeAndre Houston- Carson, who was only playing in the Bears’ dime package because Deon Bush was inactive after hurting his hamstring four days ago.
‘‘ We knew going into that drive it was going to be on us,’’ inside linebacker Roquan Smith said. ‘‘ And we love it that way.’’
As the Bears’ offense took the field in celebration, the Bucs’
huddle seemed confused. Brady apparently thought it was only third down.
‘‘ I wasn’t too concerned about what he thought,’’ Smith said. ‘‘ I knew what the sticks said.’’
Foles went 30- for- 42 for 243 yards and a 83.7 passer rating. But it was good enough — and almost as good as Brady, who went 25- for- 41 for 253 yards and a very mortal 86.7 passer rating in their Super Bowl LII rematch.
Foles didn’t look sharp in the first half but sprung to life in the final two minutes. With the Bears trailing 13- 0, a three- yard touchdown run by Montgomery — the first rushing touchdown by any Bears player all season — pulled them to 13- 7 with 1: 58 left.
Three plays later, Brady threw a crossing pass to Ke’Shawn Vaughn, the Bucs’ fourth- string running back. Cornerback Kyle Fuller leveled him, putting his shoulder in Vaughn’s chest and jarring the ball loose as he took his third step. Officials ruled the pass incomplete, then changed it to a fumble. Outside linebacker Robert Quinn recovered the ball at the Bucs’ 27. Four players later, Foles found tight end Jimmy Graham for a 12- yard touchdown pass and a 14- 13 lead.
Santos made a 47- yard field goal to give the Bears the lead early in the fourth quarter before Ryan Succop made a 25- yard field goal to give the Bucs a two- point lead with 4: 49 left. The teams then traded punts to set up Foles’ final drive.
The Bears’ defense looked ugly in the first half, missing tackles as the Bucs marched down the field for two field goals and a touchdown.
Foles looked ugly at the beginning, too. On third- and- two on the Bears’ first drive, Foles had receiver Allen Robinson wideopen in the right flat but threw the ball high and wide. Later in the quarter, Foles launched a pass 20 yards through the air toward Robinson, who leaped at the Bucs’ 16- yard line and inadvertently kicked the ball into the air with his shin. Cornerback Carlton Davis picked off the pass and returned it 34 yards, and the Bucs scored a touchdown five plays later.
‘‘ They’re not always the prettiest of wins,’’ coach Matt Nagy said. ‘‘ That’s a huge win.’’