TAMPA — The Bears’ bad week got worse Sunday.
One week after being demolished by 18 by the rival Packers, the Bears lost 27-17 to the Buccaneers, who just eight days ago were presumed to be the NFC South’s worst team, at Raymond James Stadium.
The Bears are 0-2 this season and haven’t won since Oct. 24, 2022, a span of 12 games.
Quarterback Justin Fields, standing on his own goal line with about 2:05 to play and trailing by three, threw a pick-six to edge rusher Shaq Barrett. It was supposed to be a screen pass to running back Khalil Herbert, but landed in the arms of Barrett, who plunged forward for the score.
Sunday was a mess all around. The Bears lost safety Eddie Jackson to a foot injury and Darnell Mooney to a knee problem. Their defense looked just as bad with coach Matt Eberflus calling the plays as it did with Alan Williams, who was out for personal reasons, at the controls.
And then there was Fields, who led an offense that was competent on the first drive and then not again until the fourth quarter. Fields had 65 passing yards — all to DJ Moore — on the game’s first drive, which ended when the quarterback ran for a 1-yard touchdown.
On the next six drives, the Bears totaled one field goal and averaged four yards per play. Fields and the offense finally clicked when, with about 10 minutes to play, they started a drive at their own 10 and scored eight plays later. Fields completed a deep ball over the middle to Moore for 22 yards on third-and-10 then found him down the left sideline for 12 more yards. He then zipped a 20-yard pass in the end zone to Chase Claypool, who was dogged all week by poor effort in the season opener. It was Claypool’s first touchdown since the Bears traded for him in the middle of last season.
That closed the deficit to three with 6:23 to play. The Bucs got two first downs before, faced with third-and-17, throwing a 10-yard pass to Chris Godwin. They punted with 2:38 to play to give the Bears the ball at their own 7. The teams traded dumb penalties — offside of the Bucs, offensive pass interference on Claypool when he blocked too soon on a screen — before the interception. It was the fourth pick-six of Fields’ career.
Fields threw another interception on the next drive. He finished with a 61.1 passer rating, going 16-for-29 for 211 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
The Bears offense was so impotent that it was surprising the game was in doubt late. Bucs receiver Mike Evans seemed to salt the Bears away when, with 4:14 left in the third quarter, he caught a 32-yard touchdown on a double move when the Bucs were facing third-and-14. It gave the Bucs — who had led 13-10 at halftime — a 20-10 lead.
Evans set up the Bucs’ only first-half touchdown with a 70-yard completion that Bears coaches argued was offensive pass interference.
Defensive end Rasheem Green blocked a 40-yard field Bucs field goal in the first quarter.
