Turnovers boost Bears over Bucs, 21-13
The best thing the Bears' offense had going for it Sunday was the Bears' defense, which gift-wrapped the ball inside the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 20-yard line twice in a 19-second span of the third quarter.
The Bears' offense didn't do much right all day, managing a season-low 204 yards, but at least it didn't squander those short fields.
Matt Forte runs reached the end zone both times to spark a 21-13 comeback victory over their former coach.
In his nine years as Bears head coach (2004-12), Lovie Smith constantly preached the value of creating turnovers, and his former team used that formula to overcome his current team.
The Bears forced turnovers on three straight Bucs possessions in the final five minutes of a decisive third quarter to drop Lovie's team to 2-9.
By improving to 5-6, the Bears remain relevant in the NFC North heading into their Thanksgiving Day matchup in Detroit 2 games behind the second-place Lions, who fell to 7-4 on Sunday, and 3 games behind the Green Bay Packers (8-3).
Even more surprising than the game-changing performance by the Bears' defense that came in having allowed the most points per game in the NFL were some of the players who played key roles.
Defensive end David Bass, a second-year player from football powerhouse Missouri Western State, sack-stripped Bucs quarterback Josh McCown, the former Bear, with 5:09 left in the third quarter.
"That was all coverage," Bass said. "We had a (stunt) on the inside, and they actually caused the quarterback to roll out to his left, and that was key. "He put two hands on the ball every (other) time he left the pocket, but that time he happened to have one when he was running. When I saw that, I just wanted to hit it, and of course it was my first sack of the season, so that was big."
The ball was recovered by undrafted rookie linebacker Christian Jones, who was playing only because seven-time Pro Bowler Lance Briggs was on the bench with an injured groin.
Jones' 2-yard return set up Forte's 13-yard touchdown run on the next play, which gave the Bears a 14-10 lead.
On the Bucs' next play from scrimmage, Ryan Mundy intercepted a McCown pass that skitched off the hands of running back Charles Sims. "The ball was a little slick, and the pass was a little high," Mundy said. "So I just played for the tip and it fell in my lap."
This time it took Forte 4 runs to navigate the 15 yards, boosting the Bears' lead to 21-10.
The Bucs responded immediately with a long drive, but after wide receiver Vincent Jackson carried a McCown pass to the Bears' 8, undrafted first-year nickel back Demontre Hurst punched the ball out and cornerback Tim Jennings recovered.
"We pretty much did what we were supposed to do," Hurst said. "We wanted to get turnovers and put the offense in great field position, and they capitalized in the second half."
Before that, the offense was barely noticeable except for its inept performance that a disappointed coach Marc Trestman referred to an "inexcusable," heading into the locker room at halftime. Trestman continued his critique of the offense once inside.
"Offensively, Marc challenged us," said quarterback Jay Cutler, who threw for a season-low 130 yards. "The players, we challenged each other. We knew if we continued down this road, we're going to lose this game. Defense gave us another spark. We had some short fields, and that made it a little bit easier.
"We stuck it in there once we got down there, which was huge."
There was plenty worth challenging in the Bears' locker room, as they trailed 10-0 after being shut out in the first half for the third time in five games. It also was the sixth straight scoreless first quarter for the Bears, who have been outscored 199-103 in the first half this season.
But the offense went 58 yards on its first possession of the second half, by far its longest scoring drive of the day. Cutler's 2-yard TD pass to Alshon Jeffery cut the deficit to 10-7 with 10:33 left in the third quarter.
Through the first 30 minutes, the Bears were outplayed in all three phases of the game and outgained 211-68. The Bears had just 3 first downs in the first half, including 1 that came on a roughing-the-kicker penalty against the Bucs.
"It was obviously a very slow start for us offensively," Trestman said. "Certainly not the way we wanted to start offensively. Dropped balls, penalties, tipped balls … all of that.
"As I said to the guys at halftime, there was no one guy (to blame). We passed it around to everybody."
Fortunately for the Bears' offense, it also had a defense that provided excellent field position.
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