3 and out: Bears demolished by Brady, Bucs
Tom Brady threw 4 touchdown passes in the first half and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers smashed the Chicago Bears, 38-3, on Sunday.
3 moments that mattered
1. Punch in the face: Bears defensive lineman Bilal Nichols was ejected for throwing a punch at Buccaneers center Ryan Jensen with 1:11 left in the third quarter. The Bears were already beat soundly - and then some - in every phase, and that was evidently the tipping point. Following the play, the Bears' defense held up on a fourth-down goal-line stand to keep the Buccaneers out of the end zone.
2. Another one: On the Bears' opening possession of the second half, Bears quarterback Justin Fields was intercepted on a ball off Darnell Mooney's fingertips, a sign that nothing would go right for an offense that had 4 turnovers by 6:48 in the third quarter. Even hoping for a modest improvement from the first half went out the window at that point.
3. The Brady Bunch: Four touchdown passes at the half says plenty. Brady carved the Bears up. The defense actually forced some uncharacteristic incompletions early, but the greatest quarterback we've ever seen is still reminding the NFL that at age 44 he's still got some left in the tank.
3 things that worked
1. Hey, hey, Herbert: It's the third consecutive week Khalil Herbert has performed above or at expectations. Herbert was one of the only positives - against the league's top rush defense, no less - on an otherwise ugly afternoon. Herbert is making a legitimate case for extended playing time, even when David Montgomery returns from a knee injury. Herbert had 83 rush yards at the half and finished with 100.
2. Santos: We suppose Cairo Santos keeping alive his consecutive field goal streak is a positive. Without it, the Bears probably leave Raymond James Stadium with a goose egg.
3. E-Jax bounces back: Eddie Jackson got deserved flak for his tackling ability last week, but he rebounded with 11 tackles, including one that held Chris Godwin out of the end zone in the fourth quarter.
3 things that didn't
1. Matt Nagy: Electing to receive the ball to start the game on the road against Brady is just the start of the problem on Sunday. Three points at the half also says more than it needs to. Nagy's Bears weren't ready to beat a clearly better team and it showed. While not an unexpected loss, getting blown out by the half is still an indictment of the Bears head coach.
2. The entire defense: Look, it got zero help from the offense, but it doesn't excuse the performance, either. Brady did anything he wanted, which could be an indication this unit misses Robert Quinn off the edge more than it realized. There were small flashes of the solid defense we've seen to this point, but obviously not enough to keep this competitive.
3. Fields and the entire offense: Any time your starting offense has three points and three turnovers at the half, it's on everybody. This is one of the obvious growing pain moments of the season with a rookie quarterback: They'll get exposed by better teams in all phases. Fields had five turnovers and was sacked four times.
What's next?
The Bears see Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday in Chicago. Kickoff is at noon.