Sports

Bears survive five turnovers and beat the Buccaneers on Cairo Santos' last-second kick

Caleb Williams threw four interceptions but set up Cairo Santos' 38-yard field goal at the buzzer as Chicago beat Tampa Bay 27-24.

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Chicago Bears kicker Cairo Santos in a navy No. 8 jersey being mobbed by teammates after his game-winning field goal at Soldier Field

The Bears played one of their sloppiest games of the season on Sunday night. They still walked off Soldier Field winners.

Caleb Williams hit a wide-open Colston Loveland for 38 yards to set up Cairo Santos' 38-yard field goal as time expired. Chicago beat Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-24 for its fourth straight win.

The Bears (7-2) turned the ball over five times. Williams threw a career-high four interceptions. It was Chicago's first win with five or more turnovers since a victory over Minnesota on Dec. 3, 2006.

The winning drive

Chicago led 24-16 when Luther Burden fumbled on a helmet-to-helmet hit by rookie Rueben Bain Jr. Ifeatu Melifonwu returned it to the Bears 17. Bucky Irving scored his second touchdown of the night from 6 yards out and Mayfield scrambled for the 2-point conversion that tied it at 24 with 2:51 left.

Facing second-and-9 from their own 46 in the final minute, Williams found Loveland at the Tampa Bay 35. The tight end rumbled down the sideline before he was pushed out at the 16. Williams took two knees and Santos drilled his second field goal of the night in front of 60,470 fans.

"I don't get gun shy. That's not me. That's not my identity" Williams said. He promised to keep ripping it.

Finding a way

Williams finished 22 of 37 for 279 yards and two touchdowns. Burden caught seven passes for 97 yards before leaving with a concussion. Jeffery Simmons recorded a sack in his first home game since Chicago acquired him in a trade with Tennessee.

"It's hard to win with five turnovers and yet we found a way to do it" coach Ben Johnson said. He added that he believes the best is yet to come for his team in the back half of the season.

Mayfield went 18 of 32 for 243 yards with two interceptions. Irving ran for 97 yards on 20 carries. Tampa Bay fell to 3-6 despite intercepting four passes for the second straight week.

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