CHICAGO (AP) — Tom Brady held up four fingers as if he had one more play remaining, one more opportunity to pull out the win. If that’s what he was thinking, the three-time MVP would not say.
Brady fell to Nick Foles again, appeared to lose count of downs on his final play with seconds remaining, and the Chicago Bears beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-19 on Thursday night after Cairo Santos kicked a 38-yard field goal with 1:17 remaining.
DeAndre Houston-Carson broke up Brady’s fourth-down pass with 33 seconds left after Santos kicked the go-ahead field goal. Brady put up four fingers, as if he had one more down. Instead, Chicago took possession and came away with a narrow victory.
“I know we needed a chunk and I was thinking about more yardage and it was bad execution,” Brady said. “I had a great opportunity there. Just didn’t execute when we needed to.”
FIRST-HALF FLURRY
The Buccaneers looked as if they might blow this one open, jumping out to a 13-0 lead. But the Bears turned it around in a flash, with two touchdowns in the final 1:48 of the half.
Montgomery plowed in from the 3. Kyle Fuller then put a big hit on Ke’Shawn Vaughn as he caught a short pass, and Robert Quinn recovered the fumble, giving the Bears possession on the Tampa Bay 27. A leaping Graham made a one-handed grab in the end zone with Jamel Dean on him to haul in Foles’ 12-yard pass.
MACK’S SACKS
Mack matched his highest sack total since a Week 3 win at Washington last season. The 17-game streak without two or more sacks was the longest since he was drafted by Oakland in 2014.
INJURIES
Buccaneers: Vaughn (chest) was hurt on that big hit by Fuller. … LB Jack Cichy (hamstring) left the game.
Bears: LG James Daniels (pectoral) was hurt early in the third quarter. … LB Devante Bond (quad) was hurt on the game’s opening kickoff.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host Green Bay on Oct. 18.
Bears: Visit Carolina on Oct. 18.
