Chicago 21, Tampa Bay 13
When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, November 23, 2014
Where: Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
Temperature:
54°
Head Official:
Walt Coleman
Attendance:
61109
By SportsDirect Inc.
Bears 21, Buccaneers 13: Matt Forte ran for two touchdowns and Chicago's defense made a late stand as the Bears defeated former coach Lovie Smith in his return to the Windy City.
Jay Cutler threw for 130 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions and one fumble for Chicago (5-6), which has won back-to-back games following a three-game skid. Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery were relatively quiet, combining for six catches for 54 yards, although Jeffery did have a third-quarter touchdown catch to help the Bears recover from an ugly first half.
Former Chicago quarterback Josh McCown threw for 341 yards and a TD with two interceptions and a fumble for the Bucs (2-9), who have lost six of their last seven games. Rookie wideout Mike Evans caught a second-quarter TD pass, giving him eight scores on the season, including six in the last four games.
Patrick Murray's 39-yard field goal gave Tampa Bay its only points of the second half, drawing the visitors within 21-13 with 4:56 remaining. Chicago went three-and-out and Pat O'Donnell uncorked a 20-yard punt to set up the Bucs with a short field, but McCown was stuffed on fourth-and-1 at the Bears' 36 to effectively seal the outcome.
Facing a 10-0 deficit at halftime, Chicago scored a touchdown on three of its four drives in the third quarter to take control of the game. Cutler threw a 2-yard TD pass to Jeffery early in the period before Forte scored on runs of 13 yards and 1 yard less than two minutes apart, separated by a Ryan Mundy interception of McCown.
GAME NOTEBOOK: McCown, who passed for 13 touchdowns and one interception for the Bears last season, has seven TDs and eight INTs this season after signing a two-year, $10 million contract in the offseason. ... Forte's rushing TDs were his first since Oct. 19. ... Evans, who had set a career high in receiving in each of the last four weeks, was limited to three catches for 47 yards. The Bucs did have a pair of 100-yard receivers in Vincent Jackson (five catches, 117 yards) and Louis Murphy (six receptions, 113 yards).
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Tampa Bay |
|
Chicago |
Doug Martin
|
Player |
Matt Forte
|
11 |
Attempts |
23 |
27 |
Yards |
89 |
2.4 |
Avg Yards |
3.9 |
0 |
Touchdowns |
2 |
10 |
Long |
13 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
Tampa Bay
|
367 |
66 |
301 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3.0 |
1 |
Chicago
|
204 |
92 |
112 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
5.0 |
3 |
Upcoming Games
-
Chicago will play their next game on the road against Detroit. The Bears have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .429 after a loss.
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Cincinnati. The Buccaneers have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .222 after a loss.