Tom Brady held up four fingers like he had one game left, another opportunity to take the win. If he thought that, the three-time MVP wouldn’t say anything.
Brady fell again to Nick Foles, appearing to lose the number of losses in his last game in seconds, and the Chicago Bears defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20:19 on Thursday night after Cairo Santos hit a 38-yard 1:17 Field goal shot had remaining.
DeAndre Houston-Carson broke Brady’s fourth pass 33 seconds ahead after Santos scored the field goal. Brady raised four fingers as if he had another. Instead, Chicago took possession and got away with a narrow victory.
“I know we took a bit and I was thinking about more mileage and it was a bad run,” said Brady. “I had a great opportunity there. Just didn’t run when we had to. “
Coach Bruce Arians insisted Brady keep the downs in sight. “He knew,” said Arians.
Brady never lost to Chicago as a member of the Patriots in five meetings. But the six-time NFL champion met Foles for the first time since New England lost to Philadelphia in Super Bowl LII.
Brady threw for 253 yards and a touchdown. But the Buccaneers (3-2) had captured their winning streak in three games.
“It was a fist fight,” said Foles, who was acquired from Jacksonville in an off-season deal. “It reminded me of a good old Philly fist fight. Now I can do it in Chicago. I really enjoyed getting into the locker room and partying with my teammates. I’m probably a little more tired than I thought I was about anything, but I’ll sleep well tonight. I think everyone is very happy about the win. “
Khalil Mack had two sacks and the Bears (4-1) recovered from a weak loss to Indianapolis.
Foles, the Super Bowl LII MVP, made 30 of 42 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown in his second start after replacing Mitchell Trubisky.
“All in all, the offense made games when they had to and I think that’s one of the special things about Nick I think,” said coach Matt Nagy.
Allen Robinson had received 90 yards. Jimmy Graham caught a touchdown pass and David Montgomery ran for a score.
Brady was 25 of 41. The three-time MVP was spotted screaming on the sidelines after an ugly drive to Tampa Bay late in the third quarter.
“He just told the boys we had to wake up,” said Ronald Jones. “Again we shoot each other in the foot. There was no way we should have lost this game.
Mike Evans had a touchdown reception.
Ryan Succop scored four field goals, including a 25-yarder, to put Tampa Bay 4:49 ahead. But the Vita Vea nasal device was taken off the field on a cart with less than two minutes left after a teammate curled up on his right leg.
The Buccaneers imposed 11 penalties for 109 yards for the first time since the New Orleans opener.
“I think sales, penalties and field positions lead to points and it comes down to third place in the red area. Ultimately you try to get more points than the other team and sales are a big part of that and penalties are another big part because you don’t own the football when you are on the third and long way, “said Brady. “You need clean games where you stay ahead at a distance and at a distance.”
The Buccaneers looked like they could inflate it and take 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 of the three. Kyle Fuller hit Ke’Shawn Vaughn hard when he caught a short pass, and Robert Quinn took the fumble back and gave the Bears possession at Tampa Bay 27.A bouncing Graham reached into the end zone with one hand Jamel Dean persuaded him to Collect Foles ’12 yard pass.
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