Buccaneers vs. Chicago Bears

LOSS - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31 Chicago Bears 34

The Bears entered week 15 of the NFL season hoping to secure a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

The Bears led 24–3 win 5:22 left in the third quarter and were en route to winning their third straight, but the Buccaneers had other plans. During the first quarter, the Bucs had only reached 80 yards in total offense. Coach Jon Gruden sent in back-up Tim Rattay who completed 20 of 35 for 268 yards with 3 touchdowns and one interception as the Bucs battled back to tie the game up at 31 during the 4th quarter.

A controversial move was made by Chicago Bear's head coach Lovie Smith as he decided to let time expire during the 4th quarter and thus send the game into overtime. Tampa Bay won the coin toss, and both teams had three possessions in overtime. After missing earlier in the overtime period, Robbie Gould connected on a 27-yard field goal with 3:37 remaining to give the Bears the victory, 34–31.

This loss sent the struggling Buccaneers to 3–11 which secured last place in the NFC South standings.

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GAMEDAY BRIEF

OFFICALS

• REFEREE: Larry Nemmers
• UMPIRE: Undrey Wash
• HEAD LINESMAN: Mark Baltz
• LINE JUDGE: Mike Spanier
• SIDE JUDGE: Carl Cheffers
• FIELD JUDGE: Mike Weir
• BACK JUDGE: Dino Paganelli
• REPLAY OFFICIAL: Jim Blackwood
• VIDEO OPERATOR: not documented

SCORING

• BEARS: 07:42-1Q Clark 24 pass from Grossman (Gould kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 08:19-2Q Bryant FG45
• BEARS: 03:56-2Q Jones 5 run (Gould kick)
• BEARS: 00:23-2Q Clark 12 pass from Grossman (Gould kick)
• BEARS: 05:22-3Q Gould FG38
• BUCCANEERS: 00:25-3Q Alstott 14 run (Bryant kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 14:13-4Q Smith 9 pass from Rattay (Bryant kick)
• BEARS: 09:23-4Q Benson 4 run (Gould kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 06:13-4Q Galloway 64 pass from Rattay (Bryant kick)
• BUCCANEERS: 03:44-4Q Hilliard 44 pass from Rattay (Bryant kick)
• BEARS: 03:37-OT Gould FG25

STARTERS OFFENSE

• WR: #84 J. Galloway
• LT: #69 A. Davis
• LG: #79 S. Mahan
• C: #76 J. Wade
• RG: #75 D. Joseph
• RT: #65 J. Trueblood
• TE: #88 A. Becht
• TE: #81 A. Smith
• QB: #07 B. Gradkowski
• RB: #24 C. Williams
• FB: #40 M. Alstott

STARTERS DEFENSE

• DE: #94 G. Spires
• DT: #95 C. Hovan
• DT: #96 E. Wyms
• DE: #90 D. White
• OLB: #56 R. Nece
• MLB: #53 S. Quarles
• OLB: #55 D. Brooks
• LCB: #31 P. Buchanon
• RCB: #20 R. Barber
• SS: #23 J. Phillips
• FS: #26 W. Allen

SUBSTITUTIONS

• 3 Bryant, 9 Bidwell, 13 Rattay, 19 Hilliard, 21 Bolden, 32 Pittman, 33 Sowell, 34 Graham, 39 Pearson, 46 Adams, 50 Winborn, 51 Ruud, 52 Cash, 54 Mallard, 56 Nece, 71 Haye, 74 Green, 77 Terry, 82 Warren, 83 Moore, 85 Stovall, 89 Jones, 91 Jenkins

DID NOT PLAY

• none.

INACTIVE

• 12 McCown, 29 Zemaitis, 30 Nicholson, 66 Mihlhauser, 70 Penn, 86 Jolley, 93 Bennett, 98 Bradley

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

• BUCCANEERS: Williams 11-26, Alstott 6-26, Pittman 2-5.
• BEARS: Jones 17-68, Benson 15-53, Peterson 2-13.

PASSING

• BUCCANEERS: Gradkowski 11-5-37-0-0, Rattay 35-20-268-1-3.
• BEARS: Grossman 44-29-339-0-2.

RECIEVING

• BUCCANEERS: Smith 5-24, Pittman 4-30, Galloway 3-107, Hilliard 3-55, Stovall 3-42, Warren 2-19, Williams 2-12, Becht 2-12, Alstott 1-4.
• BEARS: Clark 7-125, Muhammad 6-85, Berrian 6-33, McKie 5-34, Jones 3-16, Davis 1-28, Gilmore 1-18.

INTERCEPTIONS

• BUCCANEERS: none.
• BEARS: Harris 1-3.

KICK RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Cox 4-74, Pittman 2-43.
• BEARS: Hester 5-76, McClover 1-9.

PUNT RETURNS

• BUCCANEERS: Jones 7-46.
• BEARS: Hester 6-63, Berrian 1-0.

SACKS

• BUCCANEERS: Phillips 1-9, White 1-8, Spires 1-8, Wyms 1-1.
• BEARS: Manning 2-5.

Click here to view official GAMEBOOK & play-by-play highlights