Buccaneers vs. Chicago Bears 
WON - Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27 Chicago Bears 24
In the first quarter, both Tampa Bay and Chicago were fired up and committed several skirmishes. On the second play of the game, Brian Griese's pass was tipped and intercepted by Lance Briggs. The Bears capitalized on the turnover with a field goal. A field position battle saw the Bears kick another field goal, and hold a 6–0 lead early. After the early turnover, Brian Griese led the Buccaneers on an 8-play, 81-yard scoring drive. The drive was capped off by a touchdown pass to Ike Hilliard.
Early in the second quarter, Griese completed a pass to Maurice Stovall, but Stovall fumbled the ball with Chicago recovering at the 38-yard line. Attempting to score quickly, Kyle Orton threw deep to the endzone on the next play. The pass was broken up in the endzone, and bounced into the hands of Barrett Ruud for an improbable interception. The teams traded possessions twice, and the Bears found themselves driving across midfield with about 6 minutes left in the half. After a sack, Orton was again pressured, and threw a screen pass which was intercepted. Gaines Adams returned the ball 45 yards to the goal line, and after review, was awarded a touchdown. The Bears regrouped and drove to their own 44-yard line. On fourth down, a well-executed fake punt resulted in a 38-yard run by Garrett Wolfe. The Bears scored a third field goal as time expired in the half, and Tampa Bay took a 14–9 lead into halftime.
After an interception midway through the third quarter, Chicago scored their first touchdown (and added a two-point conversion) for a 17–14 lead. With less than 7 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, hoping to put the game out of reach, a fourth field goal by Gould put the Bears up by ten points.
Brian Griese drove the Buccaneers 63 yards in 12 plays, and set up a 35-yard field goal by Matt Bryant. The kick narrowed the deficit to 7 points. The Buccaneer defense held Chicago to a 3-and-out, and the Bears punted to Tampa Bay immediately after the two-minute warning. In just over a minute and a half, Griese drove the Buccaneers 81 yards in 11 plays. Jerramy Stevens caught a 1-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the score and force overtime.
In the overtime period, Tampa Bay won the coin toss and received. They quickly drove to the Chicago 39-yard line, but an intentional grounding penalty stalled the drive. Chicago received a punt, but was unable to cross midfield. Brad Maynard punted, and pinned the Buccaneers at their own 7-yard line.
Facing 3rd & 9 at their own 8-yard line, Griese passed to Jerramy Stevens for a short 2-yard gain. The drive, however, was given new life when a skirmish broke out and Charles Tillman of the Bears was called for unnecessary roughness. In seven plays, Griese drove the Buccaneers to the Chicago 44-yard line. With just over 5 minutes left in the overtime period, Griese connected with Antonio Bryant for a 38-yard pass, and a first & goal at the Chicago 6. Two plays later, Matt Bryant came on the field, and kicked a game-winning field goal.
Brian Griese set a franchise record for most pass attempts (67, fourth most in NFL history). His passing yards (407) was the third-most in team history.
GAMEDAY BRIEF
OFFICALS
- REFEREE: Tony Corrente
- UMPIRE: Tony Michalek
- HEAD LINESMAN: John McGrath
- LINE JUDGE: John Hussey
- SIDE JUDGE: Allen Baynes
- FIELD JUDGE: Mike Weir
- BACK JUDGE: Scott Helverson
- REPLAY OFFICIAL: Bob Mantooth
- VIDEO OPERATOR: not documented
SCORING
- BEARS: 12:43-1Q Gould FG40
- BEARS: 06:10-1Q Gould FG43
- BUCCANEERS: 01:50-1Q Hilliard 4 pass from Griese (Bryant kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 05:26-2Q Adams 45 interception return (Bryant kick)
- BEARS: 00:00-2Q Gould FG28
- BEARS: 02:54-3Q Forte 6 pass from Orton (Lloyd pass from Orton)
- BEARS: 06:38-4Q Lloyd 19 pass from Orton (Gould kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 03:11-4Q Bryant FG35
- BUCCANEERS: 00:07-4Q Stevens 1 pass from Griese (Bryant kick)
- BUCCANEERS: 04:21-OT Bryant FG21
STARTERS OFFENSE
- LT: #70 D. Penn
- LG: #78 A. Sears
- C: #52 J. Faine
- RG: #76 J. Zuttah
- RT: #65 J. Trueblood
- WR: #19 I. Hillard
- QB: #08 B. Griese
- RB: #34 E. Graham
- TE: #86 J. Stevens
- TE: #81 A. Smith
- TE: #88 J. Gilmore
STARTERS DEFENSE
- LE: #93 K. Carter
- DT: #95 C. Hovan
- DT: #71 J. Haye
- RE: #90 G. Adams
- SLB: #59 C. June
- MLB: #51 B. Ruud
- WLB: #55 D. Brooks
- LCB: #31 P. Buchanon
- RCB: #20 R. Barber
- SS: #23 J. Phillips
- FS: #36 T. Jackson
SUBSTITUTIONS
- 3 Bryant, 9 Bidwell, 10 Jackson, 21 Piscitelli, 26 Allen, 28 Dunn, 32 Hamilton, 35 Askew, 44 Storer, 48 Economos, 50 McCoy, 54 Hayes, 57 Hayward, 58 Black, 71 Haye, 79 Mahan, 80 Clayton, 85 Stovall, 89 Bryant, 91 White, 97 Wilkerson, 98 Sims
DID NOT PLAY
- 12 McCown
INACTIVE
- 7 Garcia, 11 Johnson, 25 Talib,29 Bennett, 75 Joseph, 77 Lee, 84 Galloway, 96 Peterson
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
- BUCCANEERS: Dunn 5-31, Graham 12-16.
- BEARS: Forte 27-89, Wolfe 1-38, Orton 6-21, Jones 3-10.
PASSING
- BUCCANEERS: Griese 67-38-407-3-2.
- BEARS: Orton 34-22-268-2-2.
RECIEVING
- BUCCANEERS: Bryant 10-138, Hilliard 6-57, Stevens 5-61, Clayton 5-54, Dunn 4-27, Smith 3-33, Askew 2-18, Stovall 2-16, Gilmore 1-3.
- BEARS: Forte 7-66, Lloyd 6-124, Davis 3-37, McKie 2-17, Olsen 2-16, Clark 2-8.
INTERCEPTIONS
- BUCCANEERS: Adams 1-45, Ruud 1-0.
- BEARS: Payne 1-12, Briggs 1-3, Vasher 1-0.
KICK RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: Clayton 3-69, D.Jackson 2-40.
- BEARS: Manning 4-108.
PUNT RETURNS
- BUCCANEERS: D.Jackson 3-1, Hilliard 0-0.
- BEARS: Vasher 3-25.
SACKS
- BUCCANEERS: Carter 1-9, Barber 1-7, White 1-5.
- BEARS: none.
