Returning to Raymond James Stadium after a Week 1 road win, the Bucs fought their way to a 27-17 win over the Bears, earning them their third consecutive 2-0 start. It once again wasn’t the prettiest day for the Tampa Bay offense, but a big performance by Mike Evans, six sacks from the defense and a game-clinching pick-six were enough to get the job done.

The Bucs offense got off to a much better start this week than it did against Minnesota a week ago, with a couple of third-down conversions keeping the drive going. But the drive ultimately stalled in the red zone, forcing Tampa Bay to settle for a 26-yard field goal from Chase McLaughlin. Nonetheless, the home team had a 3-0 lead after a 12-play, 67-yard drive that took 5:57 off the clock.

Bucs WR Chris Godwin – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

It didn’t take long for that lead to disappear, though. Justin Fields found D.J. Moore for gains of 33 and 31 yards on the Bears’ opening drive, which was capped off with a 1-yard touchdown run by Fields. Just like that, it was 7-3 in favor of Chicago with 6:17 left in the first quarter.

Tampa Bay’s offense initially looked to respond well, with Mayfield and Chris Godwin connecting for 24 yards before Cade Otton got in on the action with a nine-yard catch to move the chains himself. But after an uncharacteristic false start penalty on Tristan Wirfs backed the Bucs up from 3rd & 1 to 3rd & 6, the drive died. Mayfield missed on third down thanks to a miscommunication, then McLaughlin had his 40-yard field goal attempt blocked. That kept the Bears’ lead at 7-3 early in the second quarter.

Tampa Bay’s defense held strong after the blocked kick, with Shaq Barrett and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka both dropping Fields for sacks during a Chicago three-and-out.

It was then that the Bucs really grabbed momentum back, opening their ensuing possession with Mayfield finding Evans down the field and the 10th-year receiver doing the rest for a 70-yard gain down to the Bears’ 7-yard line. Three plays later, Rachaad White found the end zone from four yards out to give Tampa Bay a 10-7 lead.

Bucs K Chase McLaughlin – Photo by: USA Today

The Bears and Bucs traded three-and-outs from there before Chicago started to put something together again. Vita Vea and Yaya Diaby split a sack on the drive and Cam Gill got to Fields for a sack-fumble on third down to put a stop to the drive, but Cairo Santos nailed a 52-yard field goal to tie the game at 10 with 1:55 left in the first half.

With a chance to run their two-minute drill, the Bucs got moving right away. Completions to Otton and White got the drive started, then Evans and Trey Palmer chipped in with catches themselves. A Mayfield scramble with a personal foul added on set up 1st & Goal at the 7-yard line, but Tampa Bay eventually had to settle for three points. A 25-yard field goal by McLaughlin gave Todd Bowles’ team a 13-10 lead heading into the locker room.

Out of halftime, Chicago picked up one first down before another Tryon-Shoyinka sack on Fields killed the drive. The ensuing punt left Tampa Bay’s offense to go from its 11-yard line, but that proved to be no problem.

The first big play of the Bucs’ drive was a 36-yard completion from Mayfield to Evans, which got the ball near midfield. From there, a big 4th-&-2 conversion from White kept things alive. And even after a David Wells fumble looked to potentially kill the drive, the Bucs found the end zone on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to Evans. With that, it was a 20-10 lead for Tampa Bay with 4:06 left in the third quarter.

Bucs NT Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

On the Bears’ next possession, the Bucs looked to force turnovers on consecutive plays. Instead, both were overturned. Devin White first got to Fields for what appeared to be a sack-fumble recovered by Christian Izien. But after review, it was called an incomplete pass. The next play saw Zyon McCollum make a great interception near the sideline, but replay assistance ended up ruling that he didn’t maintain possession of the ball as he went to the ground.

The Bears had to punt the ball anyway, which brought the game to the end of the third quarter with Tampa Bay leading 20-10.

Neither side had much to offer in the early part of the fourth quarter, but Chicago then managed to put together an eight-play, 90-yard touchdown drive to suddenly make the game much closer than it should’ve been. Fields found Chase Claypool for a 20-yard touchdown with 6:17 left to cut the Bucs’ lead to three.

Rachaad White made a couple of plays on the ensuing possession to keep the ball moving while the clock kept running. But a false start on Luke Goedeke and some negative runs meant the Bucs had to punt the ball back to the Bears with 2:38 to go.

Jake Camarda dropped a punt to the 7-yard line, and then the party was quickly on for Tampa Bay as Shaq Barrett made a one-handed interception and returned it four yards for a game-clinching pick-six. With that, it was a 27-17 game. Just for good measure, Christian Izien came up with an interception to close out the game on the next drive.

Bucs QB Baker Mayfield- Photo by: USA Today

Baker Mayfield finished the day 26-of-34 for 317 yards and a touchdown, while Mike Evans was the star of the afternoon with 171 yards and a touchdown on six catches. Rachaad White ran 17 times for 73 yards and a touchdown while catching five passes for 30 yards.

Tampa Bay’s defense was all over Justin Fields for much of the day, with Joe Tryon-Shoyinka notching his first career multi-sack game. Vita Vea tallied 1.5 sacks, Shaq Barrett and Cam Gill both came up with one each and Yaya Diaby earned a half-sack himself. Fields was just 16-of-29 for 211 yards, a touchdown and two late interceptions in the game while being limited to three yards and a touchdown on four rushing attempts.

With the win, the Bucs improve to 2-0 for the third straight season. They’ll be back at home in Week 3, hosting the Eagles (2-0) on Monday Night Football. Kickoff is set for 7:15 p.m.