Four Picks Couldn't Bury Chicago
The Weekend Lesson · No. 7 · November 9, 2026 — Week 9: Chicago Bears 27, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24
Chicago turned the ball over five times on Sunday night. Caleb Williams threw a career-high four interceptions, and the Bears still won, 27-24, because Tampa Bay scored only three points off those four picks. Two plays explain it: a defensive touchdown that answered the fourth interception, and a final drive that refused to force anything.
Play one: the pick-six that answered a pick
Late in the third quarter, Chicago led 17-13 when Williams threw his fourth interception, a deflected ball that Alex Anzalone caught to give Tampa Bay possession at the Chicago 37. On that possession, coordinator Dennis Allen mixed the coverage picture, Jaylon Johnson jumped a Baker Mayfield throw, and Montez Sweat blocked Mayfield to clear Johnson's 67-yard return for a touchdown. Instead of defending a short field, Chicago led 24-13.
That is sudden-change defense, and the Fangio Two-High guide is its home: keep two high, change the picture after the snap, and let the quarterback throw into a defender playing his spot. Across Tampa Bay's four possessions after Williams interceptions, Chicago allowed three points and scored seven itself. In Madden, after your offense gives it away, resist the panic blitz. Spin the shell, trust the coverage, and make the short field the offense's problem.
Play two: 38 yards to a wide-open tight end
Tampa Bay tied it 24-24 with 2:51 left after Luther Burden's fumble set the Buccaneers up at the Chicago 17: Bucky Irving ran six yards for the touchdown and Mayfield ran in the conversion. Chicago took over at its own 31. Williams hit Kalif Raymond for eight yards on third-and-4, then found Colston Loveland wide open down the left sideline for 38 yards to the Tampa Bay 16 with 38 seconds left. Two kneel-downs later, Cairo Santos kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired.
Williams credited the "tempo plus the motions" for springing Loveland, and that is the West Coast guide in one drive: after four interceptions, the answer was not a hero throw. It was rhythm, motion and the completion in front of him, taken on time. In Madden, on the drive that decides it, call your rhythm concepts, use motion to move the picture, and take the wide-open tight end over the forced shot.
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