CHICAGO – Given a second chance after missing his first field goal attempt at Soldier Field this season, Robbie Gould ensured that the road to Super Bowl XLI will go through Chicago. 

Gould’s 25-yard field goal with 3:37 left in overtime gave the Bears a 34-31 victory Sunday over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The win, coupled with the New Orleans Saints’ loss to the Washington Redskins, enabled Chicago (12-2) to clinch home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

Rex Grossman passed for a career-high 339 yards and 2 TDs in Sunday's overtime win.

“Going into the football game, we talked to our team about finishing,” coach Lovie Smith said after the Bears surpassed last season's victory total. “That was definitely the case with the group today.”

Gould redeemed himself after hooking a 37-yard attempt wide left earlier in overtime, his first miss in 15 tries this season at Soldier Field. The winning kick came after Rashied Davis' leaping 28-yard reception from Rex Grossman on third-and-eight gave the Bears a first down at the Tampa Bay 20.

“The offense and the defense gave me an opportunity,” Gould said. “Obviously I didn’t get the job done earlier in the game. I’m just glad I got another chance to do it.”

It didn’t appear that Gould’s heroics would be necessary when the Bears took a 24-3 lead late in the third quarter. But Tampa Bay’s dormant offense suddenly and unexpectedly awoke, scoring four touchdowns in a 6:32 span after not reaching the end zone in the previous 13 quarters dating back to Nov. 23.

The Buccaneers eventually tied the game 31-31 on Tim Rattay’s 44-yard TD pass to Ike Hilliard with 3:44 left in the fourth quarter.

“We won,” said All-Pro middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. “That’s all that matters to me and this team and our coaches and that should be all that matters to our fans. But we know we’ve got to get better if we want to win in the playoffs. That’s what it comes down to.”

Committing no turnovers for the second straight game, Grossman set career highs with 29 completions, 44 attempts and 339 yards, becoming the first Bears quarterback to pass for at least 300 yards since Jim Miller on Oct. 7, 2002. Grossman also threw for 2 TDs and compiled a 104.3 passer rating, giving him an NFL-best seven games with at least a 100 rating.

“Rex had an outstanding game,” Smith said. “Rex is a good football player. Of course, he can throw the ball. It’s not like it’s a total shock to us. It’s good to see that he’s put a couple games together, getting his confidence back going into the playoffs.”

Grossman threw touchdown passes of 24 and 12 yards Desmond Clark, who had seven receptions for a career-high 125 yards. Clark became the first Bears tight end to top 100 yards since Emery Moorehead on Oct. 6, 1985.

All three Bears running backs contributed for the second straight week. Thomas Jones rushed for 68 yards on 17 carries, Cedric Benson added 53 yards on 15 attempts and Adrian Peterson’s 11-yard run preceded Gould’s winning field goal.

Playing without four starters, the Bears defense struggled at times against the Buccaneers, who entered Sunday’s game averaging an NFL-low 11.6 points. For the second straight week, Chicago won despite allowing four touchdowns.

Defensive tackle Tommie Harris is out for the season after undergoing surgery on a ruptured hamstring, while cornerback Nathan Vasher (hamstring) and strong safety Todd Johnson (ankle) sat out Sunday’s game with injuries.

Rashied Davis celebrates his 28-yard catch that set up Robbie Gould's game-winning field goal Sunday at Soldier Field.

On Friday, Smith announced that defensive tackle Tank Johnson would be deactivated for the game one day after he was charged with six misdemeanor counts of possession of a firearm without a Firearm Owner’s Identification card.

After Benson’s 4-yard TD run gave the Bears a 31-17 lead with 9:23 left in the fourth quarter, Rattay tied the game with scoring passes of 64 yards to Joey Galloway and 44 yards to Hilliard.

Prior to Sunday, the Bears defense had not allowed a touchdown pass of more than 26 yards this season.

“The thing that’s most disappointing is for the first time this year we gave up two long touchdown passes, something we’ve been very good at all year,” said defensive coordinator Ron Rivera. “One time I got aggressive with the blitz and we missed him—had an opportunity to stop him and we didn’t. Then another time they hit a seam on us in man coverage.”

Grossman was sharp early, putting perfect touch on a 24-yard TD pass to Clark that staked the Bears to a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. The Bears quarterback dropped the ball right over safety Jermaine Phillips and into the tight end’s arms.

“There are a lot of first options on that play,” Clark said. “It was a man-to-man defense. He could have come to me or he could have gone down the seam. But he stuck with me on that.

“Actually I got jammed on that and kind of fell down, but he stayed with me and I was able to get a little separation. He had to throw a perfect pass for me to be able to score on that one.”

After Matt Bryant’s 45-yard field goal drew Tampa Bay to within 7-3, Jones’ 5-yard TD run widened the margin to 14-3 with 3:58 left in the first half. Clark set up the score with receptions of 16 and 15 yards on the drive.

Buccaneers quarterback Bruce Gradkowski was then benched in favor of Rattay with 3:51 left in the second quarter after completing 5 of 11 passes for 37 yards and a 54.0 passer rating.

Grossman’s 12-yard TD strike to Clark on Chicago’s next possession capped a brilliant 6-play, 65-yard drive in just 1:05 and gave the Bears a 21-3 lead with :23 remaining in the first half. Operating the hurry-up offense with precision, the former Florida star completed 5 of 7 passes for 65 yards.

Gould’s 38-yard field goal increased Chicago’s lead to 24-3, but the Buccaneers (3-11) scored two touchdowns in 1:02 to close the gap to 24-17 early in the fourth quarter.

After Mike Alstott's 14-yard TD run, Blue Adams forced a Devin Hester fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Tampa Bay's Wesly Mallard caught the ball in the air, returning it four yards to the Chicago 16. Three plays later, Rattay tossed a 9-yard TD pass to tight end Alex Smith.

Gould’s first opportunity to win the game in overtime came after Lance Briggs forced a Smith fumble following a 10-yard reception that Ian Scott recovered at the Tampa Bay 37. Given a mulligan, Gould connected to help the Bears secure the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

“I’m extremely proud of this team,” Grossman said. “To now have home-field advantage where everyone has to come through Chicago is a huge advantage and we definitely want to take full advantage of that. We just now want to use the home-field advantage to get where we’re going.”