The Bears (6-2) will seek their fourth straight win and sixth victory in their last seven games Sunday night when they host the Buccaneers (3-5) at Soldier Field.
It is the final of three consecutive prime-time contests for the Bears, who defeated both of last season's Super Bowl participants the last two weeks, beating the Patriots 30-24 Thursday night, Oct. 22 at Soldier Field and the Seahawks 34-17 Monday night in Seattle.
Monday night's game features a matchup of quarterbacks in the Bears' Caleb Williams and the Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield, who both won the Heisman Trophy while playing for coach Lincoln Riley in college and were later selected with the No. 1 pick in the draft.
The contest also pits the NFL's top two rushing offenses (Buccaneers are first and Bears are second) against top four run defenses (Tampa is second and Chicago is fourth).
In addition, the Bears and Buccaneers are both in second place in their respective divisions, though the NFC North is the only division with all four teams above .500 and the NFC South is the lone division with all four clubs below .500.
The Buccaneers have won two straight and three of their last four games after a 0-4 start. Last Sunday, they blanked the Falcons 16-0 in a driving rainstorm in Tampa, rushing for a season-high 324 yards while becoming the first NFL team since the 1974 Falcons to win a game without completing a pass. (Mayfield was 0 for 3.)
"This is a good football team," said coach Ben Johnson. "They're hot right now. They're running the ball really well. The defense is playing out of their minds. We've got a huge challenge here this week."
When the Bears have the ball
It will be strength-versus-strength Sunday night when a potent Bears offense that ranks third in the NFL in total yards per game (387.3) battles a stingy Buccaneers defense that is third in yards allowed (285.9).
Williams will look to remain red hot. In leading the Bears to three straight wins since returning from a hamstring injury, he has completed 73.8% of his passes for 860 yards with four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 111.3 passer rating. This season, he is second in the NFL in completion percentage (70.9) and fifth in passer rating (104.6).
The passing game has fueled three consecutive 30-point outings in victories over the Falcons, Patriots and Seahawks. In those games, Luther Burden III has caught 19 passes for 281 yards and two TDs, Colston Loveland has 20 receptions for 199 yards and 2 TDs and Rome Odunze has 11 catches for 195 yards.
On the season, Burden is tied for 13th in the league in both receptions (42) and yards (547). Loveland has produced at least 65 yards in each of the last three games; the only Bears tight end with a longer streak is William Dewveall with five in 1960. Hall of Famer Mike Ditka had two three-game streaks in six seasons with the Bears.
The Bears are seeking more consistency in the run game. Although they rank second in the NFL in rushing (150.8 yards per game), they've been limited to 105.3 yards over their last four contests after averaging 196.2 yards in their first four games.
D'Andre Swift leads the NFL with 10 rushing touchdowns after he produced three in Monday night's win over the Seahawks, eclipsing his career high of nine set last year. In the process, he became the first Bears player to rush for three TDs in a half since Hall of Famer Walter Payton in a 1977 victory over the Chiefs.
Swift is 12th in the NFL in rushing with 545 yards on 143 carries. He is a major reason the Bears have scored TDs in 7 of 8 goal-to-goal situations (87.5%) in their last three games after producing TDs in 4 of 11 goal-to-goal scenarios (36.4%) in their previous four contests.
The Bears' league-leading 17 rushing TDs and Swift's 10 rush TDs are both the most by the team and one of its players through eight games since 1956.
The Buccaneers defense is led by tackle Vita Vea, safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and linebacker Alex Anzalone. The unit has improved significantly, averaging 13.8 points allowed and generating 12 takeaways over its last four games after averaging 24.0 points with four takeaways in its first four contests.
Tampa Bay's run defense has held each of its last seven opponents under 100 yards, with only the Bengals topping the century mark with 106 yards in Week 1.
"You don't see a lot of great runs against them," said offensive coordinator Press Taylor. "You don't see a lot of teams have a ton of success running the ball. The personnel they have — they're very big inside; they do a great job. But then the structure of the way they play, the way they shed blocks, the fundamentals, it's a good tackling unit in the core.
"They present a lot of different looks, a lot of variety, the coverage rotates a lot in certain ways, so they'll present a heavy box to you. It's just tough sledding to see teams try to run the ball on these guys, and you've got to work for it. It's no different than last week, where everybody has got to be on the same page with what we're trying to do, how we want to attack this unit, where we expect the run to go, who has the big hat, how we're helping those people in certain situations. It's a really, really good unit; has been for a really long time. It's going to be a huge challenge for us."
Under longtime coach Todd Bowles, the Buccaneers often play with one deep safety, which enables the second safety to play closer to the line of scrimmage.
"He's always defended the run really well," Johnson said. "Whenever you play single high to the rate that he does, it's different than what we've seen earlier this year. A lot of these teams were playing shell and two high, and he's predominantly single high.
"That always gives you an extra defender in the box you've got to account for, so schematically, it's very challenging to run the ball. And then when you have the talent on the defensive line and in the linebacker crew that they have, those are tough yards to come by."
Key matchup: Bears tight end Colston Loveland vs. Buccaneers linebacker Alex Anzalone
Loveland has emerged as a key factor in the passing game in recent weeks, compiling 65, 69, and 65 yards in his last three outings with two touchdowns — his three most productive performances of the season. The 2025 first-round pick could be opposed at times by Anzalone, who leads the Buccaneers with three interceptions after recording four picks in his first nine NFL seasons with the Saints (2017-20) and Lions (2021-25).
Johnson is familiar with Anzalone from their time together in Detroit.
"He's a smart, instinctive, fast player," said the Bears coach. "He really came on there in Detroit. Have a lot of respect for him, especially playing against him last year there as well. Hard to get anything past him. He does a great job communicating, and you know with all the little wrinkles that they have on defense, that's a huge part of what they do.
"He's a big reason why they're hitting their stride right now defensively. They've really been on the uptick throughout the season. His comfort within the defense, what coach Bowles is asking him to do, is sky-high at this point. He's what, 32 years old, and yet you see him running around. He runs as well as anybody out there. Huge challenge with him. Ton of respect for him as well."
When the Buccaneers have the ball
Acquired last Thursday in a trade with the Titans, All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons had a monster Bears debut in Seattle, tying for the team lead with six tackles and registering one sack, two tackles-for-loss and one pass breakup.
Simmons' arrival seemingly inspired his former Mississippi State teammate, Bears defensive end Montez Sweat, who returned from a two-game suspension with a vengeance, recording one sack and having two others nullified by penalties.
The Bears defense ranks first in the NFL in third-down efficiency and second in both sacks per pass play and first downs per game. The unit has held opponents to a 23.8% rate on third downs (19 of 80), with the 19 conversions the second fewest permitted by a team through its first eight games since at least 1991.
The Bears defense will be challenged Sunday night by a Buccaneers running game that averages a league-best 168.6 yards per game. Tampa Bay has rushed for 925 yards in its last four contests, the most in any four-game span in franchise history.
Last Sunday against the Falcons, running backs Bucky Irving (170 yards) and Kenny Gainwell (140) both established career-high rushing totals and became the first teammates to both run for at least 140 yards in a game since 2008.
Irving ranks fourth in the league in rushing with 728 yards and five TDs on 147 carries and has topped 100 yards in three of his last four games.
"They're running the ball better than anybody else in the league right now," said defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. "Their offensive line is physical. This team just plays really hard and they play a physical brand of football, so it's going to take a lot of physicality. It's going to take great eyes and eye discipline and making sure we're in the right spots. And then it's going to take all 11 swarming the football. That's really the key to being able to stop a running game like this. They block it well, and these runners do an exceptional job of finding the right spot."
"This offensive line, it's really good," Johnson added. "The scheme is really good. They have a lot of variety with which they do things, and then the backs are phenomenal as well. It's a potent rushing attack … so that'll be a huge challenge for us. No. 1 team in football rushing the ball right now, so it'll be a big one."
While the Buccaneers rank first in rushing, they are last in passing yards per game (131.4) and are the only NFL team without a receiver with at least 250 yards. But that is skewed a bit by Mayfield missing three starts with a dislocated right thumb on his throwing hand and then playing in a monsoon last Sunday.
Key matchup: Bears defensive end Montez Sweat vs. Buccaneers right tackle Luke Goedeke
Sweat will look to build off his impressive performance against the Seahawks, which included one sack and three quarterback hits. He'll face Goedeke, who has been Tampa Bay's starting right tackle since his second NFL season in 2023 after playing left guard as a rookie.
