Santos Field Goal With Three Seconds Left Lifts Bears Past Buccaneers 27-24

Cairo Santos kicked a 38-yard field goal with three seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Chicago Bears beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-24 at Soldier Field on Sunday night, November 8, 2026. Tampa Bay had tied the game 24-24 with 2:51 remaining, and Chicago answered with the drive that set up the winning kick.

A tie game with under three minutes left

Tampa Bay trailed 24-13 entering the fourth quarter. Bucky Irving scored his second touchdown of the night and Baker Mayfield converted the two-point attempt, and the Buccaneers were level at 24-24 with 2:51 to play. Chicago took the ball back with the game tied and moved into field goal range. Santos, who was 2 for 2 on field goals and 3 for 3 on extra points in the game, finished the drive with the 38-yard kick at the three-second mark.

Chicago built the lead early

The Bears led from the first quarter. Luther Burden III scored on a 56-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Williams in the first quarter on the way to a 14-0 lead. Chicago scored 14 points in the first quarter, 3 in the second, 7 in the third and 3 in the fourth. Tampa Bay scored 0 in the first, 6 in the second, 7 in the third and 11 in the fourth.

The lead reached 24-13 in the third quarter on a defensive score. Williams had just thrown his fourth interception of the game when Jaylon Johnson intercepted Mayfield and returned the ball 67 yards for a touchdown. The pick six pushed the Chicago lead to 11 points and set up the Tampa Bay comeback that followed.

Williams wins despite four interceptions

Williams finished 22 of 37 for 279 yards with 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, and he ran 5 times for 16 yards. Chicago turned the ball over 5 times in the game, the 4 interceptions and 1 lost fumble, against 2 turnovers for Tampa Bay. The Bears still won, in large part because their defense produced the Johnson touchdown and because Santos did not miss.

Mayfield finished 18 of 32 for 243 yards with no touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Irving carried the Tampa Bay offense on the ground, running 20 times for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns and catching 4 passes for 28 yards.

The receiving and kicking lines

Burden caught 7 passes for 97 yards and 1 touchdown, the 56-yard score in the first quarter. Rome Odunze caught 4 passes for 60 yards and 1 touchdown. For Tampa Bay, Chase McLaughlin kicked 3 field goals, from 27, 21 and 35 yards, and kept the Buccaneers close while their offense produced one touchdown in the first three quarters.

Chicago came into the game at 6-2 and Tampa Bay at 3-5. The final quarter gave the Soldier Field crowd both the comeback and the answer: an 11-point comeback to tie, then a 38-yard field goal with three seconds left to win it 27-24.