The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were slaughtered by the Chicago Bears as quarterback Mitchell Trubisky made history.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were an embarrassment in their 48-10 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Mitch Trubisky shredded the Tampa Bay secondary for a career-high six touchdowns and 354 yards.
Trubisky’s six touchdowns are the most the most ever for a Buccaneers opponent. In his rookie season, Trubisky had seven total touchdowns, he nearly matched that total in one game thanks to the Bucs defense.
The game was over by halftime. The Bears put up 38 first-half points as just one of Chicago’s offensive drives finished without points.
While Trubisky put up incredible numbers, he made simple throws as Bears receivers ran wide open all over the field. Trey Burton and running back Tarik Cohen couldn’t be stopped.
The duo combined for 14 catches for 225 yards. Defensive coordinator Mike Smith had no answer for Bears head coach Matt Nagy.
A mediocre Chicago offense outclassed the Tampa Bay defense, plain and simple.
Linebackers were matched up against running backs, and the miscommunication in the secondary was apparent.
By the time the second quarter came around, the Bucs offense had to become one dimensional. Ryan Fitzpatrick was forced to drop back as Khalil Mack, and the Bears front chased after him.
Fitzpatrick struggled with accuracy again, but the defense did him no favors. With the game firmly out of reach, Jameis Winston took over at halftime.
Sunday’s game was a perfect time to get Jameis Winston some reps. With no chance of winning, Winston could shake the rust off and get some much-needed reps with his receiving corps.
Winston didn’t do anything special, but the Bears defense was guarding against the pass in the second half. They weren’t going to allow Winston to attack down the field, but he connected on most of his short throws.
The rust was apparent as he misfired on a few passes, but the Bears defense was playing prevent. They were going to allow the Bucs to have long, drives that would chew up the clock.
When the dust settled, Winston had one touchdown, two interceptions and completed 80 percent of his passes.
During a pathetic performance, it’s hard to look at the bright side, but both DeSean Jackson and Jason Pierre-Paul had solid games.
Jackson exceeded 100 yards for the third time this season and Pierre-Paul added another sack and two tackles for loss.
Tampa Bay is also 2-2. While Sunday’s loss is hard to swallow, the bottom line is that the Bucs are .500 and can still make some noise.
Next week, Tampa Bay gets a bye week, before they face off against the Atlanta Falcons.