Bears' Williams undeterred by career-high 4 INTs: 'Going to keep grippin' it, keep rippin' it'

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  Courtney CroninNov 9, 2026, 02:43 AM ET

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  Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings before switching to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever and GameNight on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports journalist.

CHICAGO -- Quarterback Caleb Williams refused to let the career-high four interceptions he threw against Tampa Bay rattle his confidence as he put the Bears in position to beat the Buccaneers 27-24 on a walk-off field goal Sunday night.

"I'm going to throw until I can't throw anymore," Williams said. "That's how I live. I work my tail off to be in this position. I'll never not throw the ball. I could throw 100 picks in one game. If it comes down to it, I'm going to throw that pass that I did to [tight end] Colston [Loveland], or if it's [a] tighter window, I'm going to rip it in there. That's how I grew up. That's who I am. I don't get gun shy. That's not me, that's not my identity, that's not who I am. With that, I'm going to keep grippin' it, keep rippin' it, and Coach calls it, it's time to go make a play."

Chicago's sloppy win in its third straight primetime game came on a night the Bears committed five turnovers and gave up a 14-point lead. According to ESPN Research, they are the third team over the past 20 seasons to win and never trail in a game in which they had at least five turnovers.

The Bears' fifth turnover was a fumble by wide receiver Luther Burden III, who sustained a helmet-to-helmet blow on Chicago's penultimate drive as he lost control of the football deep in his team's territory. That paved the way for the Buccaneers to tie the game at 24-all, with Tampa Bay running back Bucky Irving running in a 6-yard touchdown followed by quarterback Baker Mayfield's successful two-point conversion. Chicago's final drive began with 2 minutes, 51 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Bears in possession of all three timeouts. Williams found a wide-open Loveland for a 38-yard reception that set up Cairo Santos' game-winning 38-yard field goal as time expired.

It marked the first time this season the Bears needed Williams to orchestrate a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime after he had six such drives in 2025 (tied for second-most).

Chicago has not trailed at any point over its past four games, all of which have been wins.

"Despite the displeasure I might be presenting right now, there's a lot of good in terms of building this team that comes from a win like this because it's like I said, one, it's hard to win under those circumstances," coach Ben Johnson said. "We really haven't been in that situation where in the fourth quarter with little time left, needing to go and field goal, touchdown, whatever that is. It just hasn't happened a whole lot this year. And yet I feel like our guys, we are prepped for that and we're ready for it. That's what I know now after going through that. I know as a play caller, I certainly felt great. It was as calm as I felt on calling plays there that last drive as I was all game long."

Williams started off strong by leading back-to-back touchdown drives to build a 14-point lead in the first quarter. His first interception came on Chicago's third possession when the quarterback said he "got greedy" trying to fit a pass to wide receiver Rome Odunze through two defenders at the goal line.

From there, Williams threw two more interceptions in the second quarter alone, both on passes he aimed to throw out of bounds. His last interception, in the third quarter, came on a pass intended for Burden that was tipped by Bucs cornerback Jacob Parrish and hauled in by linebacker Alex Anzalone.

Tampa Bay blitzed Williams on 66% of his dropbacks, the third-highest rate he has seen in a game throughout his career, and it led to three of his four interceptions. His two touchdown passes also came against the blitz.

"They sent the same blitz a couple of times, and they got through, and that's what happens," Williams said "When a defense sends a similar blitz or sends a blitz over and over, that just means that they're getting through. That means they're going to keep going until we stop it. We have to find ways to get better. We have to find ways to push through that. We have to find ways when it does happen, we have to make the adjustments. And then when it does happen, I have to be the big eraser."

Williams' four interceptions are uncharted territory throughout his three seasons in the NFL. He recalled postgame two other instances in which he had three interceptions in a game: once during his prep career at Gonzaga College High School and during his Heisman Trophy-winning season at USC when he threw three in the first half at Notre Dame.

"So I've been through it," Williams said. "I'm happy that I've been through it before. I'm not going to get gun shy. I'm not going to shy away from it. I have to find ways to get better. I have to find ways to get the ball out of bounds in those two. I have to find ways to not throw that first one I threw down in the red zone. Have to get points in the red zone. And then, the last one, we just have to get on the same page. I have to juice it in there, and we have to attack the ball in the air. From there, we're almost completely different. We will find ways to get better, but I've been in similar situations before. The other two times, we didn't win the games. This time, it's a W. So, uncharted territory in that sense, but I've been in this similar position before."

Entering Week 9, Williams had thrown four interceptions combined over his previous 15 regular-season games dating back to Nov. 2, 2025.