Is Matt Eberflus on the hot seat? Is the Justin Fields dream still alive? Brad Biggs’ 10 thoughts on the Chicago Bears’ Week 2 loss.
10 thoughts after familiar problems that have dogged the Chicago Bears were again obstacles in a 27-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at steamy Raymond James Stadium, the franchise’s 12th consecutive defeat dating to last season.
1. Is Matt Eberflus’ job on the line?
A week ago, Eberflus called the season-opening loss to the Green Bay Packers “a little bump in the road.” Now, they’re staring at two lanes of traffic closed in both directions on Lake Shore Drive. That’s suboptimal.
With 12 losses in a row, the Bears fell to 3-16 under Eberflus and an unsightly 6-25 in their last 31 games. They’re headed to Kansas City this Sunday to face Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. What might have seemed like a good idea for Fox Sports back in the spring — having Justin Fields lock horns with the league’s reigning MVP in the late afternoon spot on national television — looks like a plan gone awry. The Bears likely don’t want anything to do with national games — or prime time for that matter.
We’re just two games in and there will be plenty of ruckus about Eberflus’ job status. When will the first win come? Against the Chiefs? Probably not. The following week against the Denver Broncos at Soldier Field? There’s a Week 5 trip to face Ron Rivera’s Washington Commanders. When will the slide end?
Any given Sunday is a real thing — and enough Bears referenced it after the Week 2 game that you have to think they’re hoping their given Sunday comes soon — but this team is not playing well.
This is a good spot to mention there was a reason I asked Eberflus at his introductory news conference about the length of his contract. Four years? Five? Eberflus declined to answer.
The Bears never have fired a coach in season and they sure as heck won’t do that in September. It’s understandable why the record was rock bottom a year ago. Everyone gets that. Hopefully, many understand that much of the hype surrounding this team during the offseason was born from something I referenced a week ago — wishcasting.
I don’t think the team had unrealistic goals this season. Those at Halas Hall were curious. They wanted to find out what they do have. The answers, thus far, are not good.
This game felt like more of a blowout than it was because the Bears managed to make a play on special teams with defensive end Rasheem Green blocking a field goal. The defense also forced the Bucs to kick two short field goals in the first half.
What is general manager Ryan Poles thinking right now? I imagine he wants to see proof from Eberflus and the coaching staff that they can successfully develop young talent and make improvements. I imagine Poles would like to see some of the veteran additions from the offseason putting the team in a better position to compete. It’s hard to identify anything the team is doing particularly well and the familiar problems from 2022 remain:
Fields continues to struggle mightily throwing the ball from the pocket. I counted two really nice throws from the pocket: the 20-yard touchdown pass to Chase Claypool midway through the fourth quarter and a 22-yard shot to DJ Moore on a deep in-breaker two plays before that. It’s seldom you see Fields plant his back foot in his drop and just let the ball rip. He’s not comfortable doing it, and I suspect that’s one reason offensive coordinator Luke Getsy dialed up a middle screen to running back Khalil Herbert with the Bears starting on their 7-yard line, trailing 20-17 with 2:24 remaining. He probably didn’t trust Fields in a straight drop-back that deep in his territory. Outside linebacker Shaquille Barrett made a nifty one-handed interception and returned it for a touchdown. Game over.
The Bears don’t rush the quarterback and were unable to sack the Bucs’ Baker Mayfield. It looked like defensive end Yannick Ngakoue let him slip away twice. I’m skeptical if the statistical crew was on its A-game as it credited the Bears with only one QB hit, and that belonged to DeMarcus Walker. According to the league’s NextGen Stats, Mayfield was 14 of 17 for 223 yards and a touchdown under pressure. The Bears pressured him 17 times and didn’t get a sack. The Bucs used the bootleg game and play action a fair amount. But just watching, it felt like there was more than one hit. Perhaps it was as bad as the press box statistics made it out to be. The defense has one sack through two games. This figured to be an issue, and as I wrote before the season, the only way to feel somewhat different about the pass rush at the end of the year is if rookie tackles Zacch Pickens and/or Gervon Dexter can step up.
Fields is holding the ball way too long in the pocket, and that was the cause of at least three of the six sacks, if not four. But pass protection and the offensive line remain areas that need to improve.
The defense can’t get off the field on third down. There was some slight improvement in the second half, but the Bucs were 8-for-15. Through two games — it’s a small sample size — opponents are converting 54.8%. Defensive coordinator Alan Williams called the first game and missed this one for personal reasons, replaced by Eberflus.
The defense that didn’t produce enough takeaways last season has zero through two games. It looked like safety Jaquan Brisker had a chance at an interception in the first quarter but couldn’t finish the play.
“Kind of ran into Mike (Evans) a little bit,” Brisker said. “But I should have locked in on it. I’ve got to catch it in traffic. We work on that all the time. There’s no excuses. I should have had that ball. I told my teammates, that’s on me.”
I could add a few more; these are fatal characteristics of losing football teams.
“I see improvement,” Eberflus said afterward. “I do. I see improvement. This was definitely better. I see guys fighting. I see us executing at a better clip. And it’s a long season. We have to keep doing that and good things are going to happen. The guys believe in that. The coaching staff believes in that. And we’re just going to keep moving forward after these 24 hours. We’re going to get to work on Kansas City.”
Eberflus was asked if he’s worried about losing the team and did his best to brush aside the question.
“No, not at all,” he replied. “This is 2023, so there’s a lot of guys in that locker room that weren’t here last year. A bunch of free agents, draft guys, a bunch of guys we picked and it’s a new football team. We’re getting the chemistry together, we’re getting the guys together that are playing together for the first time in a season and we will make that work. The guys are very optimistic about that.”
I wouldn’t bank on the idea there’s incredible buy-in from the returning players on the roster after they weathered a 3-14 season. Is Eberflus’ message getting through? Maybe. How do you explain Claypool blatantly ignoring the HITS principle Eberflus preaches in the season opener? Talk about some way to begin a contract season. By the way, Claypool chose not to talk about it last week, as the team didn’t make him available.
Forget the acronyms and cliches. What Eberflus really has to display is that his team is making legitimate improvement.
The run defense was good enough to win with. The Bucs totaled 120 yards on 34 carries (3.5 average). But Mayfield carved up the Bears, going 26 of 34 for 217 yards and one touchdown. Through two games the run defense is much better than it was last season. That hasn’t moved the needle.
Through the mess, the Bears got the ball back with 2:24 remaining, trailing by only a field goal.
“I thought it was really good,” Eberflus said. “I was really positive. We were planning on running two plays there before the two-minute (warning), so we were going to do that, take the two minutes and start driving from there. I was thinking about what if we score quickly, then the defense has got to step up and make a big stop. I was thinking about that as well.”
Thinking about scoring quickly? Anyone else worried about that? That would have been a dreamy predicament in what instead has been a nightmarish start, something worse than a little bump in the road.
2. The players seemed genuinely stunned a week ago after losing to the Packers.
I don’t know if it was because they figured with Aaron Rodgers finally gone, the tables were going to be turned quickly or they just thought they would perform better. But they were shocked after the Week 1 loss. It was a quiet locker room here and while I didn’t sense a defeatist attitude, the impression was some of the players realize they’re going to be in for a turbulent season.
“I think we have a long way to go,” Justin Fields said. But I just think if we keep working, we’ll get there, and I think everybody has to keep that mindset. I think in this position you can do one of two things and that’s either lay down, just kind of throw in the towel and kind of say whatever. But I don’t think anybody on the team’s like that. It’s my job, it’s the coaches’ job to keep everybody going, keep everybody’s morale up. It is a long season but I mean we definitely have a lot to fix.”
“The mood hasn’t changed much,” running back Khalil Herbert said. “The main thing is just getting back to work, fixing what we can fix and keep chopping, keep chopping, keep chopping. We’ve just got to keep at it.”
“I can only speak for myself,” left tackle Braxton Jones said. “I take full responsibility for the penalties the last few weeks. Obviously, the protection falls on me first being the left tackle. The media is getting a little feel that we’re just out there going through the motions. But that’s not really it. We’re fighting for each other. I’m fighting for Cody (Whitehair), Lucas (Patrick), all those guys. We’re giving our best effort. I think we have to be better and continue to focus in on the details. We just gotta figure it out. I can only focus on myself.”
Fields comes across as realistic. That’s important. I liked Jones’ response; he didn’t say “we need to get better,” he talked about himself. I’m wondering if he picked up some of this from Olin Kreutz, who would talk only about himself after a game and what he needed to improve on.
The Bears need a room full of guys doing some self-reflection right now.
3. How troublesome is an 0-2 start?
The Bears lost to Packers quarterback Jordan Love in his second career start and Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield in his second start with his fourth team since the 2021 season. Hopes for a prosperous start to the season have been dashed and with a trip to Kansas City up next in Week 3, Matt Eberflus and his team already have a hole to climb out of.
If this was looked at as a building season, maybe 0-2 doesn’t signal doom and gloom but these sure looked like two winnable games back when the schedule came out. In the big picture, 0-2 might be worse than you think? Over the last four seasons, 32 teams started 0-2. One rebounded to make the playoffs: the Cincinnati Bengals last year. That Joe Burrow-led team reached the AFC Championship game. The Bengals lost each of their first two games by a field goal. The Bears suffered an 18-point loss against the Packers and a 10-point loss Sunday.
Prior to the 2023 Bengals, the last teams to begin 0-2 and qualify for the postseason were the Houston Texans and Seattle Seahawks — both in 2018.
Entering Monday night, eight teams are off to an 0-2 start, including the Bengals once again. Only two of the 11 teams to start 0-2 over the last two years finished above .500. Here is the list from 2021 and 2022:
2021
Atlanta Falcons 7-10
Indianapolis Colts 9-8
Jacksonville Jaguars 3-14
Minnesota Vikings 8-9
New York Giants 4-13
New York Jets 4-13
2022
Falcons 7-10
Carolina Panthers 7-10
Cincinnati Bengals 12-4
Las Vegas Raiders 6-11
Tennessee Titans 7-10
If the Bears lose another game or two, pretty soon they’ll be coming up on a calendar year since the last victory on Oct. 24, 2022.
4. The Justin Fields dream looks bleak.
One of the primary talking points since the end of last season was the Bears were going to need to know — hopefully with a level of certainty — whether Justin Fields is their guy or not after this season. That wasn’t overstating the situation for the quarterback. It’s reality. Highly drafted quarterbacks are on three-year clocks. Fair? Not enough time? Maybe or maybe not. Reality? Yes.
By no means am I saying the Fields’ dream is over at Halas Hall, but it’s looking bleak and if this keeps up, the organization could have an answer about the future before Halloween. I’m sure the team isn’t going to spend any time considering a change at the position right now. Nathan Peterman isn’t an answer to anything that ails them and throwing undrafted rookie free agent Tyson Bagent in this early would be potentially detrimental. Don’t come back at me with you have to see what Bagent can do. He’s on a three-year contract. Let him learn and approach this the right way. I’m not ruling out the idea of Bagent seeing the field at some point, but right now makes no sense.
Here are Fields’ statistics through his first 27 starts and compared to Mitch Trubisky’s through his first 27 starts. It’s just passing statistics. Trubisky wasn’t a bad runner but Fields is elite, one of the best to ever do it. The Bears aren’t going to invest in Fields long-term because he runs well, though.
Mitch Trubisky
511 of 809 for 63.5%
5,644 yards
31 TD, 20 INT
2.5% INT ratio
60 sacks
6.98 yards per attempt
86.2 rating
Justin Fields
373 of 639 for 58.4%
4,469 yards
26 TD, 23 INT
3.6% INT ratio
99 sacks
6.99 yards per attempt
78.4 rating
Trubisky’s 27th start was the first game of the 2019 season, a 10-3 loss at home to the Packers. He didn’t show measured growth that season or the next year. Those holding out hope for Fields have to find reasons to think he can take that major step forward.
“He’s so late to read it,” one pro scout said. “You see all these plays and it’s not like there’s no one open. He won’t pull the trigger and it’s killing that offense. Six sacks today? The O-line isn’t the problem. There are perfect pockets and he’s not throwing it.”
5. There are multiple reasons for concern about the secondary.
The secondary appeared to be the strongest unit on defense at the start of the season. Kyler Gordon is on injured reserve for three more games following surgery on his right hand. The hope is he will return in Week 6, meaning he would be on IR for the minimum four-game stay. Rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was picked on in a big way by Bucs QB Baker Mayfield, and free safety Eddie Jackson left in the first quarter with a foot injury and did not return.
“We’re going to look at it,” Matt Eberflus said when asked if it was possibly related to the Lisfranc injury Jackson suffered last November in a loss to the New York Jets. “We’re positive right now. But we’ll see where it goes. We don’t know how positive it will be. We’ll see.”
Positive as in optimistic?
“We’ll see where it is,” Eberflus said.
Stevenson was worked over pretty good by wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Mayfield completed 5 of 7 passes going against Stevenson for 140 yards and a touchdown. That’s an awful day for the rookie, but I think a strong case can be made the yardage total should be cut in half. Sure looked like officials could have called Evans for offensive pass interference on the 70-yard gainer he had when he pushed Stevenson down to catch Mayfield’s pass. Maybe it’s a lesson in how strong some NFL receivers are for the second-round pick.
“I’m going to go back and look at the tape,” Eberflus said. “I’m not really going to comment on that. But I saw what I saw on the field. We’ll see what it looks like on the tape. We had a nice little pressure called there. And we just have to do a good job of tackling that up.”
Evans also cooked Stevenson for a 32-yard touchdown in the third quarter on a third-and-14 play.
“I just ran an inside go,” Evans said.
Nothing fancy. And he blew past Stevenson on a day when the veteran had six receptions for 171 yards.
“Just bad technique,” Stevenson said when asked what happened. “Bad eyes on my end. I’ve got to do a better job of my coverage. They were just able to find, I guess, the open receiver at the moment.”
Stevenson said he’s going to remain positive, but rest assured upcoming opponents are going to find him — and test him. Evans and Godwin are seasoned veterans and there has to be a long list of young cornerbacks they’ve baptized over the years. We’ll see how Stevenson responds because I like him as a player. He’s strong and physical and can move. He’s got to see if he can avoid making the same mistakes twice.
Hopefully, Jackson’s injury isn’t serious or that will be a major void for a defense that, as I mentioned earlier hasn’t gotten a takeaway.
6. Good to see wide receiver DJ Moore get involved.
He was targeted on two of the first three passes by Justin Fields and wound up with six catches (seven targets) for 104 yards. You can see what makes him so good. There was the speed out. He worked effectively along the boundary. And we’ve seen how strong and elusive he is in the open field. If the Bears had more than 51 offensive plays, I bet he would have had 10 or more targets.
“It felt good,” said Moore, who was in the headlines last week after he was targeted twice against the Packers. “We moved the ball a lot. That’s a positive side of it. Obviously, we want to get some more chances at it.
“We had a lot of explosive plays today. We threw some touchdowns so it was a good, all-around effort.”
The Bears did have more explosive plays. There were five pass completions that went for 20 or more yards (one was a screen to Khalil Herbert) and running back Roschon Johnson had a 29-yard gain.
Thing is, we could be reaching the point where Moore realizes the quarterback situation for the Bears isn’t too unlike what he experienced with the Carolina Panthers. Remember when the idea was if Moore could put up legitimate numbers playing with the carousel of QBs in Carolina, just imagine what he could do with Fields?
7. Why didn’t Tyson Bagent transfer in college?
In talking with a handful of national and college scouts the last two weeks about quarterback Tyson Bagent, they all gave the Bears props for landing the undrafted rookie from Division II Shepherd University. Last week in 10 thoughts, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy outlined the plan for developing Bagent in practice and as the current No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart.
I was curious what they saw in Bagent and how their reports read back in the spring when he wasn’t selected in a draft that saw 14 quarterbacks selected, including one in Round 6 (Tanner McKee by the Philadelphia Eagles) and one in Round 7 (Max Duggan by the Los Angeles Chargers).
First, though, I wanted to ask Bagent about considerations he had for potentially transferring to a Power 5 program before he was done playing at Shepherd where he won the Harlon Hill Trophy as the finest player in D-II in 2021. Bagent entered his name in the transfer portal after 2021.
“I got offers from pretty much whoever,” said Bagent, who was raised in Martinsburg, W. Va., about 10 miles from the Shepherd campus. “I took visits to West Virginia and Maryland. At Shepherd, I had completed all my classes, but I had an internship to do to graduate with my bachelor’s degree. So going to those schools, I couldn’t transfer all of my credits and I would have had to redo like a year and a half of classes and I wanted my granddad to see me graduate before he passed away. And I was absolutely in love with Shepherd. So I was willing to take that risk of maybe not having a higher chance of getting drafted. I knew the player I was. I wasn’t really twisted about that. That’s what played a part in that.”
About a week after Bagent graduated, his grandfather David Humphreys died of cancer.
“The only reason I got in the transfer portal is I started getting calls illegally from people,” Bagent said. “And I was like, ‘Damn, if they’re calling, I might be able to go to Oklahoma or something if these places are calling me and I’m not even in the portal.’”
Ultimately, Bagent prioritized getting his degree, confident his football abilities would be noticed by the next level and knowing nothing would be promised if he had transferred.
“He was really talented,” a national scout said. “My report reads better than the grade I gave him. He was accurate. He throws the ball downfield. They took a ton of deep shots at Shepherd. I thought in person he was a better athlete than he was on tape running away from some of those guys. I thought the guy had the ability to develop into an NFL quarterback. You can see him playing quarterback. Some guys who get all of this hype and have stats, you can’t see them doing it like they will have to do in the NFL. It was a matter of whether or not it was going to be too big for him and if he could develop in the manner he should against a new level of comp.”
There is immense difficulty in scouting quarterbacks from the largest schools and best conferences in Division I to the NFL. That process is even more complex when watching a Division II quarterback play and putting together a report to paint a picture of what he will look like one, two, three years down the road.
“I went in there two years ago,” another national scout said, “And he definitely has enough talent. He showed enough ability to be intrigued about. I liked the player. I liked the person. Everything was really positive about him. He was different from the rest of his team in terms of his preparation habits and how badly he wanted to succeed and get to the NFL and get that chance. It was a good free-agent pickup. I am surprised he didn’t go in the seventh round. There was enough there to draft that guy.”
The second scout talked about some of the boxes that a D-II player, specifically a quarterback, has to check.
“They have to dominate,” he said. “At the quarterback position, they’re not necessarily able to dominate everybody. You’re evaluating their skill set. It’s not an offensive or defensive linemen where they’re combating against an opponent on every play or a linebacker or even a receiver or running back where they are showcasing their physical ability beyond everyone else on the field. I think a quarterback, you’re looking for the physical talents. Being able to throw.
“You’re at a disadvantage because you’re probably not throwing to very talented receivers so he’s not able to deliver the ball with the same velocity that you want to see. You can still see accuracy. But you’re not able to see if he can put it into tight spaces because he’s probably not going against good DBs either. It’s more of a risk because you’re just evaluating that player’s skill set without seeing him play the position anywhere close to where he needs to be to play the position in the NFL. That’s what makes the position hard in general. The transition is so much different at the NFL than what they’re at the college level. Talk about going from D-II and it escalates even further.
“Good move by the Bears.”
One more interesting nugget about Bagent? He fielded multiple offers as an undrafted free agent. The Bears got him on a three-year contract with a $25,000 signing bonus. Bagent had offers worth more money elsewhere, a source said. He picked the Bears because it looked like the best opportunity for him to stick.
8. Where is the power rushing offense?
I’m surprised the Bears don’t have better rushing totals through two games. That looked like an emphasis of the offseason to me: Add DJ Moore and other wide receivers, but maintain an identity as a powerful rushing offense. They struggled running the ball against the Packers and we covered that ground — seven of their 14 runs on first-and-10 against Green Bay went for 1 yard, no gain or a loss. There were only 16 carries in this game for 67 yards. Tampa Bay’s a tough front to run against and rookie Roschon Johnson’s 29-yard run was the only time a back got through to the third level.
Justin Fields had four rushes for 3 yards. Who’d have predicted that? There was no conflict for the Bucs’ defensive ends on zone reads. They were staying home to prevent Fields from running around them. That left the QB to hand the ball off and it was tough sledding up the middle.
“Their game plan could have been to stop me in the run game,” Fields said. When it goes that way, you’ve got to do something else to score on them. It is what it is and sometimes they tell the ends — I mean, I tried to pull it one time and I should have handed that one off. The other times we did a read option, the defensive ends played me.”
The league’s No. 1 rushing offense from a year ago has 189 yards on the ground through two weeks.
You have to consider the Bears were trailing in this game — and trailing even more in the opener. But in their 3-14 season when they ran for 3,014 yards, there was a whole lot of trailing going on.
“I don’t know,” said starting running back Khalil Herbert, who had 35 yards on seven carries. “I don’t have too many answers to that. We just have to execute, make some bigger plays and we gotta finish some drives out.”
9. That screen pass.
Why did offensive coordinator Luke Getsy dial up a middle screen pass with the Bears facing first-and-11 from their own 6-yard line in the closing moments of the game? A screen the play before to Khalil Herbert gained 9 yards, only to be negated by a Chase Claypool pass interference penalty (the wide receiver was blocking before the ball was thrown).
My guess is Fields was having an issue holding the ball too long against the Bucs, and being backed up that deep in their own end, Getsy didn’t want to risk a safety there. He was seeking a little breathing room and perhaps hoping to catch Tampa Bay in a compromised blitz. Shaq Barrett, the Bucs outside linebacker, made a really nice one-handed catch. Thing is, if Barrett doesn’t pick the ball off, linebacker Lavonte David was headed at Herbert like a missile. If Fields’ throw was higher, David could have picked it off. If not, he would have clobbered Herbert.
Like it or not, an offensive coordinator’s game plan and his play calls often tells you what he thinks about the quarterback and his ability. The Bears are heavy in the screen game because throwing the ball downfield is problematic. That’s a fact.
“It’s just about the rhythm and timing of it,” Eberflus said of the middle screen that blew up. “It’s a rhythm and timing play. We’ve just got to make sure that’s right. And then Shaq made a nice play.”
Barrett did make a nice play. The rhythm and timing to the entire passing game is off.
10. The future of defensive play calling.
Certainly hope whatever defensive coordinator Alan Williams is dealing with — he’s been gone since at least Wednesday tending to a personal matter — he is OK. It can be difficult for the human element that coaches and players face in-season in what is such a wildly demanding job in terms of the hours. Matt Eberflus didn’t have an update on Williams’ status after the game. Then, Eberflus was asked if Williams will resume calling the defense when he returns.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Eberflus said.
Maybe Eberflus was caught off-guard by the question about play calling. The reply struck me as a little odd though. Again, sincere hope whatever Williams has going on works out for the best.
10a. Right guard Nate Davis did not travel with the team following the death of a family member following an extended illness.
Ja’Tyre Carter, a seventh-round pick from Southern last season, made his first career start. Injuries — left guard Teven Jenkins is on injured reserve with a right calf muscle issue — and unforeseen circumstances can make continuity difficult to achieve on the offensive line. The Bears used 10 different starting combinations on the O-line last season. You have to go back to Weeks 12 and 13 from 2022 for the last time the team rolled out the same starting line in consecutive games: Braxton Jones, Cody Whitehair, Sam Mustipher, Jenkins and Riley Reiff (from left to right). It could be until Week 6 until the offense gets what was projected to be the starting offensive line in place.
Why Carter over veteran Dan Feeney, acquired just before the deadline to 53-man roster cuts in a trade with the Miami Dolphins? Carter spent a lot of time in training camp and preseason running with the starters. If the Bears are going to preach draft and development, why have Carter if he’s not going to get a shot to play when there is a need? Feeney is valued because of his experience as a swing interior linemen and his time could still come but he’s only been in the building three weeks. It makes sense to me to give Carter a shot. He didn’t look out of place just watching the game live.
Jenkins is not eligible to return to practice until after the Week 4 meeting with the Broncos at Soldier Field on Oct. 1. Considering the Week 5 game is four days later in the Thursday Prime Video slot at Washington, it could be difficult for Jenkins to return for that game.
10b. The Chiefs have scored only 37 points through the first two games and have just four touchdowns. I’d be a little worried that Andy Reid’s offense is ready to go boom in Week 3. Also, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is as exotic as it gets with different looks and pressures; Justin Fields is going to get some stuff he’s never seen before.
10c. The Chiefs opened as a 12 1/2-point favorite over the Bears for Sunday’s game at Arrowhead Stadium at Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas. The last time the Bears caught that many points was when they were a 13.5-point underdog at Minnesota on Dec. 31, 2017.
10d. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield on not being sacked and excelling while being pressured in this game: “I’m pretty dense back there. It’s quite the load to take down.”
