Yahoo Sports Staff Updated Mon, November 9, 2026 at 2:43 AM UTC About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In this story The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears face off on "Sunday Night Football" in Week 9, with kickoff set for 8:20 p.m. ET from Soldier Field in Chicago.
The Buccaneers (3-5) are very much alive in a (sort of) competitive NFC South. The division sits wide open, with each team sitting below .500, keeping Tampa Bay's hopes of the postseason alive after winning three of its last four games despite an 0-4 start to the year.
The Bears (6-2) have dropped two games all season and are 4-0 in games that quarterback Caleb Williams has started and finished, as he dealt with a hamstring injury earlier this season. Chicago's offense has posted three straight games of 30-plus points, and after a stunning midseason trade to acquire All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, the defense is looking just as daunting for opponents .
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more as the Buccaneers and Bears close out the Sunday slate in primetime, airing on NBC and Peacock .
Now it's Baker Mayfield's turn for an interception. Cam Lewis expertly jumped in front of a pass intended for Tez Johnson to secure the interception and keep Tampa Bay off the board.
A 26-yard pass to Luther Burden got the Bears into scoring position, and they tacked on three more after a 25-yarder from Cairo Santos.
They lead 17-3 now with 3:02 left in the half.
Tez Johnson just dropped that ball there on third down. It went right through his arms, and he looked frustrated on the sidelines.
The Bucs had to punt, so the Bears will take back over near midfield after another great return.
It looked like Caleb Williams was just trying to throw it away there after some pressure in the backfield. Instead, he lobbed it up for Zyon McCollum on the sidelines, and he just barely made the grab.
That's two interceptions now for Williams on back-to-back drives.
And the Bucs can't take advantage. Two incompletions and a 9-yard pass to Chris Godwin left them with a very short fourth down attempt. But Baker Mayfield's run was again stopped short by Devin Bush.
So Chicago will take over with incredible field position here.
Well, that didn't work out for Caleb Williams. After an unnecessary roughness penalty at the goal line backed them way up, he tried to force it into Rome Odunze. Instead, Tykee Smith was there for the interception.
The Buccaneers will take back over with 8:03 left in the half.
This Bears defense has come to play. They stuffed the Bucs twice at the line there and forced them to take the field goal instead despite making it all the way down to the Chicago 3.
The Bears leads 14-3 now early in the second.
It's been all Chicago so far tonight, but Tampa Bay is down to the Chicago 3 and threatening to score. This one is far from over.
Baker Mayfield somehow kept the drive alive for Tampa here.
Now it's Luther Burden making his way to the end zone! He shed two tackles and made it 56 yards for the touchdown.
Caleb Williams is now 6-of-8 for 105 yards with two touchdowns already tonight, and we're not even through the first quarter. Bears lead 14-0.
The Bears forced a quick three-and-out, and Austin Booker just drilled Bucky Irving at the line on third down to force the punt.
The good news, though, is that Baker Mayfield finally completed a pass.
It took him two tries after the first was called back, but Rome Odunze got his touchdown. He capped a perfect opening drive for the Bears with a 9-yard catch from Caleb Williams.
The Bears now lead 7-0, and Odunze has his first touchdown of the season.
The Bucs have won the toss and deferred, so Caleb Williams and the Bears will get things started tonight at Soldier Field. Here we go…
I'm fading D'Andre Swift for a number of reasons here.
Firstly, it looks like Kyle Monangai might be back this week — the Bears ' running back has looked good when he's been on the field this season. Secondly, the Bucs have been exceptional against the run, giving up just 67.8 rushing yards per game to opposing running backs, the fewest of any team in the NFL.
Despite scoring 10 rushing touchdowns, he has averaged only 3.8 yards per carry — largely driven by volume that should dip against this defense (and potentially Monangai's return). Swift's at -73 rushing yards over expected (RYOE) this season, worse than other struggling RBs like Omarion Hampton, which indicates how good he's actually been.
Check out the rest of his favorite Buccaneers-Bears player prop bets for Week 9.
Moneyline odds: Bears -260, Buccaneers +215
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' passing attack got back its top weapon for Week 9, with former first-round wide receiver Emeka Egbuka officially active for "Sunday Night Football" against the Chicago Bears.
Egbuka missed Week 7 with a concussion and Week 8 with a foot injury, but is now back in action ahead of the team's Week 10 bye.
It's big news for what has been a perplexing pass attack after Baker Mayfield's return from a thumb injury; Mayfield has thrown for just 64 total passing yards combined over the past two weeks, and the team has incredibly walked away with back-to-back wins.
The former Ohio State prospect is most recently coming off a contest where he saw a career-high 16 targets, posting a 7-48-1 stat line in an overtime loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 6.
NBC's "Sunday Night Football" broadcast for Week 9's matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears will have a different voice on the play-by-play call.
Mike Tirico will miss Sunday night's telecast "due to a health issue," he announced in a statement. Noah Eagle will replace him on play-by-play, alongside regular analyst Cris Collinsworth and reporter Melissa Stark. ( Eagle called Saturday's Notre Dame-Miami game as NBC's No. 1 college football announcer.)
Tirico, 59, will have to wait one more week to call the 300th NFL broadcast of his acclaimed career. He became NBC's primary play-by-play announcer for "Sunday Night Football" in 2022, taking over for Al Michaels. He filled in on several "SNF" telecasts before that while Michaels took "bye weeks" during the 2020 season to minimize travel.
Previously, Tirico had replaced Michaels on "Thursday Night Football" broadcasts when NBC had that rights package during the 2017 season.
Source: Sports
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