We've gotten used to seeing the Chicago Bears' offense bailing out the defense, but it was very much the other way around on Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

After a fast start, the Bears' offense sputtered in a big way and just couldn't get its act together over the final three quarters.

Luckily for the Bears, the defense came to play and kept them in control until a Luther Burden fumble deep in Bears territory allowed the Bucs to tie the game up late in the fourth.

At that point, it was time for the Bears' offense to wake up, and the unit did just that en route to getting in position for a game-winning Cairo Santos field goal that averted what would have been a disastrous collapse.

Jeffery Simmons puts NFL on notice

The Bears did not play a complete game on Sunday night, but we know Caleb Williams is capable of better than the "Jekyll and Hyde" performance we saw against the Bucs.

We also know the Bears' defense is playing at a high level, and Jeffery Simmons rightly pointed out that if the Bears can put a complete game together on a weekly basis, this team will be incredibly tough to beat.

"One thing I told Caleb is, we got his back," Simmons said after the game, per CHGO Bears. "And just like at the end of the game when we really needed to get down in field goal range, he did his part."

"He made the plays that needed to be made and that's going to be the rest of the season," Simmons added. "Sometimes we're going to need him to pull us out of things. Maybe we can't get off the field on third down and they end up scoring.

"It's our job to go out there and just draw the line and that's what we're going to continue to do. We have his back and once we put a complete game together, good luck," Simmons said.

Hard to argue with that sentiment with the Bears sporting both a top-10 offense and defense. Chicago ranks seventh in points scored and ninth in points against after Week 9.

More help coming on defense

Bear in mind, the Bears aren't even at 100% on defense, with guys like Dayo Odeyingbo, Malik Muhammad and Coby Bryant all on the shelf, so there's the potential Dennis Allen's unit could be even better than it is right now.

Muhammad has missed two games in a row with his toe injury, but there's a realistic chance he will be back after the bye. Odeyingbo has been on injured reserve since Week 5, so he'll be eligible to return after the bye as well.

Bryant is probably still a ways off, if he returns at all. With the initial four to six month estimate, the earliest Bryant will be back is mid-December.

All of that and we haven't even talked about the potential for the Bears to make another trade, which could come at edge rusher and/or cornerback.

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