The Chicago Bears came away with a 27-24 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night thanks in part to an incredible defensive performance.

An NFL team would need an incredible defensive performance to win when their offense turns the ball over five times. Needless to say, Caleb Williams' unit didn't hold up their end of the bargain after a fast start (they were up 14-0 after the first nine minutes).

Sure, the Buccaneers ran for 126 yards on the ground, but that was more than 40 fewer yards than they've averaged this season. It was also 106 fewer yards than they've averaged over the past month, as they've been downright unstoppable on the ground over the past few weeks.

Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield thinks the Bears used some cheap tactics along the way, though.

Baker Mayfield called out Chicago's defense after the game

The Buccaneers committed eight penalties for 45 yards on Sunday night. Five of them were false starts by their usually composed (and recently dominant) offensive line. Still, that's common with teams playing on the road, especially in a stadium rocking as much as Soldier Field was last night.

Mayfield had a different take as to why those penalties occurred, though. He says Chicago's defense mimicking his cadence played a role.

"The last one [false start], I know they were barking out the cadence, which you can’t do that," Mayfield said. "It’s tough for the refs to call that because they’re not right there at the line of scrimmage. They called that on Tristan [Wirfs], but you can’t do that.”

That's a fair grievance. On the flip side, it's also a bit hilarious, especially since it worked. However, Mayfield calling it out could make the refs more mindful, so they'll have to be careful to avoid an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty going forward.

Mayfield wasn't the only Buccaneer who was eating sour grapes after the contest, either.

Luke Goedeke also had choice words for Jeffery Simmons

The Bears enjoyed a four-sack performance of Mayfield. They were awfully close to getting him down a few more times, and the defensive line deserves a world of credit for helping Chicago come out on top.

Jeffery Simmons had another strong showing, finishing the game with four tackles, a sack, and a pass deflection. Nevertheless, Buccaneers right tackle Luke Goedeke took issue with how he played the game when speaking to ESPN writer Kalyn Kahler.

"I mean, you're holding me one on one, you came right at my head," Goedeke said. "He's known for it on pass pro, just holding the tackle so that the DE can run free, so I got that twice. I mean, respect the guy, but some of the stuff he can really take out of his game. It's just kind of old, to be honest.

"There's no reason to come out on a TE and just drill a [offensive] tackle on the side of the head. It's really not a place in the game for that, to be honest with you... Most [defensive linemen] will at least play with their hands and no try to launch themselves at you."

Honestly, this is a bad look for Goedeke. I'm all for player safety, but he plays the most violent position in the world's most violent sport. Offensive and defensive linemen bang their heads into each other for 60 minutes every week.

Yet he's calling out Simmons for playing the same way every game-wrecking defensive lineman in the league does? This is a situation where it feels fair to call it like it is. He got beat a few times by one of the league's best defensive linemen, and he's upset about it.

Yeah that was nasty. https://t.co/Nt5Po4QP6K pic.twitter.com/voW0IKaAKu

— Brendan Sugrue (@BrendanSugrue) November 9, 2026

I don't know if the play above is the one Goedeke is referencing when speaking to Kahler (Simmons wasn't lined up over a TE), but it seems similar to his grievance. It sounds like he's upset Simmons took him with a stunt (which is designed to get a free rusher at the quarterback by having DEs and DTs rotate their assignment at the snap).

Notably, stunts are a common practice across the league. I've never heard an offensive lineman complain about them before, because that's a silly thing to do. While Mayfield's criticism was fair, it's much harder to defend Goedeke's comments about Simmons.