Chicago prevailed as Buccaneers QB Brady appeared to lose track of what down it was during a failed final drive in the Week 5 contest.
Brady remained on the field thinking the Buccaneers had one more play, having signalled to officials following a fourth incomplete down after Chicago's Cairo Santos kicked a 38-yard field goal with just over a minute remaining.
The six-time Super Bowl champion did not have a fourth down to work with after DeAndre Houston-Carson broke up Brady's fourth-down pass with 33 seconds left on the clock.
It meant Nick Foles' team got the better of Brady again, after the Philadelphia Eagles upstaged the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
Brady was 25 of 41 for 253 yards and a touchdown as Tampa Bay's (3-2) three-game winning streak was snapped, while Chicago (4-1) bounced back from a loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Bears quarterback Foles – the Super Bowl LII MVP for the Eagles – completed 30 of 42 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown in his second start since replacing Mitchell Trubisky.
The Buccaneers jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the second quarter – Mike Evans connecting with Brady for a two-yard pass in the opening period.
But the Bears quickly erased the deficit with just over a minute remaining in the first half as David Montgomery and Jimmy Graham scored touchdowns to put Chicago ahead.
Ryan Succop – who finished with four field goals – added three points in the third quarter to restore Tampa Bay's advantage and he converted a 25-yard attempt to give the Buccaneers a 19-17 lead with 4:49 remaining in the game.
But after Tampa Bay nose tackle Vita Vea was carted off the field, the Bears took over and held on in Chicago.
Selecting a quarterback first overall, however, appears highly unlikely.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles supported Justin Fields as being Chicago's starting quarterback heading into the 2023 season and said a QB prospect would have to utterly amaze him for the Bears to draft him with the top pick.
"We're going to do the same as we've always done," Poles said on Tuesday. "We're going to evaluate the draft class, and I would say this: I would have to be absolutely blown away to make that type of decision."
Fields was one of the few bright spots on a Bears team that ended the 2022 season on a franchise-worst 10-game losing streak and secured the top pick by finishing 3-14.
The abysmal record was not a huge surprise, though, considering the team went through a midseason teardown by trading away defensive standouts Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn and lacked significant talent at the offensive skill positions while the o-line was deemed substandard.
Although Fields emerged as one of the most exciting players in the NFL, capable of springing off a highlight run on any given play, the second-year quarterback failed to make many game-changing plays with his arm.
There are also questions of how Poles evaluates his skillset given Fields was drafted by the previous regime.
With 1,143 rushing yards, Fields – the number 11 pick in the 2021 draft – averaged a league-leading 7.14 yards per rush and had an NFL-best four rushing touchdowns of 50-plus yards. He flirted with breaking the NFL single-season quarterback rushing record set by Baltimore's Lamar Jackson in his 2019 MVP season had he not missed Sunday's finale with a strained hip.
"I thought Justin did a good job," Poles said. "I thought we changed a lot, we adapted, we tried to put him in a position to be successful, he showed the ability to be a playmaker. Be impactful. He can change games quickly. Does he have room to grow? He does. He has to get better as a passer, and I'm excited to see him take those steps as we move forward."
Despite being one of the most dangerous runners in the league, Fields and the Bears had trouble moving the ball through the air.
Among the 32 quarterbacks with a minimum of 250 attempts, Fields ranked 25th in passer rating (85.2), 31st in completion percentage (60.4) and 32nd in yards per game (149.5).
An argument could be made he did not have enough support around him, and that is where owning the top pick works in the Bears’ favour.
Poles could decide to use the top pick to fill a need or trade down with a team looking to take a quarterback for more draft picks.
Alabama's Bryce Young, Kentucky's Will Levis and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud are the three quarterbacks all projected to be drafted in the top 10, with some combination of them possibly going 1-2.
The Bears also have about $118million in salary cap room to restock the roster.
'"I think we have really good flexibility to help this team, regardless if it's making the pick there or moving back a little bit or moving back a lot," Poles said. "We'll be open to everything."
Bears head coach Matt Nagy has turned to the rookie after veteran QB Andy Dalton (knee) was downgraded to doubtful for Week 4 of the NFL season.
There was some doubt over first-year quarterback Fields due a hand injury, but he will line up under center for the Bears (1-2) at home to the winless Lions (0-3).
The number 11 pick in the NFL Draft, Fields has the chance to bounce back from an underwhelming start to life in the NFL.
In last week's 26-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns as Dalton sat out, Fields was sacked nine times and held to just six of 20 passing for 68 yards and 12 rushing yards on three attempts.
"This week's practice compared to last week's practice, I felt just more comfortable at practice just kind of getting that under my belt and getting kind of past that," Fields said.
"Last week, you really can't get worse than that. I mean, I hope not. But I felt comfortable this week."
Chicago finished their defeat against the Browns with one net passing yard. It was the fewest net passing yards for the Bears in a game since negative-20 passing yards in 1981 against the Lions.
"Justin's game that he played last week, he did a lot of things that he's going to learn from," Nagy said. "But we also, and myself, have to help him. I think the biggest thing for him is, 'OK, here's how I was in the week of practice. Here's how I was on game day, both physically and mentally. Now how am I going to be heading into this week? Am I getting better? Is there improvement? Am I getting better at the things I was good at? Am I getting better at the things that I wasn't so good at?'
"And that's what we're doing as coaches throughout the week of practice, is being able to watch him and see that. I can say from last week to this week that you do see that advancement. That there, knowing and feeling how he practiced, is why I would answer it that way."
His new contract is worth up to $72million over the next four years, with $50m guaranteed.
Edmunds, 24, was a first round pick by the Buffalo Bills back in 2018, before going on to make the Pro Bowl in 2019 and 2020.
His number the past two seasons have been nearly identical to his Pro Bowl years, eclipsing 100 total tackles for the fifth straight campaign despite playing a career-low 13 games in 2022.
A giant for his position at middle-linebacker, the six-foot-five Edmunds has tallied 6.5 sacks, 35 pass break-ups, 32 tackles for loss and five interceptions in his 74 career regular season games.
While Edmunds is undoubtedly a premier player at his position, it is curious to see the franchise invest so heavily at middle linebacker after trading away former top-10 draft pick Roquan Smith to the Baltimore Ravens at the deadline for a second-round pick and a fifth-round pick.
Smith, who is a year older at 25, proceeded to sign a five-year deal worth up to $100m, making him the highest-paid middle-linebacker in league history, although at an average annual value not far away from Edmunds' new contract.
According to multiple reports, Dalton will join the Bears on a contract worth $10million, with the chance to earn another $3m in incentives.
Chicago had reportedly made a "very aggressive pursuit" of Russell Wilson, who has been the subject of trade talk, but saw their efforts rebuffed by the Seattle Seahawks.
Dalton presents something of an uninspiring alternative. The three-time Pro Bowler was backup to Dak Prescott with the Dallas Cowboys last year but ended up starting nine games after Prescott's season-ending ankle injury.
He completed 64.9 per cent of his passes for 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions and enters a quarterback room featuring former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles, with 2017 second overall pick Mitchell Trubisky allowed to hit the open market after failing to live up to expectations.
Trubisky and Foles alternated at starting quarterback last season, each providing unconvincing performances but doing enough between them to help the Bears sneak into the playoffs, where they suffered a dour Wild Card Round loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Beyond Wilson, the other elite quarterback whose name has been continually mentioned in relation to a trade is Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans.
And the Texans landed some insurance in case the disgruntled star gets his trade wish granted, signing journeyman Tyrod Taylor to a one-year deal.
The Miami Dolphins added a backup to Tua Tagovailoa, bringing in Jacoby Brissett on a one-year deal that sees him reunite with head coach Brian Flores, who was on the New England Patriots' staff when Brissett was there in 2016.
Dalton saw the vast majority of the snaps as the Bears were swept aside 34-14 by the Rams on Sunday, throwing for 206 yards and an interception.
However, Bears fans saw an exciting glimpse of their future as Fields scampered in for a three-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He also completed a pair of passes for 10 yards.
Head coach Matt Nagy confirmed using both quarterbacks was always in their plans, despite him having declared Dalton the starter, but did not offer any hint as to whether Fields will see more game time in the coming weeks after his intriguing cameo.
"We had the plan and we stuck to our plan," Nagy said. "We knew where and when we were going to use him and we stuck to that.
"And so, we'll see where that goes and how we do it. But I think we all understand that for us, strategically, we'll see where we go with that — without giving anything away.
"Really, the very first play when he went out there and was able to make a throw — and that was an RPO. So he made a decision to throw the ball off of a look that we had.
"So right there to start the game, I thought that was great. And then he was involved on the sideline. And then when we got down into the red zone at times, we had a couple things in for him that worked and some that didn't work. But when he got down in the red zone, he did some great things there, too.
"So we've just got to keep having him grow and keep staying positive. But he's certainly a weapon."
ESPN's Adam Schefter said the Chargers were expected to send a 2022 second-round draft pick and a 2023 sixth-round draft pick to Chicago in exchange for the six-time Pro Bowler.
Mack has been on the Bears since 2018, recording 12.5 sacks in his first season with the team for a fourth consecutive year in double figures.
Those numbers have tailed off a little since and the 31-year-old only played in seven games in 2021 due to injury.
However, across his Bears career, Mack still ranked as high as 12th league-wide for pressures. He will now line up opposite Joey Bosa, who ranked eighth over the same period.
Mack is also to be reunited with Chargers coach Brandon Staley, who was the Bears' outside linebackers coach in that strong first season in Chicago.
Staley will hope Mack can have a transformative impact for the Chargers' defense, which gave up 27.0 points and 138.9 rushing yards per game last year.
Wims was ejected in the third quarter of the Bears' 23-26 overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday after he approached Gardner-Johnson and twice struck him on the helmet, sparking a brawl between the teams.
Gardner-Johnson denied a report that Wims' actions came in response to the Saints safety spitting at him, telling ESPN: "It ain't got nothing to do with me."
The wideout, who can appeal against the decision, is set to miss games against the Tennessee Titans and Minnesota Vikings.
An NFL statement read: "Javon Wims of the Chicago Bears has been suspended without pay for two games for violations of unsportsmanlike conduct rules in Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints.
"NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan issued the suspension for a violation of Rule 12, Section 2, Article 14(c) which prohibits striking, swinging at, or clubbing the head, neck, or face of an opponent with the wrist(s), arm(s), elbow(s), or hand(s), as well as Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1 which prohibits any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship."
The Bears' NFC North rivals the Green Bay Packers announced on Monday that running back A.J. Dillon had had tested positive for COVID-19 and was self-isolating.
Marlon Humphrey also confirmed he had contracted coronavirus following Baltimore's 28-24 loss to the Pittsburgh, though the Steelers announced all their players were negative following the clash with the Ravens.
Linebacker Devon Kennard revealed he was one of two Arizona Cardinals players to test positive in the wake of their 37-34 win against the Seattle Seahawks.
The Bears went down 17-9 on Monday as the Vikings kept themselves in the NFC playoff picture.
It was an eighth defeat in nine games for Chicago, while the Vikings have now had 11 consecutive games decided by eight points or fewer, one shy of the NFL record.
Chicago coach Matt Nagy was flagged by the referee in between the first and second quarters after Bears safety Deon Bush was penalised for hitting Tyler Conklin's head on an incomplete pass.
This had been deemed as "forcible contact" against Conklin, much to Nagy's chagrin, with the coach venting his frustration towards referee Scott Novak.
"I saw what happened," Nagy told reporters. "Our guys are fighting their asses off to get off the field, and I saw what happened. So, I explained my opinion on it. And I don't regret it."
Novak claimed Nagy's complaints "crossed the line", but Quinn, earlier named a Pro Bowler for a third time, defended his coach.
"Some of these calls are starting to get a little crazy," he told reporters.
"These refs seem like they're controlling the game a little too much. So, when a play is clean and they're throwing a flag for something that they thought they could change a game [with] just by one flag.
"Let guys play ball. If this was a couple of years ago, half of this stuff wouldn't even be called. But now they got so many of these stupid rules, they dang near in a ref's hands [and] could change the game in any given moment.
"I think they need to go check the refs they hire and not our coach."
The Vikings, too, had complaints, after linebacker Eric Kendricks was ejected in the final quarter for hitting the head of Chicago quarterback Justin Fields.
"I didn't get a good explanation, really. They came over late and said they thought he had an elbow to a head," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said.
"I thought I saw it pretty cleanly, and I thought the quarterback slid and kept his head up, and Eric was going down and kind of raised his head to try to avoid it, and I thought they bumped heads."
Minnesota are second in the NFC North, behind the Green Bay Packers (11-3), while Chicago (4-10) sit third.
Trubisky arrives in Buffalo after four years with the Chicago Bears, who selected him with the second overall pick in the 2017 draft.
The 26-year-old was the first quarterback taken that year, the Bears trading up one spot to grab Trubisky ahead of fellow prospects Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, who went 10th and 12th respectively.
His rookie season saw him finish with a 4-8 record after claiming the starting role from Mike Glennon, while the following year he made the Pro Bowl after Chicago won the AFC North, though they lost in the Wild Card round to the Philadelphia Eagles.
However, Trubisky struggled to build on a campaign where he threw for a career-high 3,223 yards, with 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Last season he was benched in Week 3 in favour of Nick Foles, only to reclaim the job by Week 12.
Overall, Trubisky started in nine games in 2020, completing 199 of his 297 pass attempts for 2,055 yards. He had a completion percentage of 67 per cent as he threw for 16 scores and eight interceptions.
The move to the Bills will see him serve as back-up to starter Josh Allen, who steered the franchise to the AFC Championship Game in his third season in the league.
Tipped by many to make the Super Bowl this year, the Bills endured an underwhelming start in defeat to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but a 35-0 success in Miami got them back on track.
Buffalo benefited from Tagovailoa's departure early in the game, as he had to be carted back to the locker room after a hit from A.J. Epenesa when he attempted a short-range pass on fourth down.
By that point, the second-year Dolphins quarterback had been sacked twice on a three-and-out opening drive before seeing Devin Singletary run 46 yards for the Bills' first touchdown.
Josh Allen threw to Stefon Diggs for a second score, but Buffalo failed to add to their advantage in the remainder of a chaotic first half, epitomised by Levi Wallace's pick from back-up Miami QB Jacoby Brissett moments after receiving a penalty for taunting.
Allen found his range again at the start of the third quarter as Dawson Knox made a low catch in the end zone – this the QB's seventh consecutive start against the Dolphins with multiple TD passes. Only Philip Rivers (against the Houston Texans) had previously enjoyed such a run against a single team.
Miami were never in the game thereafter and Zack Moss added a pair of rushing scores with two bruising runs, the second after Allen was called just short.
Super Cooper rescues Rams
NFC West rivals the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers survived scares against the Indianapolis Colts and the Philadelphia Eagles respectively, each coming through to move to 2-0.
The Rams were grateful to Cooper Kupp for his nine catches for 163 yards and two TDs – following 108 yards and a score last week – after a botched snap for a punt had gifted the Colts their first lead early in the fourth quarter. Carson Wentz ended the game on the sideline.
Wilson woeful for Jets
Zach Wilson's home debut for the New York Jets was a miserable one as he threw four interceptions in a defeat to the New England Patriots.
Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals paid the price for Joe Burrow's three interceptions from three consecutive passes – including a pick six – against the Chicago Bears, who were not punished for a shaky Justin Fields display after Andy Dalton's injury.
Wilson's Jets predecessor Sam Darnold threw for 305 yards, two TDs and a pick in the Carolina Panthers' win over the New Orleans Saints.
AFC East champions the Bills had until Tuesday to decide whether they would ensure they kept the restricted free agent.
To do so, they had to match the Bears' four-year contract offer, which reportedly includes two fully guaranteed years at the start of the deal.
Guard Bates, who also had free-agent visits with the Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots, will now remain with the Bills.
The 25-year-old joined Buffalo in a 2019 trade from the Philadelphia Eagles.
"We have kind of pondered that and worked through it – obviously we are tight on the cap, but we are going to bring Ryan back," Bills general manager Brandon Beane confirmed.
"It's really important for us to be strong up front, both lines. Ryan's a versatile player. He can actually play all five spots, but most importantly, he's been a center, guard he's filled in.
"We thought when he had his opportunity this year, he did a heck of a job starting the last four regular-season games and then the two postseason games.
"It didn't seem too big for him. You want to keep as many of those key pieces, he knows our system. He obviously knows [quarterback] Josh Allen."
Bears GM Ryan Poles was frustrated, saying: "I just found that out.
"It stinks. But that's part of the RFA process. So we'll adjust and we'll keep adding players. It's out of your control."
The Bills, who are rated as the early Super Bowl favourites, also brought back offensive lineman Ike Boettger after agreeing a one-year deal.
The freezing conditions in Chicago gave this the feel of a home game for the Bills, but they were far from comfortable early on and threatened to blow their lead in the race for home-field advantage in the AFC.
Josh Allen responded to Justin Fields' opening touchdown drive by leading Buffalo down the field and completing a 19-yard TD pass to Gabe Davis.
But the Bills missed the PAT, and the only score for the remainder of the half was a successful Bears field goal, giving Chicago a 10-6 lead through two quarters.
The hopes of the Bears – and the Bills' AFC rivals – were quickly dashed in the second half, however, as Devin Singletary dashed in from 33 yards and then James Cook followed him from 27 yards for a second score in double-quick time either side of a Chicago fumble.
An unconvincing Allen display, which included two interceptions and a recovered fumble, kept the Bears in contention, yet they could not capitalise.
And the Bills QB finished in more familiar fashion with a rushing score and a TD pass to Dawson Knox in the closing stages as Buffalo took another step towards the first seed.
Bills feel the heat in AFC
The pressure had been on the Bills because there never appeared any possibility of the Kansas City Chiefs not defeating the stumbling Seattle Seahawks. A 24-10 victory was Patrick Mahomes' first against the Seahawks, meaning the Indianapolis Colts are the only team he has now played but not beaten.
The Cincinnati Bengals also remain in contention at the top of the AFC after a dominant first half against the New England Patriots. Joe Burrow completed 28 passes – a season high for any QB in any half – for 284 yards and three touchdowns before half-time, meaning the Bengals could just about withstand a second-half pick six in a 22-18 win.
The Patriots' defeat meant the Baltimore Ravens clinched their playoff berth with a 17-9 defeat of the Atlanta Falcons.
Another manic Minnesota finish
Having claimed a record-breaking comeback win last week, the Minnesota Vikings had to hold off a rally from the New York Giants, who tied the game late on. However, a 40-yard field goal from Greg Joseph had defeated the Colts, and he topped that effort with a 61-yard conversion as time expired for a 27-24 Vikings victory.
The Detroit Lions, Minnesota's NFC North rivals, saw their three-game winning run ended by the Carolina Panthers. Both the Panthers and the New Orleans Saints improved to 6-9, firmly in contention in the miserable NFC South.
Brady went into the Week 7 contest needing two touchdown throws to reach this latest milestone in his remarkable career.
Just before the end of the first quarter, the seven-time Super Bowl champion had the record on Sunday.
Having moved to 599 on a four-yard toss to Bucs team-mate Chris Godwin, Brady connected with Mike Evans for a nine-yard score, although the latter was clearly unaware of the historical significance of the play.
Evans gave the ball to a fan in the crowd, leading to a member of Tampa's equipment staff negotiating with the spectator to ensure its return, with the ball likely headed to the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Brady will also one day have a place in Canton but, for now, the 44-year-old superstar is engaged in the process of yet more legacy padding.
He found Evans for two more touchdown throws before half-time to give Tampa Bay a 35-3 lead at the break, defending Super Bowl champions the Buccaneers looking near-certainties to move to 6-1 as Brady seeks his eighth Lombardi Trophy.
It will be a clash of the titans when Brees and the Saints host Brady's Buccaneers in the NFC Divisional Round on January 17.
The second-seeded Saints earned a showdown with the Buccaneers after easing past the Chicago Bears 21-9 in Sunday's Wild Card clash in New Orleans.
Six-time Super Bowl champion Brady – who swapped the New England Patriots for the Buccaneers at the start of the season – and Brees are the top two passers in terms of yards and touchdowns in NFL history.
It will be the first playoff game since at least 1950 between the top two players in career passing TDs, while it will be the second postseason encounter since 1950 between the top two players in career passing yards.
"The minute that he signed with the Bucs and came to the division, you felt like that was going to be a team to contend with, that was going to be a team that would have playoff aspirations and beyond, just like us," Brees told reporters after being asked about the upcoming blockbuster.
"So, I guess it was inevitable."
Brees fuelled the Saints with two touchdowns against the Bears, finishing 28-of-39 passing for 265 yards, no interceptions and no sacks.
The veteran – who is reportedly set to retire at the end of the season – also became the sixth player in NFL history with 35-plus passing touchdowns in the playoffs, per NFL Research. Brees joins Brady (75), Joe Montana (45), Brett Favre (44), Peyton Manning (40) and Aaron Rodgers (40).
The Saints allowed nine points and 239 total yards at home to Chicago – each the fewest allowed by New Orleans in a playoff game in team history, per NFL Research.
"Our defense played outstanding," Saints head coach Sean Payton said. "We tackled well in space... Ultimately we forced them to become one-dimensional, and when you do that you're going to win a lot of games."
Brady became the first player in NFL history to throw 600 touchdown passes as the Buccaneers routed the Bears 38-3 on Sunday.
The record seven-time Super Bowl champion finished the game with 602 TD passes, having completed 20 of his 36 passes for 211 yards and four touchdowns.
Brady also tied Drew Brees for the most games with at least four touchdown passes after reaching 37.
"I just think of all the guys that are sharing it with me," Brady told reporters as the Buccaneers reached 6-1 – their best start in franchise history. "That's the reality. There's nothing about this sport that you do by yourself.
"It's the ultimate team sport. It challenges you physically, mentally, emotionally, every week, every day at practice – this is not a sport you can just mail it in.
"It takes 100 per cent of what you have every single day to be successful and I'm just grateful to have amazing team-mates, coaches, to be able to do it for as long as I have is a really incredible blessing in my life.
"I have great family. I've got my little baby girl, who's the biggest cheerleader in the world and her two brothers, who are great cheerleaders and mom who was out there today rooting... great to have the family here and to win a football game feels really good."
Having moved to 599 TD passes on a four-yard toss to Bucs team-mate Chris Godwin, Brady connected with Mike Evans for a nine-yard score, although the latter was clearly unaware of the historical significance of the play.
Evans gave the ball to a fan in the crowd, leading to a member of Tampa's equipment staff negotiating with the spectator to ensure its return, with the ball likely headed to the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
"That was really cool," Brady told reporters. "I got it in the bag over there. Mike gave it away. He goes, 'Man, I'm sorry, man. I'll get it.' I said, 'It's alright. I'm sure they'll find a way to get it back.'
"But I don't actually keep too many things so... in that circumstance, I just felt like that might be a good one to keep."
"[The fan is] gonna get something nice in return. So we'll get him a helmet or a couple jerseys or some other stuff. That was really cool of him to do that."
With a nine-yard strike to Mike Evans in the closing seconds of the first quarter, Brady became the first NFL quarterback to throw 600 touchdown passes.
The 44-year-old – 20-of-36 passing for 211 yards – would finish the game with 602 for his career, all four of his TD tosses going for fewer than 10 yards and three of them landing in Evans' hands.
Blaine Gabbert took over at quarterback for Brady midway through the fourth quarter with the game well in hand as the Buccaneers improved to 6-1.
Brady's opposite number, Bears rookie QB Justin Fields, had a brutal day as he was sacked four times and threw three interceptions as Chicago failed to find the end zone.
Stafford, Rams survive Lions scare
The matchup between Super Bowl contenders the Los Angeles Rams and the winless Detroit Lions finished with the expected result, but the Rams' 28-19 win was much closer than anticipated.
The Rams (6-1) trailed 19-17 entering the fourth quarter and needed a five-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Cooper Kupp early in the period to take the lead and a 47-yard Matt Gay field goal with just over a minute to play to seal the win.
Stafford completed 28 of 41 passes for 334 yards and three TDs against the team he played for in the first 12 years of his career, while former Rams QB Jared Goff threw a pair of costly interceptions for the Lions (0-7).
Kupp became the first player in the Super Bowl era to have 800-plus receiving yards and nine-plus receiving touchdowns in his team's first seven games of a season.
While the Lions remained the only winless team in the league after Week 7, the Arizona Cardinals (7-0) maintained their status as the lone team with a perfect record, routing the Houston Texans 31-5 behind three TD passes by Kyler Murray.
The Bears prevailed 20-19 on Thursday to move to 4-1 for the season, though only after their defense stopped a potential game-winning drive for the Bucs in the closing stages.
After Cairo Santos' second field goal edged Chicago ahead with just over a minute to play, Brady was unable to move his team into range for kicker Ryan Succop to respond.
The 43-year-old seemingly signalled to the officials he had one more play after Chicago's DeAndre Houston-Carson broke up a fourth-down pass, holding up four fingers before heading to the sideline following the turnover in possession.
Brady was asked to clarify what happened in his post-match media conference, replying: "I knew we needed a chunk and I was thinking about more yardage. It was bad execution as we had a great opportunity there - we didn't execute when we needed to."
The six-time Super Bowl champion pinpointed too many penalties as an issue for Tampa Bay, calling on his team to "tighten up" after they let slip a 13-0 lead to fall to 3-2 on the season.
"Penalties stop drives, we had so many third-and-longs that we just couldn't get in any rhythm in the second half. It's just poor execution," Brady said.
"If you don't execute well on first and second down, you have third-and-forevers, those are tough to convert time after time.
"We've got to tighten that up and, you know, play a bit more consistent type of football. We obviously have a lot of work to do."
When asked by the media if Brady realised it was fourth down on the team's final drive, Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians said: "Yeah, he knew."
Arians felt he was outcoached by opposite number Matt Nagy, who made sure the Bears bounced back to winning ways following a Week 4 defeat to the Indianapolis Colts.
"We'll take the break and get back to work for the next one," Arians said. "But I feel like we left this stadium with a fourth-quarter lead and didn't maintain it.
"We'll see who we are next week. This is one game that I feel like we got out-coached and out-played, so we'll find out next week."
Tampa Bay Buccaneers superstar Brady sarcastically congratulated Green Bay Packers quarterback Rodgers on owning the Bears after the reigning MVP shouted "I still own you" at their fans after completing a fourth-quarter touchdown during Sunday's 24-14 NFL win.
The topic of ownership came up on Wednesday.
"I wanted to say congrats to Aaron Rodgers. Obviously, he's a great QB but I guess he's now a shareholder of the Bears," Brady quipped during his appearance on the Let's Go! podcast.
"I saw a clip of him really enthusiastically telling the crowd how happy he is to own Solider Field."
Podcast host Jim Gray joked that by that measure Brady owned the Jets, given his 29-7 career record against the New York franchise, but the 44-year-old and seven-time Super Bowl champion threw shade rather than be drawn it.
"Oh, no I'll just take the colour green. I don't need the Jets," the former New England Patriots quarterback said. "I'll just own the colour green, I think that's a little bit better."
Brady has thrown for 8,649 yards and 57 touchdowns against the Jets, who have not won the Super Bowl since 1968.
Defending champions Tampa Bay look bound for another deep playoff run, the Bucs having started the year 5-1.
However, they will have to cope without a clutch of stars against the 3-3 Bears, with tight end Gronkowski (ribs) set to miss a fourth successive game.
Brown, who leads the Bucs with four receiving touchdowns, has an ankle injury, as does linebacker David, a second-team All-Pro last year.
Cornerback Richard Sherman (hamstring) is out, but the Buccaneers will receive a boost with secondary Antoine Winfield Jr. available having passed through the NFL's concussion protocol.
The Bucs have started 5-1 for the fifth time in franchise history, having made the playoffs in each of the previous four seasons (2005, 2002, 1997 and 1979).
Tampa Bay will look to go 6-1 for the first time, but head coach Bruce Arians is not underestimating the Bears and rookie quarterback Justin Fields.
"Real good week of practice, and obviously this is a team that I think is on the rise," Arians said. "It's going to take our best to make sure we beat them."
