Bears Follow Interim Leaders to 28-10 Win

Interim Coach Vince Tobin got the congratulatory phone call right after the game, and it wasn’t from Ronald Reagan.

Coach Mike Ditka was in the hospital, but he wasted no time in letting the Chicago Bears know how he felt about their 28-10 victory Sunday over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“I talked to him,” Tobin said. “He said he was extremely pleased and thought it was a great game.

“We didn’t go out with the idea of playing this game for anyone but ourselves and the players. The players know how to win on the field and they came through.”

Ditka, who suffered a mild heart attack Wednesday, watched the game on television in the hospital.

“I think it would have been harder on him not to watch the game,” said his wife, Diana. “That would be more stress. It was a good thing for him. It was a good test.”

Mike Tomczak, playing for injured quarterback Jim McMahon, passed for 2 touchdowns.

Tomczak, often the subject of Ditka tirades on the sidelines, completed 18 of 26 passes for 269 yards to improve his record to 12-2 as a starter in place of McMahon, 5-0 against Tampa Bay (2-8).

“I played within my limitations,” Tomczak said. “The offense put some points on the board and we broke the third-quarter jinx.”

Tomczak’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Dennis McKinnon in the third quarter marked the first time the Bears scored in the third quarter this season.

McKinnon caught 4 passes for 87 yards, setting up 1-yard touchdown runs by Thomas Sanders and Neal Anderson.

“We knew he wasn’t going to be there,” McKinnon said of Ditka. “We had to play our game.”

The Bears (8-2) intercepted 2 of Vinny Testaverde’s passes and sacked the Tampa Bay quarterback twice for 32 yards.

Testaverde, benched last week after having 6 passes intercepted 2 weeks ago, completed 22 of 52 passes for 305 yards. He threw 2 interceptions and has a league-leading total to 24 for the season.

Donald Igwebuike gave the Buccaneers a 3-0 lead with a 45-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but the Bears took control by scoring the next 28 points.