Bears’ Carrier Rattles the Buccaneers, 26-6 : NFC: Rookie safety intercepts two passes as Chicago improves to 7-1 and stays unbeaten in Central Division.

Chicago Bear safety Mark Carrier is a distant relative of Mark Carrier, a wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Confused?

Tampa Bay quarterback Vinny Testaverde must have been Sunday after Carrier intercepted two of his passes to set up a touchdown and field goal in the Bears’ 26-6 victory over the Buccaneers.

Carrier, the Bears’ No. 1 draft pick out of USC, also had four tackles and forced a fumble that gave Tampa Bay six turnovers.

“We did a great job on defense,” said Carrier, a two-time All-American for the Trojans. “Vinny was off-balance a lot and threw a lot off his back foot. . . . I said all along, ‘He’s gonna throw to one of the Carriers, let’s see which one it’s going to be.’ It was me this time.”

The Bears (7-1), who won only two of eight NFC Central games last season and failed to win the division for the first time in six years, intercepted five Testaverde passes to remain unbeaten at 4-0 within the division and avenge two losses to Tampa Bay in 1989.

Shaun Gayle intercepted a pass to stop Tampa Bay’s best drive of the first half and Richard Dent and Ron Rivera intercepted passes in the second half.

Testaverde completed 10 of 24 passes for 149 yards as the Buccaneers (4-5) lost for the fourth time in five weeks after an impressive 3-1 start.

Carrier returned his first interception six yards to the Buccaneers 22 to set up a one-yard touchdown run by Neal Anderson that gave the Bears a 14-0 lead with 2:41 left in the first half. His second interception, at the Bears’ 41, set up a drive that Kevin Butler capped with a 30-yard field goal with six seconds left in the half.

Jim Harbaugh completed 14 of 23 passes for 213 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown pass play to Dennis Gentry that gave the Bears a 23-0 lead five minutes into the third quarter.

Dent’s interception and Harbaugh completions of 12 yards to Anderson and 14 yards to Brad Muster led to a 22-yard field goal by Butler that made it 26-0.

Tampa Bay’s offense sputtered for the second consecutive week.

The Buccaneers gained a season-low 157 yards in a 41-10 loss to San Diego, then had only two first downs and 81 yards in the first half against the Bears.

Tampa Bay averted a shutout when Testaverde, who sat out the San Diego game with a turf-toe injury, threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Bruce Perkins early in the fourth quarter.

“Offensively we stunk,” Buccaneer Coach Ray Perkins said. “The whole group.”