Another loss to Bear, 27-15 Michelle Kaufman, The St.Petersburg Times, published 1988 This time, there was no beating around the bush. No meaningless rhetoric. No excuse. Coach Ray Perkins told it like it was in two short statements after the Chicago Bears handed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers their ninth loss of the season, 27-15, in front of 67,070 fans at Tampa Stadium on Sunday afternoon. It was the 12th straight time the Bears (10-2) had beaten the Bucs, which is the longest winning streak by any NFL team over another. Perkins explained it like this: (a) “We're not good enough right now to do it against the Chicago Bears.” (b) “Vinny (Testaverde) stunk the place out. His performance was not acceptable.” Testaverde completed a career-low seven passes in 22 attempts (32 percent) for a career-low 86 yards with no touchdowns, and had two interceptions before he was yanked and replaced by Joe Ferguson in the fourth quarter. His first and last passes of the game were picked off, by Mike Singletary and Maurice Douglass, respectively. At least two more potential interceptions were dropped by Chicago cornerbacks. About the only times Testaverde resembled the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback he was at the University of Miami was when he tucked the ball under his arm and ran. He had five carries for 55 yards - 37 more yards rushing than he'd had all year. Testaverde said he'd have trouble grading himself on his first 15 starts because “there isn't a letter lower than `F'.” Yes, there were other culprits on the Tampa Bay sideline, but Testaverde's miscues were probably the costliest. “He plays the most important position on the field,” Perkins said. “If he doesn't play well, his team usually doesn't win. I thought about pulling him at halftime, but I decided I'd give him another chance. In retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have left him in.” Ferguson, playing in his second game of the year, completed five of 10 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown in his cameo appearance. Although Testaverde is expected to start next week's game at Atlanta (4-8), Perkins was non-commital when asked who will take the first snap. Sunday's game will be remembered as much for its oddities as anything. A fan with an orange cone on his head ran across the field two minutes before halftime. The scoreboard clock operator inadvertently stopped the clock for seven seconds at the end of the first half, which gave the Bucs just enough time to get off a 23-yard field goal. And the Bucs scored the franchise's first safety ever. Strangest of all, an unattached parachute fell into wooded Horizon Park during the aerial halftime show, sending several fans and reporters running frantically to the nearby park in search of a body. Perkins searched just as frantically for an offense. Had the Bucs taken advantage of their excellent field position, they would have been in the game. Four times they started drives inside Chicago territory, but managed to score just three points on those possessions. The Bucs converted just three of 15 third downs. One one occasion, they failed to gain a yard on third-and-1. On another, they failed to gain 2 yards on fourth down from the Bears' 30-yard line. Yet another time, they couldn't move a yard in two tries from the Bears' nine. Here's a sampling of the offense's ineptness: Donnie Elder returned a kickoff 51 yards to the Chicago 43. The Bucs moved 33 yards on eight plays and settled for a Donald Igwebuike field goal. Bobby Futrell returned a punt 32 yards to the Buc 42. The Bucs gained 6 yards and punted. Safety Harry Hamilton recovered a fumble and gave the offense the ball at the Chicago 36. The Bucs moved 16 yards on seven plays and Igwebuike missed a 37-yard field goal. Futrell returned a punt 19 yards to the Chicago 38. The Bucs gained 6 yards on four plays and gave the ball up on downs. Had Igwebuike not pulled a groin tackling Dennis Gentry on the second-half kickoff, chances are the Bucs would've tried a field goal. Hamilton intercepted a Mike Tomczak pass and handed the ball over to Testaverde and Co. at the Chicago 19. They gained 9 1/2 yards, and gave up the ball when a Lars Tate dive fell inches short. Chicago's offense wasn't tearing up the joint either, though the Bears did gain more than twice as many yards rushing (139) than they did in a 28-10 win over the Bucs two weeks ago. Former Florida Gator Neal Anderson had seven carries for 7 yards at Soldier Field. Sunday, he had 19 carries for 66 yards. Thomas Sanders added 50 yards on 10 carries. Tomczak, who is 6-0 against the Bucs, completed nine of 21 passes for 179 yards with two interceptions. The Bears converted only three of 13 third downs. The difference was, the Bears were good enough to win. They scored on runs of 1 yard and 17 yards by Anderson, a 40-yard screen pass from Tomczak to Brad Muster, and Kevin Butler field goals of 36 and 43 yards. The Bucs' points were scored on field goals of 27 and 23 yards by Igwebuike, a safety by Kerry Goode (he touched down Chicago punter Bryan Wagner in the endzone), and a 7-yard pass from Ferguson to Frank Pillow. “I don't think I've ever been in a game where we had better field position,” said Bucs center Randy Grimes. “The offense really is to blame for today's loss. I felt bad for the defense and the special teams. They'd go out their and bust their tails, and then we'd sputter.” Said cornerback Ricky Reynolds: “It was tough on us (the defense). We'd make a big play and the offense couldn't cash in on them. But there's nothing we could do but go out and play harder.” Defensive end Reuben Davis, one of eight rookies who started for the Bucs Sunday, said it was hard not to consider defensive efforts “self-defeating,” but he felt his teammates did a good job of keeping their composure. “The younger guys just looked to the older guys for leadership so that we wouldn't start fussing and fighting amongst ourselves,” Davis said. “We've got to all stick together.” Linebacker Sidney Coleman said that while the defense may have outplayed the offense Sunday, defenders had little reason to be proud because “If we would've played well, they wouldn't have had 27 points on the board.” The Bears, playing with coach Mike Ditka making the calls for the first time since his heart attack Nov. 2, admitted their win wasn't pretty. They weren't complaining. “We didn't play a great game, but you still have to win that kind,” Ditka said.