CHICAGO -- The two biggest stories in Chicago this fall have been how the fans have fallen in love with a Bears team looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 1994 and how critics and fans have screamed about the offense run by coordinator John Shoop.

Soldier Field exploded with shouts of joy on Sunday as the Bears blew out the Buccaneers 27-3. Bear fans didn't care that their conservative offense had four three-and-outs and an interception in the first six possessions. Shoop mixed in a little no-huddle and quick passes and even gave quarterback Jim Miller the license to scramble and throw deep on some third-and-longs.

Compared to the disjointed, one-dimensional Bucs offense, the Run-and-Shoop looked like the Rams. At least you can say there was a plan. The Bucs have (Brad) Johnson & (Keyshawn) Johnson, and that's it. In a persistent dizzle, the Bears gained 379 yards and scored three touchdowns against a Tampa Bay defense that entered the game hot.

	Offensive coordinator John Shoop, left, let quarterback Jim Miller take some shots downfield in a 27-3 rout of Tampa Bay.

To the critics, Miller says, "You can kiss our ass in the middle of Main Street, and we'll give you an hour to draw a crowd, too."

Unfortunately, there is no Main Street in downtown Chicago, so the critics will have to wait for another opportunity and be directed to a different site. Actually, all the kisses should be directed at the Bears' defense because it has made it possible for Chicago's offense to take a whole season to find itself.

All the Bears' defense asks is for the offense to score 13 points. They are 10-0 when that happens. Yet fans won't let die the frustrations of 20-12 and 17-7 losses to the Packers, who now trail the Bears by a game in the NFC Central even though they hold the tie-breaking advantage with a series sweep. "They didn't go downfield enough," fans complained. By halftime of last Sunday's loss to the Packers, defensive players on the Bears' bench shouted at Shoop to be aggressive.

As it turned out, the Bears' best downfield play was a broken one. The game was tied at 3 midway through the second quarter. Shoop designs his offensive mix of runs and short passes to try to set up third-down-and-short plays, but the Bucs effectively stopped the Bears' running attack in the first 22 minutes. Miller was left with a third-and-10 at his 36.

"John told me I would have to step up and side-step the rush a bit if it was third-and-10," Miller said. "He said I would have to buy some time and throw it. A couple of times I was able to do it."

But that's the difference from the Packers loss. The deep play actually happened. Miller's first read was a shorter pass at the first-down sticks to Marty Booker, but he was double coveraged. The second read was covered, so the next target was rookie David Terrell, who was running a clearing route deep in the Bucs' secondary.

How rare is it for the Bears to throw deep? Listen to Terrell and the embarrassment that befell him in a close victory against the Lions.

"I've run that route about 200 times deep and they haven't thrown me the ball," Terrell said. "Against Detroit two weeks ago, Miller throws it and it hits me in the face. I wasn't expecting the ball. He came over to me on the sidelines and said, 'You didn't even see the ball, did you?' I said, 'How do you know?' He said, 'I just threw it up there.' "

Miller side-stepped the Bucs' pass rush and stepped up in the pocket. What makes Miller different from his backup, Shane Matthews, is that Miller has a decent deep arm. So he lofted a nice pass that Terrell caught with deep safety Dexter Jackson out of position.

Terrell would have scored an easy 64-yard touchdown where it not for back judge Tony Steratore. Like Phil Luckett a couple of weeks ago, Steratore was heading into Terrell's angle to the end zone. Unlike Luckett, who crashed into Saints receiver Joe Horn and caused an incompletion, Steratore went into a slide, but Terrell had to jump over him.

"I saw him slide, and I was trying to jump over him, but that gave the dude (Jackson) time to hit my leg," Terrell said.

Terrell fell forward to the Bucs' 2-yard line, but he was still credited with a 62-yard gain, the team's second longest of the season. See, going deep does pay dividends. Entering the game, Miller averaged 5.67 yards an attempt and less than 10 yards a completion. To put that in perspective, Kurt Warner averages 8.44 yards an attempt. The average league completion is 11.5.

Part of what followed is the benefit of being a home team. Before the game, Bucs general manager Rich McKay was talking about the advantages of playing at home. Home teams get breaks. The home crowd can inspire fourth-quarter comebacks. Plus, sometimes, lucky plays happen at home, something the Bears and safety Mike Brown have been experiencing all season.

	“	I don't want to call it vindication, but I'm a guy who perseveres. I compete. I can do certain things well like dropping back and reading coverage. I'm not a guy who's going to scramble around. ”
		— Jim Miller, Bears quarterback

The good fortune of being at home scored big for the Bears in the second quarter. On third down from the Bucs' 2, Miller lofted a pass to the side of the end zone to Booker, who caught the ball but wasn't sure if he had both feet in bounds. Officials ruled the pass incomplete. Even Booker wasn't sure.

"I thought I at least dragged my right foot, but when I looked down I saw nothing but white, I didn't think I was in," Booker said.

Coach Dick Jauron sent in the field-goal unit, but a replay flashed across the Jumbotron above the end zone. Jauron challenged and the call was reversed.

"In close divisional games, you aren't going to get those calls," Miller said. "Seeing it on the Jumbotron was huge. Here's an example where replay worked for us."

Three plays later, the Bears' 10-3 lead looked in jeopardy, but the defense rallied behind the shouts of the home crowd. Keyshawn Johnson broke free on a 10-yard reception and raced 47 yards to the Bears' 8. Cornerback R.W. McQuarters ran across the field and chopped away Johnson's legs with a flying tackle. At the same time, cornerback Walt Harris chased Johnson from behind and knocked the ball from his hands.

Brown, who won two overtime games by scoring off turnovers, grabbed the Johnson gift, and the Bucs never recovered.

More than anything, the Bears' victory and the season is a tribute to Miller, who does have the ability to go outside the conservative offense and make a play to win. Statistically, Miller wasn't pretty. He was 14-of-29 for 190 yards and one interception.

"Maybe I'm not the great player," Miller said. "I don't want to call it vindication, but I'm a guy who perseveres. I compete. I can do certain things well like dropping back and reading coverage. I'm not a guy who's going to scramble around."

You can say the same thing about the Bears' offense. It competes. With the lead, Shoop let Anthony Thomas and his offensive line overpower the Bucs for 173 of the Bears' 207 rushing yards. More than half of Thomas' runs came by running at defensive end Simeon Rice.

"Simeon is a little light in the ass, so sometimes we'd even pull right tackle Big Cat Williams to mush it up over there," Miller said. "We felt we could physically dominate on that side of the ball."

The Bears did.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.