LONDON – The Bears made their longest road trip in franchise history worthwhile, but not until they escaped with a narrow win after nearly blowing a 16-point lead Sunday at Wembley Stadium.

A victory over the Buccaneers seemed to be a foregone conclusion when Marion Barber's 12-yard touchdown run gave the Bears a comfortable 21-5 early in the third quarter.

But Tampa Bay stormed back, cutting the deficit to 21-18 on Josh Freeman's 24-yard touchdown pass to receiver Dezmon Briscoe with 7:17 left in the fourth quarter.

Robbie Gould's 25-yard field goal widened the margin to 24-18 with 1:55 to play after the Bears had failed to score what likely would have been a clinching touchdown on six plays inside the 12.

The Bears didn't secure the win until nickel back D.J. Moore recorded the defense's fourth and final interception of the game when he picked off a Freeman pass over the middle at the Chicago 25 with just :27 to play after the Buccaneers had reached the 39.

"We didn't get enough pressure there in the second half, which allowed them to get back in the game," said coach Lovie Smith. 'We did have control of it. We let it slip away from us a little bit. But the guys put it back together at the end, kicking that field goal there and then putting it on the defense to hold them out of the end zone. D.J.'s interception was big, and we got the win."

D.J. Moore clinched Sunday's win over the Buccaneers with a late interception.

In winning back-to-back games for the first time this season, the Bears (4-3) climbed to within one game of second place in the NFC North behind the Lions (5-2), who lost to the Atlanta Falcons 23-16 Sunday in Detroit.

Matt Forte delivered another spectacular performance, rushing for 78 of his game-high 145 yards in the first quarter and making a key 36-yard reception late in the fourth quarter.

'Matt Forte, he's just a great player," Smith said. 'He's proven that every time he's played all year. We got the run and the pass going early on and got a pretty good lead."

Forte gave the Bears a 7-0 lead they would not relinquish with a nifty 32-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter. Four minutes later, however, he was tackled in the end zone for a safety by veteran cornerback Ronde Barber as the Buccaneers cut the deficit to 7-2.

The Bears responded as receiver Roy Williams made a twisting, turning 25-yard touchdown catch to widen the margin to 14-2 midway through the second quarter. Connor Barth's 33-yard field goal on the final play of the first half later drew the Buccaneers to within 14-5.

Barber made it 21-5 on the Bears' first drive of the third quarter, bolting up the middle on third-and-1.

The Chicago defense held Tampa Bay to five yards and one first down on 12 plays in the third quarter, and seemingly put the offense in position to score when linebacker Lance Briggs returned an interception 35 yards to the Tampa Bay 1.

But cornerback Tim Jennings was penalized for an illegal block on the return, moving the ball from the 1 to the 50. After three plays produced just one yard, the Bears were forced to punt.

Jay Cutler's underthrown pass intended for Kellen Davis was intercepted by safety Corey Lynch, who returned it 14 yards to the Chicago 21. The Buccaneers converted the turnover into Freeman's 2-yard TD pass to tight end Kellen Winslow Jr., closing the gap to 21-11 with 12:18 left in the fourth quarter.

'We had a great first half, came out hot in the third quarter and then things kind of went downhill for us," said Cutler, who completed 17 of 32 passes for 226 yards with 1 TD, 2 interceptions and a 60.2 passer rating. "We've got to go back and clean that stuff up and finish games. We put the defense in some tough spots there that second half. We've just got to get better."

After another three-and-out by the Bears offense, Freeman connected with Briscoe to cap a six-play, 48-yard drive and pull the Buccaneers to within three points.

'We can't relax, we know that," said Urlacher, who had one of the Bears' four interceptions. 'We've just got to keep the pedal down. They had good field position there, but we've got to get some takeaways or stop them, make them kick field goals, play a little better than that."

Cutler and Forte then beat a blitz, connecting for a 36-yard swing pass to the Tampa 4. But Cutler threw two incomplete passes and was sacked on third-and-goal.

A 15-yard facemask penalty against Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib resulted in an automatic first down, but the Bears still couldn't punch the ball in the end zone on three more plays, settling for Gould's field goal and a six-point lead with 1:55 remaining.

That set the stage for Moore to make the game-saving interception on a Freeman pass over the middle intended for receiver Preston Parker on third-and-10.

"We got two [wins] in a row now," Urlacher said. 'We're playing a little better on both sides of the ball and we're having fun again. It's not fun when you lose; we all know that. But when you make plays to win games, it's a good time out there."