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Washington’s Hail Mary curses the Bears to an incredible road loss

Jasper
Washington’s Hail Mary curses the Bears to an incredible road loss

LANDOVER, Md. – At one end of the Bears’ losing locker room, you sat as tight end Cole Kmet, calmly trying to put a shocking ending in perspective.

“A Hail Mary is a Hail Mary,” Kmet said. “It’s a prayer. You just say a prayer. I think it’s probably a little immature to obsess about where we are right now.”

At the other end of the Bears’ losing locker room stood cornerback Jaylon Johnson, still shaking with anger after a shower after being on the wrong end of a Jayden Daniels throw that answered the prayers of Washington fans and gave Chicago a win handed a shocking 18-15 defeat at Northwest Stadium.

“No game was more intense and had more at stake than this game,” Johnson said. “And we have to find a way to emerge victorious.”

I knew I had to wait for Johnson because when the reporters were first let into the locker room, we could see him talking animatedly with fellow defensive back Elijah Hicks, who was also in that mess outside the End zone that lost track of Washington receiver Noah Brown, who easily caught a tip from the Bears defender that led to a game-winning 52-yard touchdown pass.

When asked about his feelings, Johnson said simply: “Sour. Pissed off.”

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Kmet’s thought process wasn’t wrong. This wasn’t a playoff game. The Bears are 4-3 and still have a season left.

But Johnson’s anger was not “immature.” The Bears had to implement their Hail Mary defense and failed. An NFL win for players is like gold for a pirate. You protect it with your life.

Between Kmet and Johnson, there were 1,000-yard looks as far as the eye could see in the visitors’ cramped locker room.

“Probably my worst loss I’ve ever experienced,” defensive end DeMarcus Walker said. “Man, that was hard.”

“There’s no way I lost that way,” said safety Kevin Byard III. “They won with a Hail Mary. Anything can happen.”

“We’re human,” linebacker TJ Edwards said. “We put everything into it. The offense did a great job giving us a lead and, as you know, they won with a Hail Mary.”

I’ve experienced many unique losses while covering the Bears since 2009, but this was also new to me.

When Brown landed the ball, the Commanders’ sideline exploded onto the field and the packed stadium went into an uproar. For every stunned Bears fan, there were 20 Washington fans who just witnessed the best thing they’d ever seen. A statue of Daniels is commissioned. Holiness is debated.

Remember Jim McKay’s famous line from Wide World of Sports about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat? We saw that.

“That was our defining moment,” Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. said.

“I just heard people on our side screaming and rushing across the field,” Daniels said. “That’s how I knew.”

Not bad for a rookie quarterback who didn’t practice until Friday because of a rib injury. Daniels didn’t convert in the red zone, but threw for 326 yards with no turnovers.

His opponent, Williams, looked terrible most of the day in his coming home game. The Bears had 90 net yards and zero points in the first half. They didn’t score until the third quarter, when D’Andre Swift broke off a 56-yard run with 43 seconds left.

“That’s just because we’re shooting ourselves in the foot, and that comes from the details and the focus in the game (and) throughout the week,” Williams said. “That comes from myself. I was definitely there. I definitely missed a few passes that I don’t normally miss.”

Not to mention a missed handoff that almost cost the Bears the game a little earlier.

In the fourth quarter, trailing 12-7, they gave up a crucial goal-line change to backup center Doug Kramer Jr. on third-and-1. Williams was credited with the fumble, but Kramer took the blame after the play.

“I appreciate Shane (Waldron) trusting me to call it,” he said. “But I made a mistake and dropped the ball at the 1-yard line.”

If the game had been decided after that play, I’m not sure Waldron would have been able to survive the setback. Maybe he still won’t. It was Waldron’s offense that started slowly again. The only reason the Bears were in the game was because of their defense, especially in the red zone.

The Kramer fumble just cost the Bears time, which actually worked to their advantage. After the defense forced a three-and-out, Williams led the Bears with a 10-play, 62-yard scoring drive that ended with a touchdown by Roschon Johnson and a two-point conversion by Kmet, which gave the Bears a 15-12 lead with 27 seconds left.

While colleagues in the press box were dividing story duties, one of them could be heard joking, “I’m going to write about how the Bears blew this game with 25 seconds left.” Even I didn’t think that was possible.

So how did it happen?

Some players may dismiss the outcome as luck or a coin toss, but the details matter. Especially for a team trying to redefine itself as a winner.

An Ave Maria is not divine intervention. It’s a botched execution. With six seconds left, Daniels found Terry McLaurin down the sideline for a 13-yard catch to set up the final play with just two seconds left. The Bears only sent three rushers against a young quarterback who is quickly building a reputation as a top player. Daniels had about 13 seconds to move and prepare the throw. But it should still be important that the defensive players know their tasks and play their game well.

“Every team in the league is going to do the same thing when they talk about a Hail Mary game,” Byard said. “They will form a triangle. They’re going to have a guy that’s supposed to jump up and catch the ball.”

And they will unpack the recipients. Or they should.

“There should never be anyone in the back of the end zone,” Johnson said.

How does this happen?

You can watch it for yourself — and you’ve probably watched the end zone video a hundred times — but it was clear that Bears defensive lineman Tyrique Stevenson was busy talking to fans early in the game. Then he ran late into the scrum, stood in front of Byard and tossed the ball into the air into Brown’s waiting hands. Check out this Getty Images photo for a close-up.


Commanders receiver Noah Brown (85) waits as Washington’s Hail Mary pass is tipped. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

What was he thinking? Stevenson told reporters he would speak Monday. All he can do is take his share of the blame and move on.

This will be difficult for everyone else. At least for a few days until preparations begin for a trip to Arizona next week.

The shock of the ending will wear off and Kmet’s post-game advice will take effect. There are 10 games left.

“We just can’t obsess about results,” he said. “Win or lose here, you have to look at the game from the same perspective. In the truest sense of the word, all that mattered was a piece of “Hail Mary.” If it weren’t for that, we’d be here celebrating and having fun.”

That’s all well and good. But of course the process and the results are not independent things. A “Hail Mary” doesn’t just mean good luck, and the Bears didn’t lose due to force majeure.

“At the end of the day, it all comes down to this game,” Johnson said.

And the Bears didn’t make it.

(Photo: Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

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