The Chicago Bears defense doesn’t seem to have recovered yet from last week’s failed Hail Mary.
The Bears’ defense completely collapsed in the final moments before halftime of Sunday afternoon’s game against the Arizona Cardinals and gave up a touchdown. That left the Cardinals, well out of field goal range before scoring, into the locker room with a 21-9 lead at State Farm Stadium.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray gave the ball to running back Emari Demercado on third down with 12 seconds left in the second quarter. They were still on their side of the field, and at best were looking at a long field goal attempt before the break.
But somehow Demercado broke through the line and ran 53 yards almost completely untouched for a touchdown.
This marked their second touchdown of the quarter, following Noah Swell’s 1-yard touchdown run less than three minutes later.
The blown play was the second half where the Bears fell. The Washington Commanders surprised the Bears last week when Jayden Daniels made a perfect pitch to Noah Brown, sending a Hail Mary in the final minute. The play, which will go down as one of the best Hail Mary passes in modern NFL history, got even worse for Chicago after cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was seen taunting Commanders fans before blowing completely out of coverage.
As a result, Stevenson was also left out of Sunday’s starting lineup. He reportedly did not react to the news well ahead of the game, taking a brief break from practice on Wednesday to “collect himself.”
The Bears entered Sunday’s game with a 4-3 record. If they had stopped the Hail Mary last week, they too would have won four in a row. But now Matt Eberflus’ defense appears to be struggling when it matters most.
This post will be updated with more information soon.
