The Chicago Bears defense apparently still hasn’t recovered from the botched Hail Mary last week.
The Bears defense completely fell apart in the final seconds before halftime of their matchup with the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon and gave up a touchdown. That sent the Cardinals, who were well out of field goal range before the score, into the locker room with a 21-9 lead at State Farm Stadium.
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray handed the ball off to running back Emari Demercado on a third down with just 12 seconds left on the clock in the second quarter. They were still on their own side of the field, and were at best looking at a long field goal attempt before the break.
But somehow, Demercado broke through the line and ran it in 53 yards almost completely untouched for the touchdown.
That marked their second touchdown of the quarter, following a 1-yard touchdown run from Noah Swell not even three minutes earlier.
The blown play was the second consecutive half where the Bears stumbled. The Washington Commanders stunned the Bears last week with a last-second Hail Mary on a perfect throw from Jayden Daniels to Noah Brown. The play, which will go down as one of the best Hail Mary passes in modern NFL history, was made even worse for Chicago after cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was seen taunting Commanders fans before completely blowing his coverage.
Stevenson was pulled from the starting lineup on Sunday as a result, too. He reportedly didn’t respond to the news well ahead of the game, either, as he pulled himself out of practice briefly on Wednesday to “gather himself.”
The Bears entered Sunday’s game with a 4-3 record. Had they stopped the Hail Mary last week, they would’ve been on a four-game win streak, too. Now, though, Matt Eberflus’ defense appears to be struggling when it matters most.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
