LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson could be seen taunting fans seconds before he and his teammates gave up a Hail Mary touchdown with time expired to lose to the Washington Commanders 18-15 on Sunday.
Video posted on social media showed Stevenson pointing toward the stands and raising his arms in the air with his back to the play when the ball was snapped. He was late to get to the play and missed the chance to prevent Zach Ertz from tipping the ball up for Noah Brown to catch in the end zone.
Stevenson posted an apology later on social media, saying: “To Chicago and teammates my apologies for lack of awareness and focus …. The game ain’t over until zeros hit the clock. Can’t take anything for granted. Notes taken, improvement will happen.”
The Bears, who were coming off their bye, had their winning streak ended at three.
“It comes down to that last play and we’ve practiced that play a hundred times since we’ve been here,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “I’ll have to look at what the execution was on that, but we have a body on a body, boxing guys out like basketball at the very end. We have one guy at the rim that knocks the ball down. We’ve got a tip guy that goes behind the pile. I’ve got to look at it and detail it out and make sure we’re better next time.”
They had just gone ahead with 25 seconds left on Roschon Johnson's 1-yard touchdown run.
“When you lose a game like that, that’s a tough one to swallow," Eberflus said. “Was excited how they battled back to have a chance to win that game. It’s important to look at that, too.”
Stevenson made seven tackles and had one pass defensed earlier in the game. He struggled in coverage as Chicago allowed Jayden Daniels to throw for 326 yards.
There were plenty of problems before the Hail Mary, including Caleb Williams fumbling an exchange with offensive lineman Doug Kramer earlier in the fourth quarter. Williams also at one point took a sack to knock the Bears out of field goal range and went 10 of 24 passing, his fewest completions of his young NFL career.
“I’ve got to be better,” Williams said. “I’ve got to get the ball out of my hands. I’ve got to throw it out of bounds in that situation. The toughest part about the job is you want to go out and make plays and do special things, but you also have to understand that’s the play.”
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