‘A complete bust': The Bears' Hail Mary failure explained by former coach

It was a moment that stunned the football world this weekend. A last-minute Hail Mary pass is tipped into the arms of Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown as he stood alone in the end zone, costing the Bears what would have been an impressive comeback victory and giving Washington an unexpected win.

A Hail Mary isn't unheard of in football, but decisions made by the Bears in both the lead-up and during the play have many questioning -- including former Bears coach Dave Wannstedt.

"That play, the Hail Mary play, is, in defense of Matt Eberflus, that's something that you work on once a week, from minicamp all the way through training camp. It's not a new play," Wannstedt said on NBC Chicago Monday morning.

He called the moment "a complete bust right across the board."

Here's a look at how the play happened and what exactly went wrong:

What is a Hail Mary in football?

A "Hail Mary" is a last-second play where the quarterback lofts a ball high into the air toward the end zone, with defenders and receivers battling for position as it lands.

The term originated with legendary Cowboys QB Roger Staubach, who said he "closed his eyes and said a Hail Mary" when he threw a last-second touchdown against the Vikings in a playoff game.

What happened with the Bears-Commanders game?

With 0:00 left on the clock, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels connected with Brown on a 52-yard Hail Mary to give them an 18-15 victory over the Bears.

Daniels scrambled for several seconds before heaving the ball from the Commanders 35-yard line. It was deflected about 3 yards short of the goal line and fell into the arms of Brown, who was standing alone in the end zone.

Chicago had taken its first lead with 23 seconds left in the game, going ahead 15-12 on a 1-yard TD run by Roschon Johnson after a pass-interference penalty on the Commanders (6-2). The Bears (4-3) had their winning streak snapped at three after falling behind 12-0 and giving up the Daniels-to-Brown play that sent players and fans in the stands into a frenzy.

The unlikely TD was Daniels’ 21st completion on 38 attempts while playing through a rib injury that left his status uncertain until hours before kickoff. In the NFL’s sixth matchup of rookie quarterbacks taken with the top two picks in the draft, Daniels threw for 326 yards and ran for 52.

The unexpected ending ruined a turnaround for No. 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams, the Washington-area native who engineered a late 62-yard scoring drive after starting the game completing just four of his first 16 passes. Williams finished 10 of 24 for 131 yards, and D’Andre Swift ran for a TD as part of his 129-yard performance.

Watch the full play

A;FK;JD;KJF;LAKEJFLKJVAL;KEJL;JF;EFJ;LFAKJ

JAYDEN DANIELS HAIL MARY! @COMMANDERS WIN! pic.twitter.com/BsQ0Z84Rko

— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2024

How often does this happen?

According to Kevin Fishbain with the Athletic, citing data from Stathead, the Bears haven't allowed a walk-off touchdown in regulation since at least 1994.

Since at least 1994, the Bears had not allowed a walk-off touchdown in regulation per @Stathead. They gave up a game-tying, 1-yard score in the final seconds to the Bucs in 2008.

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) October 28, 2024

Still, according to research by ESPN, Hail Mary passes are successful more often than fans may think, completed roughly in 1-of-12 attempts over the last decade.

What did Tyrique Stevenson do before and after the play?

Bears defensive back Tyrique Stevenson played a role in how it all transpired. Fan-captured video showed Stevenson taunting Commanders fans before the final snap and continued to do so as the play went on.

Stevenson, 24, then recovered to cover Washington's receivers, but ultimately ended up being the one who tipped it back into the end zone where Brown stood for the easy haul.

A few hours after the game, Stevenson posted an apology on social media.

"To Chicago and teammates my apologies for lack of awareness and focus ….," Stevenson wrote. "The game ain’t over until zeros hit the clock. Can’t take anything for granted. Notes taken, improvement will happen. #Beardown"

Breaking down the botched Hail Mary defense by the Bears

While Stevenson may have taken the brunt of criticism, Wannstedt said there were a number of errors that led to the disappointing Bears loss.

One of the biggest, he argued, was how Brown was left alone in the end zone at all.

"Here's the real mystery," Wannstedt said. "The Bears rush three. So, they have eight guys back to defend, and there's always three guys - three, not one, three guys - and their job is you stay as deep as the deepest. So, if there's a guy standing at the five yard line, you get in the goal line. If he's at the goal line, you get at the back of the end zone. And I have no idea what happened on that play. It was a complete bust right across the board. So it was so, so disappointing."

Adding to the frustration, Wannstedt said, was the amount of time Daniels had to throw.

"You should make the quarterback throw the ball on time ... Jayden Daniels, the Washington quarterback, held the ball and scrambled around for 13 seconds ... From the defensive line to the secondary, it was just a total bust across the board. Disheartening," Wannstedt said.

"You should have had underneath defenders on the guys that are going out for the pass. You got three guys rushing to squeeze the quarterback, and then you should have had three guys, as I said, at the final line of defense. I'm always going to be behind the receiver so I can make a play. You never let him get behind you. I have no idea how that happened," he added.

But when it comes to Stevenson, Wannstedt said there will likely be conversations had.

"That was a very immature thing on his part. It's kind of a selfish play on his part. And I'll tell you what, everything in the news and sports will be talking about, 'Everything's fine. We accept his apology,' but in that locker room, when they put that tape on ... let me tell you something, there's going to be a locker room of players, veteran guys that fought their tails off to try to win that game, and they're going to be looking at one guy, not because of the play, but because of what were you doing? This is a team game. This is not tennis or golf. We need 11 guys being committed, everybody doing their job. And that was... that was horrible. That was terrible."

Wannstedt noted the Hail Mary wasn't the only perplexing play to cap off the game, however.

He referred to the fumbled handoff to offensive lineman Doug Kramer during a pivotal moment of the fourth quarter.

"I gotta say this because this, this bothered me as much as the Hail Mary. There's kind of a golden rule when you're in a critical situation: Give the ball to your best players," Wannstedt said. "And we give the ball to an offensive lineman to carry the ball? I mean ... in all honesty, and you know, I'm a big Matt Eberflus fan, but he had three time outs. If I'm the head coach and my offensive coordinator calls that play...I'm doing, time out, you know? I'm saying, 'Are you out of your mind? What? What are we thinking here?"