With 25 seconds remaining, the Bears led the Washington Commanders 15-12, needing only for their proven defense to protect 76 yards and complete an exhilarating rally for the team's fourth consecutive victory. Wow. What a feeling.
But in a blink, it all unraveled, most significantly on Jayden Daniels' final-play Hail Mary — 52 yards into a crowd, then tipped backward by Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson to uncovered receiver Noah Brown. The prayer completion was one thing. But the Bears' bungling of that final sequence created a whole different level of despair.
Most jarring: Stevenson had his back turned to the action when the snap was taken, continuing to interact with fans in the stands more than four seconds into the play and then forgetting to shadow Brown. To top it all off, he then tried to do Byard's designated job as the jumper, leaping above a sea of bodies outside the goal line and ultimately knocking the football into the end zone. To the man he was supposed to be covering.
Whoa. What a feeling. "That was a game we needed to have," Byard said from inside a stunned Bears locker room immediately after that 18-15 loss.
"It was unbelievable. I've never been a part of a loss like that." The following day, Byard acknowledged again that he and his teammates weren't navigating a typical "it's just one loss" recovery process.
Instead, Byard encouraged teammates to lean into the acceptance that the NFL's oft-repeated and frequently used "24-hour rule" wasn't one-size-fit.
