Bears lose 21–16 to Colts, haunted by Hail Mary before halftime coming up 1 yard short

The Chicago Bears had two opportunities to tie their Week 3 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts at halftime in the final two minutes of the first half. But poor blocking and decision-making on the first attempt and bad luck on the second resulted in the Bears going to the locker room trailing 7–0.

Those plays, in addition to a late fumble by Caleb Williams, may have been the difference in Chicago’s 21–9 loss on Sunday.

The Bears got the ball back with 51 seconds remaining in the half after forcing Indianapolis to punt. After driving to the Colts’ 45, Chicago opted for a Hail Mary pass rather than attempt a 63-yard field goal.

With one second left, Williams heaved the ball 56 yards into the end zone, but the ball ricocheted in the air off a scrum of receivers and defensive backs. DJ Moore caught the carom, but was at the 1-yard line and tackled by Julian Blackmon as time expired.

The Bears squandered another opportunity right before that. On fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 1:41 remaining, D’Andre Swift was tackled for a 12-yard loss attempting to run left, finding no room at the 8, then slipping another five yards back as he tried to elude tacklers.

Williams got the first TD pass of his NFL career in the fourth quarter with a one-yard throw to Rome Odunze to cut the Colts’ lead to 14–9. (The play was also the first career touchdown for Odunze, which led to quick speculation as to which rookie would get to keep the ball.)

There appeared to be some confusion on whether to kick the extra point or attempt a 2-point conversion. Santos was on the field with the kicking unit after the score, forcing head coach Matt Eberflus to call a timeout. The Bears then sent the offense out to try and get to within one possession. However, Williams was rushed out of the pocket and missed with a throw toward Khalil Herbert.

Chicago got the ball back after forcing the Colts to punt. But on the first play of the drive from the Bears’ 18-yard line, Williams fumbled after being sacked by Laiatu Latu and Grover Stewart recovered.

The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft threw for 362 yards, easily the highest total of his fledgling pro career. He got two touchdowns and two interceptions on 33-of-52 passing. Williams connected with Odunze for six receptions, 118 yards and a score, giving Bears fans a preview of the potential greatness that tandem will create. Cole Kmet added 10 catches for 97 yards and a score.

After a 13-yard run by Richardson, Taylor scored from one yard out a 21–9 lead. Richardson finished with 167 yards passing and two interceptions, completing 10-of-20 passes. Taylor scored two touchdowns while rushing for 110 yards on 23 carries. Pittman led Indianapolis with four receptions for 36 yards.

The Bears added a touchdown with 2:01 remaining in the game to cut Indianapolis’ lead to 21–16. Williams finished off a 12-play, 70-yard drive with a six-yard TD pass to Kmet. Chicago opted to kick the ball back to the Colts, rather than attempt an onside kick.

Anthony Gould helped the Bears by kneeling the kickoff for a touchback, rather than run out of the end zone and burn some time off the clock. However, that became a moot point when Taylor ran for 13 yards, getting a first down and allowing the Colts to run out the clock.

With the loss, Chicago drops to 1–2 for the season. Indianapolis gets its first win of the 2024 campaign to improve to 1–2.