The Washington Commanders pulled off an epic comeback win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday when Noah Brown hauled in a Hail Mary touchdown pass from Jayden Daniels with zeroes on the clock to complete an 18-15 victory.
The play was a failure for the Bears’ defense as a whole but it’s pretty easy to point the finger at cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who appeared to be taunting Commanders fans when the play began.
Stevenson was captured on video mocking fans at Northwest Stadium with his back to the play when Washington snapped the ball. He taunted fans for several seconds before turning to see all the Commanders’ receivers running towards the goal. As he was positioned towards the left side of the endzone, he had to scramble to catch up with the play. He eventually made it into the scrum where the ball was tipped right into the waiting hands of Brown who was standing alone in the endzone.
It’s obviously a pretty bad look. It’s made all the worse by the fact that Stevenson might have been the defender who was supposed to shadow the deepest Commanders’ receiver.
ESPN NFL analyst Ben Solak broke down the play immediately after the game, noting that the Bears defense broke down and whoever was supposed to be in the “savior” role failed to do what they needed.
broke down the hail mary, lol
but actually: the Bears messed up their Hail Mary defense! pic.twitter.com/q4Zkjcj1g7
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) October 27, 2024
That was before the video of Stevenson went viral. But when it did, he realized that the corner was supposed to be that defender, only he was out of place, likely due to starting so late on the play.
WAIT WAIT WAIT LOL
Tyrique Stevenson (29) is supposed to be following Noah Brown (85) the whole way
But he never gets connected to him, in part because he was smack talking with Commanders fans the whole time? pic.twitter.com/F1sbCQ8Bds
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) October 28, 2024
NFL and sports media members were out in full force to react to the video of Stevenson.
You can have “The Catch,” “The Immaculate Reception,” David Tyree, Malcolm Butler, whatever.
This.
This right here by No. 29 on the Bears is my all time favorite play in NFL history. https://t.co/V9WGWeQDhd
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) October 28, 2024
This angle of a Bears defender taunting the Commanders crowd, not paying attention at the snap, and then being the player to tip the ball for the TD on the Hail Mary is just amazing.pic.twitter.com/ADexp28PxN
— Joe Giglio (@JoeGiglioSports) October 28, 2024
Take the Greyhound home https://t.co/seCnVJlMAO
— Doug Gottlieb (@GottliebShow) October 28, 2024
Good job good effort
https://t.co/g40eV5Fp44 — trey wingo (@wingoz) October 28, 2024
We will now see the talent/tolerance equation on this player. https://t.co/OeRBbwikIy
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) October 28, 2024
Best video you’ll see today.
Tyrique Stevenson is trolling fans after the snap of the Hail Mary. Barely realizes the play started. Then tips the ball to Noah Brown.
What’s the saying? Karma is a? (Video via @joe_abdo). pic.twitter.com/1FxRiDDMpy
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) October 28, 2024
Something tells us this reaction is nothing compared to the one Tyrique is gonna get from his coaches on Monday.
[Joe Abdo]