Darnell Mooney Somehow Drops Hail Mary That Hit Him Right in the Hands

The Chicago Bears lost to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon and the margin was razor-thin. Chicago went up by 17 early but fell apart offensively in the second half and let the Browns climb back in it. Joe Flacco bounced back from throwing multiple picks and led Cleveland on a few scoring drives, including one in the final minute that led to their go-ahead field goal. The Bears got the ball back with a minute to go down 20-17.

Justin Fields and the offense managed to get to about the 50-yard line and had a few seconds left to run one final play. They weren't close enough to try a field goal so Fields heaved up a Hail Mary. It was, in many ways, a perfect Hail Mary. It went as high as it did far, it came down right in the middle of the end zone. Fields did everything a quarterback could do. All he could hope for was a weird bounce and sticky hands from his wideouts.

He got one of those things. The pass fell into the pile of bodies in the end zone and careened through the air directly to Darnell Mooney. But Mooney, somehow, dropped it. Bears lose. Game over.

Absolutely unreal. It is impossible to get a better opportunity to catch a Hail Mary pass and Mooney blew it.

This is a loss with ramifications, too. The Bears blowing this game probably cements Matt Eberflus' dismissal at the end of the year. If he's gone there's a chance Fields is, too. Which means the Bears might be quarterback hunting at the top of the draft board come April. All things that may have been different if Mooney didn't have stone hands.

A game of inches, as they say.