Bears stumble late, drop perfect hail mary as Joe Flacco leads Browns to comeback win

The Chicago Bears should have beaten the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon.

Not only did they have three interceptions on the day, but Justin Fields seemed to throw the perfect hail mary as time expired at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Yet even though the ball landed in Darnell Mooney’s lap in the end zone — the ball couldn’t have been in a better position — he didn't make the catch. The Browns somehow survived and took the 20-17 win.

The Bears were up 17-7 entering the fourth quarter on Sunday afternoon, and had largely shut down Joe Flacco and the Browns. Fields hit tight end Cole Kmet for a 5-yard score in the first quarter to open the game, and then Tremaine Edmunds intercepted Flacco and ran it back 45 yards for a touchdown early in the second.

But it was the fourth quarter where Flacco and the Browns finally responded. After Dustin Hopkins hit a 33-yard field goal just minutes into the period, Flacco expertly snuck in a deep ball to Cooper between a pair of defenders. Cooper then made his way up the sidelines and in for the touchdown, which tied the game up with just more than three minutes left.

Then after forcing the Bears to punt three plays later, Flacco marched the Browns down the field again. He led an 8-play, 63-yard drive in less than 90 seconds to set up a 34-yard Hopkins field goal. That field goal, made possible largely from a huge 34-yard reception from David Njoku, put the Browns up by three and eventually gave them the win after the failed hail mary.

Flacco went 28-of-44 for 374 yards with two touchdowns to go with his three interceptions. Jerome Ford had 20 yards on eight carries, and both Cooper and Njoku finished with more than 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in the win.

Fields went 19-of-40 for 166 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, one of which was on the final play of the game, in the loss for Chicago. Roschon Johnson had 36 yards on five carries, and D.J. Moore had 52 yards on four catches. Mooney had 14 yards on two catches, but was targeted eight times. The Bears are now just 5-9 on the season.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.