Bears complete incredible Hail Mary ... but come up just short vs. Patriots

CHICAGO — With Soldier Field game clocks showing 7 minutes remaining, the New England Patriots up two touchdowns, and the ball in Tom Brady’s hands, Sunday’s win over the Chicago Bears was a foregone conclusion. Or so it seemed.

And then it wasn’t.

With 0:02 on those same clocks and the score slashed to 38-31, Mitchell Trubisky evaded pressure and let fly. Kevin White soared. And an improbable Hail Mary to complete an improbable comeback …

… came up just short.

Kevin White recounts the Hail Mary

“For a split second,” White said postgame, he thought he could get in. Until he felt Patriots defenders piling on his back. “Then I kind of knew it was over.”

“I tried to stretch the ball,” White continued, reliving the agonizing seconds in which the Bears were so close, as they have been in all three of their losses this season. White said he tried to hand the ball to fellow wide receiver Taylor Gabriel, mere feet away at the goal line. But alas, “there was just nowhere I could go.”

“If I had Kyle Long or one of the linemen to push me in,” White lamented, half-joking, “it could have been different.”

Trubisky thought White was in

That Trubisky even got the ball to the goal line was remarkable. His dropback shaded right. But he felt pressure, and had to roll to his non-dominant left, twist his hips, and put everything he had into the throw despite having Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy in his face.

Trubisky admitted postgame that he “just chucked one deep. I saw a group of our receivers down there. Kevin made a heck of a catch. … And it was a lot closer than I’m sure a lot of people saw it.”

Considering his field-level vantage point, Trubisky said, “I thought he was in.”

The Bears are a frustrating 3-3

The play, in a way, was a microcosm of the Bears season. Revitalized by a preseason trade for Khalil Mack, they are somewhere between inches and yards, seconds and milliseconds, away from being 6-0.

But they capitulated at Lambeau in Week 1, and coughed up a win in Miami seven days ago. On Sunday, two interceptions and two Patriots special teams touchdowns – a blocked punt and a kickoff return – were costly.

The Hail Mary will be the highlight rolling throughout the evening into Monday. But as Trubisky said postgame, “It’s never one play. There’s a culmination of plays throughout the game that made the difference.”

As White said of the 60 minutes as a whole: “Those are the ones that we gotta have. Even before that play, we definitely should have won that game.”

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Henry Bushnell is a features writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Question? Comment? Email him at henrydbushnell@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter @HenryBushnell, and on Facebook.

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