Stevenson spoke side by side with the lovers as the general games began with the Commanders’ 48-yard drive. The cornerback had his back extended toward the game for more than four seconds as he yelled at fans in the stands before running toward where Bears and Commanders players were gathered at the entrance to the end zone.
Bears coach Matt Eberflus showed that Stevenson was destined to slot Commanders big receiver Noah Brown, who was left unprotected behind seven players. Defenseman Kevin Byard III was later targeted to hit the ball unintentionally.
Instead, the cornerback stepped forward from the scrum and lost into Brown’s arms to decide the game.
“Honestly, I don’t think I should share the intimate side of myself that I shared with the guys because I know I let them down and those guys hold me to a higher standard, like everyone else in this building,” Stevenson. mentioned. “But the short message is that I apologize to the guys for letting them down. I let the moment get too big and it’s something that can never and won’t happen again.”
The CBS broadcast did not show Stevenson’s attitude interacting with the lovers (he mentioned that he used to be “cheering them up”, no longer mocking them) before arriving late for the games. Videos taken by fans and posted on social media showing how delayed events unfolded in the fourth quarter sparked intense complaints directed at the cornerback, who tweeted an apology closer to the game.
“Honestly, I can’t worry about it,” Stevenson said. “My focus is on this building and how the people in this building feel. I understand that there is anger. I understand that someone is upset. I understand the things that happen outside the building that could possibly affect how someone feels and all that. But To be honest, I’m going to worry about the opinion of the building and whether these guys have my back, and that’s how I’m going to move forward.”
Stevenson also suffered a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct call in the fourth quarter for talking to Commanders players.
“I would say my only regret about yesterday is just letting this team work hard and come back and put us in the W column,” Stevenson mentioned. “You know, just to be out of character and, you know, do something that’s out of character for me and cost us the loss.”
Eberflus said Stevenson’s address to the team confirmed “responsibility and accountability” but declined to mention whether the cornerback would face any additional repercussions decided by the team.
“We’ll see,” Eberflus said. “Those things will always be internal as we work with our players as we move forward. It’s really about development and making everyone better. We’ll get to that answer as the week goes on.”
Tight end Cole Kmet, who is one of the Bears’ eight captains, said players preferred that Stevenson opt to get up in front of the team of his own volition and highlighted lessons the cornerback could learn from how games unfold.
“That’s the unfortunate [part]”And I would also say that the beauty of this game is that if you disrespect it in a certain way, it will come to torment you in some way,” Kmet mentioned. “So I think it’s a learning experience for everyone. We all play with a lot of passion. Tyrique plays with a lot of passion and we all love him for that. But there’s definitely a level of respect for the game and knowing that you have to finish it until those double zeros hit the clock.
Even though the way Chicago defended Washington’s Rainfall Mary ultimately decided the game, the lead-up put Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, who was dealing with a rib shock, in his place for Complete the route that covered 52.9 short yards.
Speaking closer to the game, Eberflus said the games in which Daniels teamed up with Terry McLaurin for a 13-yard catch on a fast field “don’t really matter.”
“You’re defending a touchdown there, and they throw a ball for 13 or 10 yards, whatever it is, it doesn’t really matter,” Eberflus mentioned Sunday night. “It’s always going to come down to that last play, and it came down to two seconds of the last play, and we have to execute that play.”
The Bears educator was doubly upset in his resolution on Monday.
“In that particular situation, you always know what they’re going to do: With six seconds left at the 35-yard line, they’re going to go to the end zone there or they’re just going to try to get more yards and do it,” Eberflus. mentioned. “So if you want to play defense on the wing, what they’re going to do is turn the Hail Mary there and just pick everyone off the sideline. Then you’ve got to pick them up from the sideline and do the same job you’re going to do. do in the Hail Mary. For me, we wanted to raise them to not give them something that was too far out in the field, which was the 48, and then we prepared for the Hail Mary at the end.”
Not everyone felt the same about how Chicago defended the game’s penultimate stretches. Byard, an 11-year veteran, said he had a conversation with Eberflus about the team’s strategy.
“He has his feelings about it,” Byard said. “I think there are a lot of different ways you can defend those plays. I personally think in that scenario possibly the corners could have been pressed there because they just ran two cuts, and the play was called just to get a couple of yards. more to throw it downfield. If you had the guys pressed, maybe they’ll convert to vertical and really run the Hail Mary. [then]but even if they do that, our corners run with those guys (I’m not saying he doesn’t have the arm strength), but you think the ball maybe lands 10 yards shorter and it might be a little different. I’m not saying that, we don’t know, we’re always looking back, I could have done it. But in the end things happened the way they did. Could we have sent pressure? Maybe. But he made the call and that’s what it was.”
