'Ridiculous play, terrible': Chicago Bears player faces disciplinary action for 'lack of focus' on Hail Mary play

In the age of professional sport, it's difficult to see how this could happen.

Jayden Daniels' Hail Mary touchdown pass to Noah Brown that gave the Washington Commanders an 18-15 victory over the Chicago Bears on Monday AEDT was one of the most memorable finishes to an NFL game in recent history.

Images of the Commanders and Daniels celebrating will forever be immortalised yet off the ball vision of Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson in the seconds leading up to the play will too, but for all the wrong reasons.

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Video posted on social media showed Stevenson pointing toward the stands and raising his arms in the air with his back to the play when the ball was live. He was seen waving his arms into the air for 4 seconds as the play unravelled.

He was late to get to get back into position and missed the chance to prevent the ball being deflected to Brown to make the winning score.

Stevenson posted an apology later on social media, saying: "To Chicago and teammates my apologies for lack of awareness and focus …. The game ain't over until zeros hit the clock. Can't take anything for granted. Notes taken, improvement will happen."

The Bears, who were coming off their bye, had their winning streak ended at three.

"It comes down to that last play and we've practiced that play a hundred times since we've been here," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. "I'll have to look at what the execution was on that, but we have a body on a body, boxing guys out like basketball at the very end.

"We have one guy at the rim that knocks the ball down. We've got a tip guy that goes behind the pile. I've got to look at it and detail it out and make sure we're better next time."

Teammate and Bears wide receiver DJ Moore told a radio station in Chicago that he did not see Stevenson taunting rival fans during the play, but he did see video clips circulating on X after the game.

"A few of the captains were talking about how we need to really address that," Moore said. "I think he put something out about how he was sorry, but we've still got to address it as a leadership group and in front of the team."

Moore said any discipline for Stevenson is "not up for us to do" as captains, but "upstairs is going to have to do what they were going to do."

The Bears had just snatched the lead with 25 seconds left and the team was celebrating on the sidelines like the game was over.

"When you lose a game like that, that's a tough one to swallow," Eberflus said. "Was excited how they battled back to have a chance to win that game. It's important to look at that, too."

Legendary coach Bill Belichick didn't hold back, didn't hold back in his criticism of Stevenson, calling it "a ridiculous play…terrible."

Stevenson made seven tackles and had one defended pass earlier in the game. He struggled in coverage as Chicago allowed Jayden Daniels to throw for 326 yards.