LOOK: Bears' trick-play at goal line backfires in worst possible way in Commanders' wild walk-off victory

Safe say Chicago won't be trying this again

Late in their Week 8 game against the Washington Commanders, the Chicago Bears enacted a comedy of errors. With the game on the line and the team trailing 12-7, Chicago lined up in goal-line personnel, but with backup guard Doug Kramer at fullback. 

Sensing the parallels, NFL on CBS analyst Tony Romo brought up the famous Refrigerator Perry goal-line touchdown in Super Bowl XX. This play did not turn out quite as well as that one.

Yikes, folks!

With the game on the line; with their big-money free-agent running back running roughshod over the opposing defense (D'Andre Swift had 127 yards at the time, including a 56-yard touchdown run); and with their successful goal-line back (Roschon Johnson, who was 3 of 3 on goal-to-go yards from the 1-yard line coming into this game) on the field, the Bears chose to hand the ball to a backup offensive lineman. And it went about as well as you might expect handing the ball to a backup offensive lineman might go. 

It should be noted, this isn't really Kramer's fault. Sure, he and Caleb Williams botched the hand-off exchange. But he should never have been put in that position. The Fridge's goal-line touchdown came with the Bears up by more than 30 points! This situation was not remotely the same.

For a brief moment, it looked like the Bears might get bailed out by a few later developments. Jayden Daniels' third-and-5 run deep in Washington's territory on the ensuing drive came up a few chain links short of picking up a new set of downs. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn then elected to punt rather than try to gain a few inches on fourth. And on Chicago's last-ditch fourth-down attempt in the final seconds, Keenan Allen drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone. Two snaps later, Johnson punched it in from a yard out to give Chicago the lead. 

Alas, that was not the end of the game. Chicago kicked off to Washington with just 25 seconds left. Austin Ekeler took the ball out of the end zone on the return, running a precious six additional seconds off the clock. With only 19 seconds to go 24 yards, Daniels completed an 11-yard pass to Zach Ertz over the middle. Washington used its final timeout. Then, Daniels found Terry McLaurin for a 13-yard gain near the sideline with 2 seconds remaining. 

And then... magic.

And for the Bears, heartbreak.