In a game the Bears had nothing to gain, they had nothing to lose at the end, but they did.

A Hail Mary pass from Jayden Daniels was deflected off a group of receivers and Bears defensive backs at the 3-yard line, backward into the waiting arms of wide receiver Noah Brown in the end zone for the game-ending touchdown as the Washington Commanders retreated a 18-15 win over Chicago.

“When you lose a game like that, it’s hard to swallow when you come back,” Bears coach Matt Eberflus said. “I also told them in the same conversation that I was very excited about the way they fought back. You know, they fought back to win that game.

“So it is important to look at that too.”

It seemed much less important after what happened.

The Bears’ offense remained dormant throughout the game until it came alive on a 54-yard D’Andre Swift touchdown run in the third quarter. Then they came back from a goal-line disaster to score the go-ahead points on a 1-yard Roschon Johnson TD with 28 seconds left.

“Our guys believe in each other, trust each other to teach each other, have confidence in each other,” Eberflus said. “They are a resilient bunch. They will come back with determination.”

They even played the kickoff well, holding the Commanders back at their own 24 with 19 seconds left and only one timeout. But a Daniels pass of 11 yards to Zach Ertz and a quick timeout, followed by an out to Terry McLaurin on the sideline for 13 yards to the 48 with two seconds left, set up the Hail Mary.

Daniels then scrambled around for 12 seconds and threw it towards the crowd in front of the goal line, just as such plays are normally designed. And the Bears played it like straw men, with all the defensive backs running to the ball with a pair of wide receivers, leaving one man exposed alone in the end zone. It was Brown who caught the deflection for the TD when no one was around.

“There was no execution,” Eberflus said. “We have a body on a body, and box guys out there at the very end like basketball. We have one guy who is the edge, their job is to knock the ball down. We have a back tip guy who is behind the pile is standing.

“So again, I’ve got to look at it and work it out and make sure we’re better next time. That’s a tough way to lose.”

It sparked a big celebration from Washington (6-2), a minute after the Bears (4-3) celebrated their own improbable comeback.

Williams had just 36 yards passing until late in the third quarter. The running game had gone nowhere until Swift’s breakaway around the left side, behind a block by rookie left tackle Kiran Amegadjie, who was playing for the injured Braxton Jones. But the start came too late to yield enough points.

“I would say pretty much the same thing I said before: We have to be better in the first quarter,” Williams said. “That starts with me coming out quickly, that starts with us coming out quickly.”

Williams finished 10 of 24 for 131 yards and ran for 41 yards to complement Swift’s rushing day of 129 yards.

The Bears finally got it going and drove 83 yards midway through the fourth quarter, reaching the 1-yard line on a pass from Williams to DeAndre Carter.

But on third-and-goal from the 1, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron did the unthinkable and had a William Perry-style fullback dive attempted by center Doug Kramer. The ball popped right out of Kramer’s hands as soon as it was put there, and Washington’s Johnny Newton recovered on his 3-yard line after a mad scramble.

Ironically, it was a former Illinois player looking for another player, but no one ever thought it was possible.

“Again, I have to look at the transfer,” Eberflus said. “That was one of our 1-yard plays in our goal-line package. We have to look at the mechanics of that.”

The Bears’ defense had given up just four field goals to Austin Seibert from 27, 30, 28 and 47 yards while their own offense struggled, and they forced a punt on a three-and-out after the goal-line disaster.

“The defense’s response to that was excellent,” Eberflus said. “Go three-and-out, force a punt.”

Williams then completed a 62-yard drive to Johnson’s 1-yard TD run, the key being a pass interference on a fourth-and-3 incompletion to Keenan Allen at the goal line to set up the score. Cole Kmet’s shovel pass catch for the PAT made it a three-point lead.

The fumble on the goal line during the questionable play call was reminiscent of the Indianapolis game when Waldron said he learned his lesson with a fourth-and-goal option pitch outside the 1, resulting in a loss back to the 12 .

“Again, I have to look at the transfer,” Eberflus said. “That was one of our 1-yard plays in our goal-line package. We have to look at the mechanics of that.”

Williams could point the finger at himself for another missed opportunity. He held the ball too long and took a sack that put the Bears out of field goal range in the first half.

“I have to get the ball out of my hand,” Williams said. “We get those three points, get some momentum, get some points on the board, it would definitely help us in the long run, and definitely help me in the long run.

The Bears gave up 21 of 38 passes for 326 yards to Daniels and 168 yards rushing to Washington, but ultimately did well enough to maintain the NFL lead in completion percentage to win the game – all but one play.

“They had those plays at the end and it comes down to that last play and we’ve practiced that play a hundred times since we’ve been here,” Eberflus said.

It wasn’t enough to think about what had happened.

“Deflated,” cornerback Josh Blackwell told reporters. ‘It’s not possible that that just happened.

“You live and you learn and move on to the next one.”

Twitter: BearsOnSI