The Hail Mary. It evokes the last gasp of desperation, appealing to a higher power for intervention. In football, we all know it means a last-ditch effort from an offense heaving the ball as deep as possible and just hoping the same color jersey comes down with the ball.
These don’t happen often, and a successful version of the play is even more rare. According to an ESPN study, they have about an eight percent success rate in the NFL, or 1 in 12 Hail Marys result in a score. (If you subtract Aaron Rodgers involved Hail Marys it drops to 6.7 percent)
But when a defender subtracts himself from the play, the odds invariably go up. That is what happened on Sunday in the Chicago Bear tilt against the Washington Commanders. Defensive rules around this play are not complicated, every potential pass catcher is covered by a defender. But where was Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson when time expired and Jayden Daniels launched the ball toward the end zone? taunting the opposing fans, about 80 feet from where the play was about to take place.
Simply put, Stevenson was out of position and had to sprint to attempt to make a play. An easy mistake to make when you aren’t paying attention. Had he been in position from the beginning of the play, he may have seen that Commander’s receiver, Noah Brown was wide open in the end zone, in a perfect position to snag a fortuitous ricocheted ball. But he wasn’t and in his haste, he played the ball, not the man. And was the player who tipped the ball to Brown.
Stevenson Got What Was Coming On Hail Mary Fail
Los Angeles Rams team captain and fellow defensive back Quentin Lake took to social media to evoke a different spiritual intervention. He chalked the play up to Karma. Karma, by definition (in Hinduism and Buddhism) is the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. In this case, according to Lake, Stevenson’s fate was sealed by taunting the Commander’s fans, and in this instance, Karma’s response was quick and punishing.
