Cardinals' 'Hail Emari' leaves Bears defense reeling

GLENDALE, Ariz. — One fluke play doesn’t define a defense. But two might.

A week after the Bears were burned by a Hail Mary touchdown pass that happens maybe once in a decade, their defense inexplicably allowed the running version of that soul-crushing play in a 29-9 loss to the Cardinals at State Farm Stadium.

On a third-and-five with 12 seconds left in the first half — with both teams seemingly eager to get to halftime — the Cardinals took a free roll with seldom-used running back Emari Demercado, and hit the jackpot.

With Bears cornerback Josh Blackwell blitzing from the left side, Demercado made a quick cut upfield into open space and turned on jets that the Bears’ defense didn’t seem to realize he had. The 5-9, 215-pound Demercado accelerated past Bears defenders into the end zone for a stunning 53-yard touchdown with four seconds left in the half that gave the Cardinals a 21-9 lead.

Though it happened at the end of the first half instead of the final play, the Demercado touchdown had the same affect as the Commanders’ Hail Mary. The game was over.

And while there were all sorts of nuances and facets to the Hail Mary debacle, Bears players had no answers for this one.

“I don’t know,” safety Kevin Byard said. “I mean, they made a play … there’s really nothing else to say about it. They called a run play. The guy took off and scored a touchdown. I don’t really know how else to explain it.”

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who was still feeling the pain of Hail Mary play long after it was over last week, and pinpointed the major error — not covering wide receiver Noah Brown — had nothing this time.

“I don’t know,” Johnson said. “We just didn’t have a good play. Just got to figure out a way to get him down.”

Demercado, an undrafted free agent from TCU in 2023, came into the game with 13 carries for 116 yards and no touchdowns this season. The Bears were helpless to stop him, or explain what went wrong.

“I saw the guy running. He scored a touchdown,” Byard said when asked what happened. “I’m trying to cover my deep half of the field and [I] see the guy running full speed. I tried to … stay back and see if I could force him either way. I don’t know what his 40 time was [4.43], but he was rolling and then as I tried to come off the block, a guy kind of grabbed my arm or whatever, so … that play, we can’t give it up”

It won’t quite live forever like the Hail Mary is destined to, but Demercado’s unlikely touchdown run was the play that epitomized a surprisingly tough day for the Bears’ defense.

The Bears were without three injured starters — defensive end Montez Sweat, cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker. But the breakdown against the Cardinals was unexpected.

The Bears’ defense had not allowed more than 21 points in its last 13 games. The Cardinals scored 21 in the first half alone. Without Sweat, the Bears’ sometimes shaky rushing defense disintegrated. The Cardinals had 34 carries for 231 yards (6.3 average) and three touchdowns.

“Give them credit,” Byard said. “Obviously we didn’t play well, and they whooped us today. We didn’t play well on either side of the ball and we have to figure out a way to get a win on the road.”

It’s a critical time for the Bears, not just because their offense is spinning its wheels, but the defense that had been a dependable foundation, is showing its own cracks.

“It wasn’t good enough, from top to bottom. We know that,” Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards said. “That’s not us. We’ve got to find a way to win, because that wasn’t good enough from anyone. No one’s pointing fingers or anything like that. We’ve got to get back to work.”