By now, everybody has seen the infamous video from Sunday that shows cornerback Tyrique Stevenson yapping at Washington Commanders fans as the final play got underway. By the time he turned around, he’d lost track of the guy he was supposed to cover, who consequently slipped into the back of the end zone and caught the game-winning Hail Mary pass after it was tipped (by Stevenson, no less). It was such an unfathomable blunder that the cornerback had to apologize on Twitter after the game.
But wait, it gets so much worse. All-22 footage was released the following morning. A zoomed-out view showed that Stevenson didn’t just start jawing at the fans once he got to his landmark. He was doing it from the moment the Chicago Bears broke their defensive huddle. It was clear he’d been waiting for the chance. Not only that, but it was a full five seconds after the ball was snapped before Stevenson turned around and remembered there was another play to defend.
Tyrique Stevenson deserves all the heat coming his way.
This isn’t a situation where a young player simply made a mistimed jump and was unlucky on a bounce. Tyrique Stevenson willfully ignored that there was one more play in which Washington had a clear shot at still winning the game. He was too focused on scoreboard-pointing to inconsequential people, and it cost his team the game. This wasn’t the only reason the Bears lost. A poor offensive effort had them in that situation, to begin with. Doug Kramer and Shane Waldron shouldn’t escape blame for that awful fumble at the goal line. Still, at least both of them were actually paying attention when the play unfolded. Stevenson couldn’t even be bothered with that much.
