Daniel takes the blame for late-game mishap

LONDON — With the game on the line, time running out and the Bears closing in on a tying field goal or a winning touchdown, Chase Daniel saw one thing. Anthony Miller apparently saw another. And as soon as the ball left Daniel’s hand, it was all but over.

On second-and-10 from the Raiders’ 47-yard line with 82 seconds remaining, Daniel’s pass never had a chance — sailing helplessly and hopelessly downfield to the waiting arms of Raiders cornerback Gareon Conley at the Raiders’ 26. The dreaded miscommunication between a backup quarterback and a second-year receiver was the latest symptom of a disappointing offense. Stuff happens.

“Yeah, that’s one we want back,” Daniel said. “That’s one of our staple plays. We made a check, and in the end, they made a better play.”

What went wrong?

“The whole game they were pretty tight on our outside receivers,” Daniel said. “I’m not even sure who intercepted, but the corner who I thought was supposed to have Javon Wims really fell off. I saw the nickel falling off. Anthony took it a little lower than I wanted, but that’s completely on me.

“There’s no excuses for it. You’re 16, 17 yards away with a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime, and I like our chances the way we were playing. It’s unfortunate.”

Indeed it is. Daniel, making his first start in place of Mitch Trubisky, did the best he could and it just wasn’t good enough. No matter how well he knows coach Matt Nagy’s offense, he needs the wind at his back to make this work, and he didn’t have it Sunday in the Bears’ 24-21 loss to the Raiders at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

With virtually no running game (42 yards on 17 carries) and a shaky offensive line (four sacks, three penalties on Pro Bowl left tackle Charles Leno), the Bears forced Daniel to take his game to another level, and it didn’t happen.

He completed 22 of 30 passes for 231 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for an 89.7 passer rating. The touchdown passes helped the Bears turn a 17-0 deficit into a 21-17 lead in the fourth quarter. But the two interceptions proved costly. He played like a quality backup — good enough to give you a chance to win, but hit-and-miss when it comes to putting you over the top. This was a miss.

“I’m the hardest guy on myself. I didn’t play well enough,” Daniel said. “[Being a] backup, regardless, the London trip — it doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t. I expect more of myself.”

The unexpected struggle of the Bears’ defense didn’t help. With the Raiders gaining 208 yards on 37 plays in the first half, the Raiders dominated time of possession 19:53-10:07.

The Bears gained 44 yards on 16 carries. Daniel was intercepted by linebacker Nicholas Morrow, whose 11-yard return to the Bears’ 24 set up a Raiders touchdown that put the Bears in a 14-0 hole.

“We didn’t get a lot of chances in the first half and when we did [have possession] we turned the ball over. I took a sack. We couldn’t stay on the field,” Daniel lamented. “We weren’t very good. It just felt like no rhythm in the first half.”

With help from great catches by Anthony Miller and Allen Robinson, Daniel found a groove and helped spark the comeback. Daniel threw two touchdown passes to Robinson — four yards and 16 yards — to give the Bears a 21-17 lead with 1:16 left in the third quarter.

But when the defense and special teams put the onus on the offense, the Bears couldn’t get the job done.

“When Coach puts the ball in my hand, I expect to win a game,” Daniel said, “and we didn’t do that today.”