The Chicago Bears had two chances to tie their Week 3 game against the Indianapolis Colts in the final two minutes of the first half. But poor blocking and decision-making on the first attempt and bad luck on the second resulted in the Bears going into the locker room with a 7-0 deficit.

Those plays, along with a late fumble by Caleb Williams, may have been the deciding factor in Chicago’s 21-9 loss on Sunday.

The Bears got the ball back with 51 seconds left in the half after forcing Indianapolis to punt. After driving to the Colts’ 45-yard line, Chicago opted for a Hail Mary pass instead of attempting a 63-yard field goal.

With one second left, Williams threw the ball 56 yards into the end zone, but the ball ricocheted in the air off a scrum of receivers and defensive backs. DJ Moore caught the carom, but was on the 1-yard line and was tackled by Julian Blackmon as time expired.

The Bears had already squandered another opportunity just before that. On fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 1:41 remaining, D’Andre Swift was tackled for a loss of 12 yards as he tried to run left, found no room at the 8, and then slid back another five yards as he tried to evade tacklers.

Williams threw the first touchdown pass of his NFL career in the fourth quarter with a one-yard toss to Rome Odunze, cutting the Colts’ lead to 14-9. (The play was also Odunze’s first career touchdown, leading to rapid speculation about which rookie would get to keep the ball.)

There seemed to be some confusion as to whether to kick an extra point or a 2-point conversion. Santos was on the field with the kicking unit after the score, forcing head coach Matt Eberflus to call a timeout. The Bears then sent the offense out to try to get within one possession. However, Williams was rushed out of the pocket and missed a throw to Khalil Herbert.

Chicago got the ball back after forcing the Colts to punt. But on the first play of the drive from the Bears’ 18-yard line, Williams fumbled after being sacked by Laiatu Latu and Grover Stewart recovered.

The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft threw for 362 yards, easily the highest total of his early pro career. He had two touchdowns and two interceptions on 33 of 52 passing. Williams connected with Odunze for six receptions, 118 yards and a score, giving Bears fans a taste of the potential greatness this duo will create. Cole Kmet added 10 catches for 97 yards and a score.

After a 13-yard run by Richardson, Taylor scored from one yard out to make it 21-9. Richardson finished with 167 yards passing and two interceptions, completing 10 of 20 passes. Taylor scored two touchdowns while rushing for 110 yards on 23 carries. Pittman led Indianapolis with four receptions for 36 yards.

The Bears added a touchdown with 2:01 left in the game to cut Indianapolis’ lead to 21-16. Williams capped a 12-play, 70-yard drive with a six-yard TD pass to Kmet. Chicago opted to punt the ball back to the Colts, rather than attempt an onside kick.

Anthony Gould helped the Bears by kneeling on the kickoff for a touchback, rather than running out of the end zone and wasting some time on the clock. That became irrelevant, however, when Taylor ran 13 yards, got a first down and let the Colts run out the clock.

With the loss, Chicago drops to 1-2 for the season. Indianapolis gets its first win of the 2024 season to improve to 1-2.