CLEVELAND — You ever have those moments where you feel like your life flashes before your eyes?
"I blacked out," Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said after it was all over.
Members of Stefanski's staff as well as virtually all of Cleveland's players were in agreement.
"I damn near s--- myself, dawg," tight end David Njoku admitted.
What Njoku was colorfully referring two was the final play of the Browns' 20-17 win Sunday over Chicago, a play that nearly reversed the script and made the final 23-20 in favor of the Bears.
It had already been a strange afternoon at Cleveland Browns Stadium, with the Browns shooting themselves in the foot multiple times before somehow overcoming a 10-point deficit to take a three-point lead with just 32 seconds left. It looked as if Cleveland had it's ninth win of the season in hand, but for this team, nothing in 2023 has come easy.
The Bears got across the 50-yard line on a 30-yard catch-and-run by Tyler Scott, but were unable to crack field-goal range, meaning quarterback Justin Fields would have to attempt a Hail Mary pass with five seconds to go. Defensive end Myles Garrett, who was trying to rush the passer, had a good view of what happened next.
"Too good of a view," he later laughed.
As Fields lofted the ball towards the end zone and time ran out, receivers and defenders all jockeyed for position. The throw was tipped by Cleveland's Ronnie Hickman and Sione Takitaki, only to land right in the lap of Chicago's Darnell Mooney.
Disaster?
"I was like, 'Please Lord, don't let us be on one of these YouTube compilations,'" Garrett said.
"Kind of lost my breath for a second, you know?" kicker Dustin Hopkins added.
Fortunately for the Browns, there would be no humiliating YouTube compilation, as the ball squirted away from Mooney and deflected back up into the air, right into the waiting arms of safety D'Anthony Bell.
Game over. Browns win. Oh happy day.
"I was like, 'I have to dive on him. I cannot let that happen,' Bell told reporters of getting himself in the right position to make the interception. "And it ended up popping into my hands."
To Bell, making the game-sealing play "means the world" to him. It meant a lot to his teammates, too, especially those who could only watch with their hearts in their throats.
"It was so cluttered up that you couldn't really see, and the crowd didn't really respond," wide receiver Amari Cooper said. "Man, that would've been crazy."
"Believe me, I was over there and guys want to come up and congratulate you and things like that, and I'm just sitting there just waiting for that clock to hit zero," quarterback Joe Flacco stated.
It was just one "crazy" play in a game full of them, but more importantly, it kept Cleveland in prime position among AFC playoff contenders. The Browns as a team have been no stranger to close contests this season, but Stefanski has faith in his players to keep fighting through adversity.
"There are going to be times that you've just got to trust your guys," Stefanski noted. "That locker room, I trust that locker room, because they work their butts off and then they fight like crazy."
Bell, who played in place of the injured Grant Delpit, agrees.
"I trust the guys and the preparation that we go through as a team," he said. "I trust everyone like they trusted me to be out there today. It was a blessing to come out with a win."