While the entire Chicago Bears fanbase looked on, mouth agape, during the final moments of Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals, there was still one person who was rooting harder than anybody else.

Bears defensive lineman/linebacker Daniel Hardy was holding his breath on the sideline, praying his team would find a way to pull off the win.

It was Hardy who inadvertently gave the Bengals the ball back with 1:43 left in the game on an onside kick.

Hardy is in his second year with the Bears and typically sees most of his time on the field as part of the special teams unit. He was tasked with helping the Bears recover the onside kick as the Bengals were throwing — or, rather, kicking — a prayer with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

If the Bears recovered, they would have been able to ice the game and head home winners by a 41-35 score.

Instead, the ball bounced off Hardy’s foot while he was engaged in a block and the Bengals recovered.

The ball has to travel 10 yards on an onside kick attempt, but it can be recovered by the kicking team if it touches a member of the receiving team before it travels 10 yards. So since it hit Hardy’s foot, the Bengals got the ball back and marched down the field to score a go-ahead touchdown.

Last season, only three of 50 onside attempts (6%) were recovered by the kicking team, according to CBS Sports.

Bears head coach Ben Johnson was asked about the play after the game and told the media he couldn’t see it since he was on the opposite side of the field.

“The guys upstairs said it hit Hardy’s foot, so we’ll see what we can do better next time,” Johnson said.

Hardy said he was on the sidelines, wracking his brain about how the mistake happened:

“Really just replaying it in my head, trying to figure out what I did wrong,” he said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune’s Sean Hammond. “Just sitting there hoping for a miracle.”

Well, the Bears pulled off a miracle — though it wasn’t exactly how Hardy or anybody else drew it up.

After Joe Flacco’s touchdown pass, the Bears trailed 42-41 and received the ball with less than a minute remaining.

But Caleb Williams marched the offense down the field and connected with rookie tight end Colston Loveland for a 58-yard game-winning touchdown.