Bears’ Darnell Mooney on circus catch: ‘We needed a spark’

Abbie Parr/AP

MINNEAPOLIS — Before the Bears took the field down 21-3 with 1:54 left in the first half Sunday, receiver Darnell Mooney pulled quarterback Justin Fields aside.

“I was telling Justin, ‘Hey, if you gotta use your feet to give us a spark or something like that, use it,’” Mooney said. “‘We need something. We have to get seven on this drive before we come out at halftime.’”

Turns out, Mooney was the spark. On the first play of the drive, from midfield, Fields launched a pass down the left sideline that Mooney caught in spectacular fashion. With Vikings cornerback Chandon Sullivan all over him, Mooney turned his back to the end zone, jumped, and reached up with his right hand. He grabbed the ball and pulled it into his body, falling to the ground for a 39-yard gain.

“We needed a spark,” Mooney, who had two catches for 52 yards, said after the 29-22 loss at U.S. Bank Stadium “It was pretty dry out there.”

The Bears scored a touchdown three plays later, the first of 19 unanswered points.

“I feel like, if It’s my vicinity, whether it’s two-handed or one-handed, I gotta catch the ball,” Mooney said.