Chiefs coach Haley’s seen Hail here before

Kansas City head coach Todd Haley had seen Dexter McCluster’s improbable touchdown catch before.

Ten years ago.

Same end zone.

Same corner.

Same eventual result — a win for the team for which he was a coach.

Different heroes.

“I alway talk about it. I keep that play on tape. Really that whole situation,” Haley said Sunday after his visiting Chiefs stunned the Bears 10-3 at Soldier Field. “I always say, ‘If you ever think that a game’s over, you would say this game is over.’”

“This game” was Nov. 4, 2001. Bears fans might know it as, “Mike Brown, “The Sequel.”

Down 21-7 to Cleveland, the Bears, with Haley their wide receivers coach, got a 9-yard touchdown pass from Shane Matthews to Marty Booker with 28 seconds left.

Bobbie Howard recovered the onside kick and, three plays later, from the Browns 34, Matthews flung a Hail Mary pass into end zone. Bears wide receiver David Terrell jumped for the ball, which was batted and caromed to James Allen, who made a diving catch in the end zone.

In overtime, Mike Brown picked off a Tim Couch pass and returned the interception 16 yards for a touchdown — Brown’s second OT, game-winning interception return in as many weeks — and the Bears won 27-21.

Fast-forward to Sunday.

Trailing 3-0, the Chiefs went ahead when quarterback Tyler Palko, on third-and-10 from the Bears 38 with two seconds left in the first half, winged a pass into the north end zone.

Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher and free safety Chris Conte both batted the ball, which fell right into the soft hands of McCluster, the 5-foot-8 running back, who dived for the ball with safety Craig Steltz draped over his back.

“It was just amazing that Dexter caught it in almost the same spot (as James Allen),” Haley said. “Great play by everybody involved — Tyler buying some time in order to get the ball where he had to, and then Dexter being in the right spot.”

“It was a great play by Dex, good concentration by him,” said former Bears running back Thomas Jones, who was held to 36 rushing yards on 16 carries. “We needed that spark, too.”

There’s a reason why the play is called a Hail Mary. Praying for a miracle TD catch in the end zone, where defenders are outnumbering receivers, is usually the offense’s best option.

“You know, it’s the same thing we always do: bat it down,” Urlacher said. “The guy just happened to catch that one. We’ve done it a hundred times and it’s the first time anyone has caught one.”

Like the James Allen play 10 years earlier, the McCluster catch was a difference-maker.

It was the game’s only touchdown and capped a 16-play, 87-yard drive.

“It was a good play,” Urlacher said. “The guy was there. We knocked it down. Chris and I, we both hit it. I don’t know if it went straight down or it went backwards. I guess I should have caught it or tried to, but it’s just not what we do. I’ve never done that. So I just try to knock it down.”

“Yeah, you’re supposed to knock the ball down, that’s what you’re supposed to do,” Conte said. “That’s all I can say.”

All McCluster could say was, “Thank you.”

“To be honest, once I saw how he was going to hit the ball down, I knew it was coming right to me,” McCluster said. “So I just prepared myself for it. It fell right in my lap.”

Bears head coach Lovie Smith said it’s the defender’s decision on a Hail Mary pass whether to try to intercept the ball or bat it down.

“As a general rule, knock the ball down,” Smith said. “If you feel like you can make a clean catch, you can do that.”

McCluster was just trailing the play, doing his job.

“I’m the guy that’s looking for any tipped balls,” he said. “I have to catch it. It worked out perfectly.”