Raiders try in vain to beat Bears with nine-lateral return at game's end

The Chicago Bears needed to sweat out every second of their win against the Oakland Raiders, including a play in which two Raiders offensive linemen had their paws on the ball.

Robbie Gould hit a 49-yard field goal to give the Bears a 22-20 lead over the Raiders with two seconds remaining, and the ensuing kickoff was no afterthought.

The Raiders brought it back and ... hijinks ensued (see video above).

We count nine players touching the ball on the Lateralpalooza, not including repeat touchers. The ball might have traveled a few hundred yards in those two official seconds (which lasted about 30 real-time seconds) before Raiders guard Gabe Jackson failed to come up with the final hoorah.

Sadly, it never would have counted even if Jackson or some other Raider had come up with it. Roy Helu was flagged for an illegal forward pass on the return. That's what he gets for trying to throw it to Tony Bergstrom, a reserve offensive lineman, to save the day.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm