Inside the Commanders’ wild Hail Mary to stun the Bears

LANDOVER, Md. — Huddled in the Washington Commanders‘ raucous locker room, two half-dressed offensive linemen stared at center Tyler Biadasz‘s phone in amazement. They had just witnessed the Hail Mary live, and they wanted to relive it immediately after.

They pointed to the screen, expressed disbelief at what they saw — and then played it again. It won’t be the last time they rewatch Jayden Daniels‘ 52-yard completion to Noah Brown in the Commanders’ 18-15 win over the Chicago Bears.

“I’m going to watch this a couple dozen times,” guard Nick Allegretti said.

Though the final play was the most exhilarating, the fourth quarter featured several wild turns, beginning with an ill-fated attempt by the Bears to let a backup offensive lineman score their go-ahead touchdown.

Here’s how the players and coaches in both locker rooms remembered the key moments of one of the most exciting finishes of the season.

The Bears had a third-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 6:21 left in the fourth quarter and Washington leading 12-7. Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron sent in the heavy package with backup center Doug Kramer lining up in the backfield. It had been an effective formation earlier in the season with Kramer as a lead blocker, but this was the first time he took a handoff. Kramer never had control and defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton recovered the loose ball.

At that point, the Commanders had a 75.3% chance of winning, according to ESPN Analytics.

Kramer (via Marquee Sports Network): I appreciate Shane for having the trust in me to call it. I made a mistake, dropped the ball on the 1-yard line.

play

Jer’Zhan Newton recovers the fumble at the 3-yard line for Commanders

Jer’Zhan Newton is hyped after recovering a Bears fumble at the Commanders’ 3-yard line.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus: No [thought of vetoing the play]. We’ve worked it, worked the mechanics of it, the handoff to him, and we’ve just got to do it better. It’s just wedge blocking, and you’re on the 1-yard line. You’ve got a big guy getting the ball. We’ve practiced it a lot.

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams: Comfort level, 100%. It just didn’t go that way, and we just have to execute. … Definitely went over there and made sure Doug was all right. We still had time on the clock. … Definitely encouraging Doug. He played well when he came in, and I know that mistake is bothering him, but I’m proud of the guys.

Washington linebacker Bobby Wagner: That was a great play. That’s a big play. It put us in a position to do this.

As it had throughout most of the game, the Bears’ defense held after the turnover, forcing a three-and-out. The Bears regained possession at their own 32 with 4:21 remaining. Williams marched the Bears to the Washington 12, and on fourth-and-3, he attempted a pass to Keenan Allen in the end zone. A pass interference penalty on Benjamin St-Juste kept the Bears alive, and two plays later, Roschon Johnson rumbled in for a touchdown with 23 seconds left. Williams hit tight end Cole Kmet for the two-point conversion and a 15-12 lead.

At that point, the Bears had a 97.9% chance of winning, according to ESPN Analytics.

Eberflus: The defense’s response to [the turnover] was excellent. Go three-and-out, force a punt.

We get it back to midfield and then our offense converts a couple times on third down, get ’em down there.

Washington linebacker Frankie Luvu: I was on the sideline just walking down telling guys, ‘Head up, man. It’s not over yet.’

The Commanders took over at their own 24 with 19 seconds left. Daniels hit tight end Zach Ertz with an 11-yard pass over the middle to set up first-and-10 at the 35, and Washington called a timeout with six seconds left. Terry McLaurin caught a 13-yard pass and was able to get out of bounds in time for one last play from the Washington 48.

McLaurin: We just wanted to give ourselves a chance to put it in a position for Jayden to throw the ball down there, and he has an unbelievable arm.

On the final play, Daniels held onto the ball for 12.79 seconds and scrambled 40.7 yards before the pass, the most yards traveled by any player before throwing a TD pass over the past five seasons. It’s the first TD pass with a time to throw over 10 seconds in the NFL Next Gen Stats era (since 2016). From the time the ball was snapped until Brown caught it, 17 seconds elapsed.

The Commanders had a 1.4% win probability when the ball was snapped.

Daniels: They did a good job blocking, kind of extending, running around to give me enough time to throw the ball.

Allegretti: You’re just trying to hit somebody in a different color jersey. Give Jayden a shot to rip the ball.

Bears defensive end DeMarcus Walker: Obviously, we were trying to get him down. I mean, hats off to Jayden. Incredible legs.

Brown: He did a phenomenal job keeping the play alive and getting the best ball possible.

Washington right guard Sam Cosmi: Defenders rolled to the right, chasing him, stopped. We pushed them by Jayden, rolled back his left. Nick made a great block. [Daniels] set up and just chucked it in the air. All I saw was a black jersey come down with it and just went crazy.

Bears safety Elijah Hicks (playing for Jaquan Brisker, who missed the game with a concussion): It felt like that play was all day. It took forever. I feel like — I don’t know how long — 17 seconds. That’s crazy. … With the play 17 seconds, and everything breaking down and guys running loose, you have ideal ways of doing stuff, and then it’s like you see stuff.

The Bears sent three pass rushers after Daniels: defensive ends Jacob Martin and Walker, plus defensive tackle Gervon Dexter. Linebacker T.J. Edwards said his responsibility was to spy Daniels.

Edwards: “Yeah, in a way. … It’s a f—ing Hail Mary. I dunno.”

Ertz: Jayden did a great job buying time. I’ve never been part of a scramble drill into the Hail Mary, so it was great by Jayden to get us all down there.

Commanders coach Dan Quinn: Jayden did a fantastic job of buying time. I don’t know how long the play was, but it took a long ass time. Thirteen seconds? Yeah, I felt every bit of them.

Commanders running back Austin Ekeler: There was one moment I was like, ‘Oh shoot’ because he was getting chased down like, ‘Oh, don’t get sacked, don’t get sacked.’ And he obviously is very elusive, so he hung a right and then he got out of there.

After scrambling, Daniels heaved it toward the end zone, where five defenders were in front of Brown, who hauled in the game winner. The pass traveled 65.9 yards in the air, making it the third-longest passing touchdown by air distance since 2016.

Wagner: When he threw the ball up, you saw everybody was converging on where the ball was at, but nobody was behind the play. And as a defender, we’re coached that there’s always going to be a guy sitting behind and sitting in front, and so they’re waiting for the tip, and you got to make sure you go get it.

Bears safety Kevin Byard: They’re going to have a guy that’s supposed to jump up and catch the ball. We’re supposed to have a jumper, which I was. … I just know it was a big scrum in there. And obviously they executed better than we did.

McLaurin: Jayden’s kind of aiming for the tip man. We’re going to have a guy in the back end line just in case it goes over. And then we got two guys in the front ready for it. … I was ready for it to be tipped forward. Noah was ready in the back. Luke [McCaffrey] was ready to the side.

That ball fell right into Noah’s arms. I don’t think I’ve seen a Hail Mary fall that perfectly off of a tip drill.

Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson: There should never be somebody wide open in the back of the end zone. I can’t tell you who was supposed to be there. I don’t know. We’ve all got to find a way to execute better down the stretch.

Brown: That happened to be my assignment for the Hail Mary. … Ertz did a great job getting his hand on the ball, allowing it to get back to me, and we made the play.

Actually, it was Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson who tipped the ball. Stevenson was seen pointing toward the stands and raising his arms in the air with his back to the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped. He posted an apology on social media afterward.

To Chicago and teammates my apologies for lack of awareness and focus …. The game ain’t over until zeros hit the clock. Can’t take anything for granted. Notes taken, improvement will happen. #Beardown

— Tyrique Stevenson (@dreamchaserTy10) October 28, 2024

Ertz: I don’t think I actually touched the ball. I don’t know what the film says per se, but I’m taking the hockey assist for sure. I know I impacted the play, and Noah ended up with a touchdown and so we won the game. That’s all that matters.

Daniels: I just heard people screaming and our sideline rush the field. That’s how I knew.

Ekeler: The crowd let us know that he caught it. And so that was helmet off and everyone’s running, and you see the eruption from the sideline, which is a moment I’ll never forget from this day is seeing that sideline just come on [the field].

Allegretti: I looked up on the screen and saw the ball get tipped and I was like, ‘Holy s—, there’s a guy there and we caught it.’ Never been a part of one. … I saw it on the screen and didn’t know who caught it until three minutes later.

At least one of the Bears thought a penalty could have been called on the final play.

Walker: I feel like a lot of guys definitely were held and blocked in the back. I seen one illegal blindside block, but honestly just got to finish on the quarterback.

Johnson: It’s a Hail Mary, they’re not going to call a holding, they’re not going to call pass interference. It’s a f—ing free play to beat your guy. My energy was on not letting my guy [McLaurin] get to the end zone. Hitting ’em, being physical. Just trying to do what I can to not let my guy catch the ball.

McLaurin: Jaylon Johnson pushed me on the ground. When we’re in that situation, it’s really anybody’s ball. It’s a free-for-all down there. Refs aren’t going to call holding. Boxing out. It’s physical.

It was the first game this century where each team scored a touchdown in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter.

Daniels: That’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Source: www.espn.com