by LANDOVER, Md. – Jayden Daniels had some very simple thoughts running through his head as the Washington Commanders needed to make a long-distance throw to beat the Chicago Bears.
“Buy time and don’t throw the ball out of bounds,” Daniels said.
Daniels rushed for nearly 13 seconds and threw the ball from the Washington 35-yard line with no time on the clock. The pass tipped Zach Ertz’s hands short of the goal line and into the waiting arms of Noah Brown, who was standing alone in the end zone, for a 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown that gave the Commanders an improbable 18-15 victory. Sunday and sent players, coaches and fans into a frenzy.
It was the group’s fifth go-ahead Hail Mary TD in the final 10 seconds since ESPN began tracking them in 2006. At 52 yards, it was the group’s second-longest, behind Rodgers’ miracle to Rodgers during Motown’s game against Detroit. Lions in 2015.
“It was crazy,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn said in his opening address to reporters. “It was so much fun, and what I love about the team is that we’re never out of the fight.”
The rookie quarterback never even saw Brown make the catch.
“I just heard people screaming and our sidelines rushing onto the field. That’s how I knew,” said Daniels, whose condition was uncertain until hours before kickoff. sent due to rib injury. “It’s kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Not many people get to experience things like that.”
Daniels’ heroics came after the Commanders (6-2) fell behind with 25 seconds remaining on a TD run by Roschon Johnson after a pass interference penalty put the ball on the line. ‘one meter. There were only 19 seconds left after a kickoff return to the 24.
Three goals later, Daniels added his best moment to a season that made him one of the most electric players in the NFL and the favorite for AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.
“We’re fortunate to have ‘5’ leading this team: the things he can do are special,” Brown said. “I wouldn’t want to play with any other quarterback.”
Offensive lineman Sam Cosmi said it was “like a movie.”
“Front row seats to something incredible,” Cosmi said. “It was just crazy. It will always stay with me. What a moment.”
It was the first game since November 13, 1977, where each team scored a touchdown in the final 30 seconds.
In the NFL’s sixth matchup between rookie quarterbacks and the top two draft picks, Daniels threw for 326 yards and ran for 52. Caleb Williams, taken first by the Bears (4-3), completed four of his 16 first down passes and finished 10 of 24 for 131 yards.
Chicago, whose winning streak was snapped at three, had just 172 yards of offense before the start of the fourth quarter and didn’t get on the board until after D’Andre Swift’s 56-yard run at the end of the third.
“It’s just us shooting ourselves in the foot and that comes from the details and the focus in the game, throughout the week,” said Williams, a Washington-area native who was playing at home for the first time as a professional. “That came from me. I’m included in that, for sure. I definitely missed a few passes that I don’t usually miss so, tough, but very encouraging because we stayed in it.”
Daniels wasn’t himself at times and looked a little bothered by the rib injury, which knocked him out of last week’s win over Carolina and kept him from playing. train Wednesday and Thursday. He took several hits after dropping the ball, but was at his best when it counted.
“We knew he had it in him,” said running back Brian Robinson Jr.. “He just showed us today what he’s capable of and how tough he is.”
ESPN Research and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
