Hail Mary Magic In The Nation’s Capital, Brown’s Last Second Catch Leads To Victory Over Chicago (10-27-24)

By: Jaden Golding

Headline Photo Credit: Washington Post

Landover, MD – Jayden Daniels made what he called “a once-in-a-lifetime play” against the Chicago Bears last night. Daniels and the Commanders defeated the Chicago Bears 18-15, off a last-second hail Mary heave to the endzone for a walk-off victory. 

Washington (6-2) had just surrendered a potential game-winning touchdown drive to Caleb Williams and Chicago (4-3) with 25 seconds remaining. Williams and the Bears’ offense had been struggling all game long, outside a 56-yard touchdown run by D’Andre Swift in the third quarter to cut the Commanders’ lead to 12-7. Still trailing by that same score with 4:21 left in the fourth. Williams orchestrated a 10-play 62-yard drive highlighted by a pass interference call drawn by Kennan Allen on a slant-and-go route that fooled cornerback Benjamin St.Juste and resulted in him grabbing Allen on a ball that was highly overthrown to him in the endzone. Running back Roschon Johnson capped off the drive with a two-yard run into the endzone to give the Bears a 15-12 lead.

The Commanders had a timeout and 25 seconds left to try and win the game. Running back Austin Ekeler made a risky decision of returning the kickoff to Wasington’s 24-yard line leaving 19 seconds on the clock. On the first play, Daniels underthrew tight-end Zach Ertz over the deep middle (12 seconds left). Next play, Daniels connected with Ertz this time for an 11-yard gain (6 seconds left), and then Daniels found Terry McLaurin on an out route for 13 yards on what appeared to be a missed coverage where Chicago’s secondary was nearly 40 yards off of McLaurin in prevent defense (2 seconds left). 

Finally, the play! Daniels snapped the ball, scrambled to his left evaded a Chicago pass rusher, made his way back to the right side getting himself set, and launched about a 70-yard heave just a yard shy of the endzone. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson who was later captured on video on this exact play taunting the crowd, tipped the ball back from the crowd of leaping players right into the hands of wide receiver Noah Brown who was right behind them alone in the endzone. Northwest Stadium erupted with cheers, screaming, and shouting as the impossible became reality. Leaving Chicago fans, players and coaches stunned. 

Daniels, who was a game-time decision coming into Sunday’s contest due to the rib injury he sustained in last week’s game against Carolina finished with 326 passing yards, one touchdown, and 52 rushing yards. Throughout the game, Daniels played gritty and fearless, taking hits and moving right on to the next play. When the team needed him at his best he came through and made the key plays. 

As far as Williams, he had a rough outing only completing 10-of-24 passes for 131 yards, was sacked twice, and had one fumble. Williams did bounce back on the final drive, making some nice plays to keep it alive, and was excellent at time evading pressure.

Swift had another strong outing, rushing for 129 yards on 18 carries for one touchdown.

Former Washington first-rounder Montez Sweat and linebacker T.J. Edwards each had a sack. 

Washington Player Of The Game

WR Noah Brown: Yes, Daniels extended the play and made the beautiful pass down to the goalline for that whole play to become possible. But hats off to Brown, who had a tough drop earlier in the game and bounced back for a big-time catch of that magnitude. He was in the right position at the right time and had the hand-eye coordination to make the play. 

Key Stats

Terry McLaurin: 5 receptions 125 yards

Zach Ertz: 7 receptions 77 yards

Austin Seibert: 4/5 FG, longest field goal 47 yards

Tress Way: 5 punts for 214 yards, two inside the 20 and 57 the longest of the evening 

Quan Martin: 11 total tackles, 9 solo tackles and one for loss 

Jer’Zahn Newton: 3 total tackles, 3 solo tackles, one tackle for loss, three QB hits, and one fumble recovery

Injuries

OT Cornelius Lucas: left in the third quarter after sustaining an ankle injury. The Commanders were already missing rookie left tackle Brandon Coleman who was out with a concussion. 

Up Next

Commanders head up to MetLife Stadium on Nov. 3 for a battle with the New York Giants in an NFC East battle. The Bears continue the road trip against the Arizona Cardinals.