Oral history of Jayden Daniels’ Hail Mary TD to help Commanders shock Bears in 2024

The play was called, simply, “Hail Mary.” It didn’t have an exotic name like “Green Right X Shift to Viper Right 382 X Stick Lookie.” Just, Hail Mary. Because there’s no route concept here, no trying to manipulate a defense with a quarterback’s eyes, or with misdirection, or by flooding a zone. It’s run downfield, throw the ball, hope your guys catch it. It almost never works, anywhere.

“Never been on a team that did one before,” Commanders defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw said last Wednesday.

“I am now.”

Kinlaw wasn’t in Washington last season, but he, like 24,890,000 other people, watched the final seconds of the Commanders’ game last October against the Chicago Bears. For 59 minutes and 58 seconds, the afternoon was one of the most frustrating for the home team all season. Despite outpacing Chicago in total yards (481-307) and first downs (23-15), and despite committing fewer penalties, Washington didn’t put Chicago away. And after leading all game, the Commanders couldn’t hold onto the lead, with the Bears going ahead, 15-12, with 25 seconds left. Chicago still led with two seconds left, with Washington 52 yards away from the end zone.

And then …

In an instant, Washington pulled off the unthinkable, with Noah Brown catching Jayden Daniels’ tipped pass in the end zone for the game-winning score — and an 18-15 Commanders victory. It was the most improbable of Washington’s multiple last-second wins in a magical 2024 season that went all the way to the NFC Championship Game. On the other sideline, the Bears imploded after the loss, dropping their next nine games, some in equally excruciating fashion. Coach Matt Eberflus lost his job after the sixth straight loss, in late November, having gone an almost inconceivable 5-19 in one-score games during his tenure as Chicago’s head coach.

Almost a year later, the Bears will return to Northwest Stadium Monday night. Things are different, of course: Chicago has a new coach in Ben Johnson, the wunderkind behind the Lions’ explosive and creative offense the last few seasons. Quarterback Caleb Williams, the first pick in the 2024 draft, is showing signs of growth under Johnson’s tutelage. And the man at the center of the loss last year, Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, has bounced back and is having a solid start to his season.

In sports, it’s often considered anathema to look back. But The Athletic spoke with many of the people who were involved in the Hail Mary last season, some who watched in disbelief on the sideline and the legendary play-by-play man who called it for CBS.

“I awoke that day, and the Marine Corps Marathon was going on in the District,” said Jim Nantz, who called the game with CBS’ top NFL crew, including analyst Tony Romo. “We were staying in D.C., and my son-in-law, who is currently deployed, ran in that marathon. I got out and saw him run a couple of points along the marathon. It was a very pleasant morning. Washington was starting to emerge as a story, and Jayden was showing right away what a talent he was. You had the first and second picks in the draft, so that was the storyline going in.”

Most of the day was a frustrating one for Washington’s offense. Despite all of its yards gained, the Commanders managed just three Austin Seibert field goals in the red zone against Chicago’s defense, and needed another Seibert field goal to lead 12-7 going into the fourth quarter. With a chance to put the game away after getting possession with 6:18 left, Washington instead went three-and-out, and the Bears took over at their 38 with 4:21 left. Chicago proceeded to go 62 yards in 10 plays, including a pass interference penalty on then-Commanders cornerback Benjamin St-Juste on fourth-and-3 from the Washington 12. Two plays later, running back Roschon Johnson scored from a yard out, with a two-point conversion from Williams to tight end Cole Kmet putting the Bears up 15-12 with 25 seconds left. A field goal would tie the game, but things seemed

Sam Cosmi, Commanders right guard: Honestly, it was really good. As soon as we got to the situation, (guard) Nick Allegretti was on top of it. Like, situational awareness and stuff like that. He was talking about, hey, we need to get this, and get out of bounds, to give them this range, and if we’re at this range, we have a chance to throw a Hail Mary.

After an incomplete pass to tight end Zach Ertz, Daniels hit his tight end over the middle on the next play for 11 yards, to Washington’s 35-yard line. The Commanders used their final timeout with six seconds left. On first-and-10 from the 35, Daniels hit Terry McLaurin on an out route for 13 yards, to the Commanders’ 48. McLaurin got out of bounds with two seconds left. It helped the Commanders set up the last play. Daniels had more than enough arm to throw it 65 yards, but by getting near midfield, his receivers had less ground to cover before he threw the ball.

Jim Nantz, CBS play-by-play man: Tony made a great point on the down before. He telestrated it. They thought he was going to throw the Hail Mary the play before. But Tony said, ‘Here’s what you do; get closer.’ And he demonstrated exactly what they were going to do.

Matt Eberflus, former Bears head coach: You’re defending a touchdown there, and them throwing a ball for 13 yards really doesn’t matter. It’s always going to come down to that last play.

Cosmi: They gave us a bunch of space to even get us an opportunity to throw that Hail Mary. Because, let’s say they didn’t give us that amount of space. We would then be playing a lateral pitching game after that. The fact that they did that was kind of a big mistake on (their) part. We followed the rules, gave ourselves a chance to have a chance type of situation.

Washington lined up in a 3-x-1 formation, with Brown, rookie wideout Luke McCaffrey and Ertz lined to the right, and McLaurin lined up to the left. At the snap, the Commanders’ offensive line was shocked to see that Chicago only had four defensive players at the line of scrimmage — and one of them, linebacker T.J. Edwards, wasn’t rushing at all; he was spying Daniels, in case the quarterback took off running. Washington kept Ekeler in to block, giving the Commanders six people in front of Daniels to block three Bears.

Eberflus: From our vantage point, everybody was lined up in the correct position, and then we just were ready to go. We chose to do the three-man rush. I think he had the ball for over 12 seconds, and I’m not sure what happened back there in terms of blocking and getting after the quarterback.

Cosmi: We know the blocking, we know the points. … Any Hail Mary, typically, they keep the (running) back in protection. So, rushing only three, you get to have, essentially, three double-teams. So you’re not going to have a single rush. You allow everybody to get to their spot.

Ekeler and left tackle Trent Scott blocked Bears defensive end DeMarcus Walker. Right tackle Andrew Wylie, with Cosmi sliding over to help, took defensive lineman Jacob Martin. Center Tyler Biadasz went one-on-one with Bears lineman Gervon Dexter Sr.

Nantz, from his live call: It comes down to one last play, and it’s gonna be … getting longer by the second … they’re all the way back at the 30-yard line …

Nantz, 11 months later: I’m just kind of moving with him (Daniels) verbally. He moves to his right, then moves back left.

Ultimately, Walker shed the blocks of Ekeler and Scott and forced Daniels to his right, where Martin was getting off the Wylie block. But Martin slipped and fell to the ground. Daniels was able to drift right, but he was flatfooted. So he doubled back left where there was more room. Cosmi pushed Walker away. Allegretti, who played the whole game on a badly sprained ankle, came back and planted Dexter, who’d finally gotten away from Biadasz’s block after eight seconds. That gave Daniels enough space to step up into the pocket and get his full body into the throw.

Tyler Biadasz, Commanders center: You’ve got to sustain your block. I would say the biggest part is, like, sustaining your block. But you’ve got to have enough time and space to where Jay can step up, like a QB, and you can get a good up and down throw, to where they can get spacial recognition of where the landing point is. You had a sense of (where Daniels was scrambling) from the reaction of the D-tackles. And throughout the play, when you have a reaction like that, you kind of peek to have a sense, once your guy kind of takes off a certain way, and then, all of a sudden, he retraces. You have kind of a good idea of like, OK, I’ve got to get back in front, but also you’ve got to flatten out, because he’s about to throw it, maybe. You just don’t know where he is when he throws it.

Noah Brown, Commanders receiver (speaking in 2024): We’re blessed to have ‘5’ leading this team: The things he can do is special. Just, even that last play, keeping his composure, fighting like hell to get the ball off, and threw a hell of a ball. I wouldn’t want to play with any other quarterback.

Dan Quinn, Commanders coach: Probably, like most of us, there’s like, the longer a scramble goes on a Hail Mary, at least you know the play is, the ball’s going to get off. So you’re not looking down the field too early. But, to make somebody miss, you’re waiting, waiting, and like most of us, it’s like a collective gasp. I don’t know if there was a lot of activity in that little space in between, from ‘he’s going to get it off’ to the catch. I think, like everybody, you’re just like, ‘S—.’ You’re waiting and not knowing.

All that time gave everyone on both teams, receivers and defensive backs, a chance to get downfield. This included Stevenson, the Bears’ cornerback — who, inexplicably, had his back turned to the play at the snap, waving at Bears fans in the stands who were celebrating the soon-to-be victory, before running back to join his teammates trying to defend the play.

Tyrique Stevenson, Bears cornerback: At the beginning of the play, I was just cheering with some Bears fans.

Eberflus: It’s great to have passion, and I think it’s great to have that great enthusiasm for the game. But it also comes to a point where your emotions go over the top, and you lose focus. You’ve gotta be able to have that balance if you’re that type of player that plays with great intensity, like Tyrique does, to be able to have that, so it doesn’t go over the top and you lose your focus and your concentration.

Meanwhile, Daniels now had room to step up into the pocket. He planted his left foot at his own 35-yard-line, and let the ball go.

Tress Way, Commanders punter: I was standing up on the bench when I saw that we weren’t going to kick a field goal. I was just standing on the bench, so I could get a good view of what was going on, just trying to catch a good view.

Not everyone was locked into the action, however.

Jeremy Reaves, Commanders safety: I had an iPad in my hand. I was watching some previous special teams play that happened. I think it was either the return before or the punt before. I was kind of pissed. We didn’t really have a good day on special teams, so I was kind of aggravated, going through the tape. So I didn’t really see what happened until I heard it.

The Commanders and Bears, like all NFL teams, had incessantly practiced exactly what to do on both ends of a Hail Mary. The receivers, usually, try to form a diamond, with one receiver in front, in case the pass falls short of the end zone; two “jumpers” behind him, who try to tip the ball into the air; and a receiver in the back, who is there if the ball, somehow, gets tipped his way. The defensive backs, of course, are taught to knock the ball down as soon as possible, because if the ball gets tipped, it can go in any direction — including to an opposing receiver.

This time, McLaurin was the receiver in front. McCaffrey and Ertz were the jumpers. Brown was in the back. Chicago had seven defenders back to cover Washington’s four receivers. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds double-teamed McLaurin. Safeties Kevin Byard and Elijah Hicks, and defensive backs Jaylon Jones and Josh Blackwell, formed a defensive quartet to jump with McCaffrey and Ertz. And Stevenson was supposed to cover Brown in the back. 

Stevenson: I was supposed to box out 85.

Brown: That happened to be my assignment on the Hail Mary. We’ve got one guy in front, two in the back, try to throw it up to the jumper. … We have a body on a body, boxing guys out like basketball at the very end. We have one guy that is at the rim who knocks the ball down, we have a back tip guy that goes behind the pile.

Josh Blackwell, Bears cornerback: We practice boxing everybody out. Like basketball. We’ve got a jumper in the back, and then when the ball goes up, box out and the jumper bats the ball down. That’s the process. But that can be tough when you’re scrambling around for a little bit.

Johnson and Edmunds shoved McLaurin to the ground. “It’s a free-for-all down there,” McLaurin said afterward. “The refs aren’t going to call holding, boxing out. It’s physical.” With the extra time to throw, though, Daniels was able to throw a parabola rather than a line drive, allowing everyone involved the chance to jump up after the ball. The ball came to earth around Chicago’s 2-yard line. Ertz and McCaffrey jumped for Washington; Byard, Johnson, Jones and Blackwell for Chicago.

Zach Ertz, Commanders tight end: We knew where the jump ball was going to be, and we kind of saw Jayden scramble a little bit. So we just had to go and try and play backyard football, almost. And I saw the ball in the air and just tried to go up for it. And at that point, I was in the middle, but I wasn’t the highest guy, obviously.

A fifth Bear was jumping, too: Stevenson. He shouldn’t have been jumping. He should have been bodying up Brown, leaving his four teammates to cover Washington’s two receivers. But he jumped. And he got to the ball before anyone else, tipping it with his right hand — right over Byard’s head.

Stevenson: When I went up to hit the ball, it was pretty much just to knock it down. Ain’t no interceptions, especially in a close game like that. Just trying to make a play for my team.

Kevin Byard, Bears safety: It’s unbelievable. You know what I mean? I’ve been in the league long enough. I’ve never been a part of a loss like that. But I’ve seen stuff like that. It’s just unfortunate it happened to us this time. Obviously, the quarterback had a long time to scramble back there. And as you’re standing back there and everybody’s just kind of piling up, it’s hard to get an angle, to try to get (a) running start. And by the time the ball is in the air, you’re trying to fight to get into position. The ball got tipped into the air. And their back guy ended up making the play.

The tipped ball flipped end over end and into the hands of Brown, who was all alone, standing on the second “M” of the word COMMANDERS in the end zone, for the game-winning touchdown.

Brown: Zach did a great job getting a hand on the ball, allowing it to get back to me, and we made the play.

Nantz, from his live call: Here comes the Hail Mary, with the game on the line, and the ball is … caught! Caught! It’s a miracle! It’s Noah Brown! Oh, my goodness! This town is going … crazy! It’s a madhouse in Landover, Maryland!

Romo: He did it!

Bram Weinstein, Commanders radio play-by-play voice, from his live call of the play: Touchdown! Touchdown, Washington! It’s mayhem in Washington! They win on the Hail Mary! Touchdown, Commanders!

Way: I remember seeing the ball bounce up, and then seeing Noah catch (it). And then, it seemed like was all very quiet. And, then — bam! Just, like, everything popped. It was the loudest I’ve ever heard the stadium.

Jeff Joniak, Bears radio play-by-play voice, from his live call of the play: Washington, with the miracle finish. The breakup pass, into the waiting arms of Noah Brown — nobody back there! Crushing loss. … That is the gut punch of gut punches … a perfect execution on the offensive side; not so much on the defensive side. Four plays, 76 yards, in 25 stinking seconds. Unreal. I mean, that is going to take a lot of salve to heal that wound here in Washington.

In television, after a big play such as this, the broadcast crew is instructed to “lay out,” to stop talking and let the pictures tell the story. So, in the seconds after Brown caught the pass, viewers at home saw Quinn embrace linebacker Frankie Luvu and then search for someone else to hug; linebacker Bobby Wagner jump on Daniels; then-Commanders cornerback Emmanuel Forbes help his DB brethren on the opposite team, Jones and Blackwell, get up off the turf; Eberflus stand in disbelief on the Bears’ sideline — and, of course, the Commanders mob Brown in the end zone.

Nantz: Before there was the long, respectful layout, there was just a frenzy. I know I said something along the lines of, ‘It’s a miracle. This town is going crazy.’ Because the building was shaking.

Cosmi: You watch that play, (Allegretti) destroyed somebody. Jayden let it rip. And all I remember is just the tip, and somebody in a black jersey comes. I didn’t even know (who it was); I just started sprinting. Straight out of a movie … literally, something out of a movie. As cinematic as you can get. I don’t think I’ve ever been part of a Hail Mary, to be honest with you. I mean, we’ve thrown Hail Marys, but to actually complete one like that? Another thing that was crazy on that play was, they only rushed three. Rush that (spy). And the DB that was mocking. It was just all cinematic. Literally, everything that they could have done wrong, they did wrong.

Jaylon Johnson, Bears cornerback: There should never be somebody wide open in the back of the end zone. We just didn’t execute that well enough. I can’t say who was supposed to (be) back there. I don’t know. But at the end of the day, there should never be anybody wide open in the back of the end zone.

Stevenson: It was harsh. It hurt my feelings. That’s the best way I can explain it. It just hurt my feelings being a football player and having one of those mistakes that’s going to linger around. Even when my son grows up, I’ve got to explain that to him. It definitely hurt. But just use it as fuel.

It was Nantz’s third career Hail Mary call. The first came in 1991, when the Falcons’ Billy Joe Toliver hit Michael Haynes from 44 yards out for the game-winning score over the 49ers with a second left. The second was Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ walk-off 61-yard strike to tight end Richard Rodgers at the gun, giving the Packers a 27-23 road win in Detroit in 2015. To Nantz, Brown’s improbable touchdown tops them both.

Nantz: It’s a great memory for me. This is going to sound like recency bias or even hyperbole, but it has to rank in my top two end-of-game moments in my career. This is my 507th NFL game this week, not counting preseason. I would say out of my 500-plus games, that stands as my favorite one or two end-of-game scenarios. And, of course, I didn’t see it coming.

There was, however, one person this week who was not interested, at all, in reminiscing.

Jayden Daniels, Commanders quarterback: I mean, that Hail Mary won’t help us win the game on Monday. So, what’s the point?