By the time Jayden Daniels broke the hearts of the Windy City, some fans had headed to the parking lot.
Unlike college football, the NFL does not have style points. A win is a win, even if it took a miracle for Washington to walk away with 18 points on the scorecard while Chicago had 15.
Daniels was a question mark all week because of a rib injury, but he laced them up for a showdown with number one pick Caleb Williams.
For most of the afternoon, the Commanders’ defense shut down Williams, but in the fourth quarter, Williams showed why the Bears organization selected him. With 23 seconds left in the game, Williams had just completed a 10-play, 62-yard drive for what most thought was the game-winner.
That was until Daniels dialed up a Hail Mary, ending with a 52-yard touchdown pass to Brown.
How did Washington dominate most of the afternoon yet find themselves down before Daniels’ heave? The Commanders ended up with field goals when they should’ve had touchdowns. When Washington thought they had a touchdown, one was ruled a drop, and a penalty nullified another.
Let’s revisit my keys to the game.
The Commanders won the turnover battle by not committing any, while Chicago’s only turnover was significant. It came when the Bears looked like they were about to score a touchdown, but they got too cute and called a run play for offensive lineman Doug Kramer. Kramer handled the ball poorly, resulting in a fumble that Jer’Zhan Newton recovered.
Washington needed a big play in the passing game regardless of who started as quarterback. Hail Mary wasn’t on the Bingo card, but it qualified for our second key. Daniels had completed a 61-yard pass to Terry McLaurin earlier in the game, resulting in a field goal.
There’s a reason why Caleb Williams was taken number one. Washington needed to take away either Williams’ legs or his arm. For most of the game, they took away both. But clutch drives late in the third and fourth quarter resulted in two touchdowns and a 15-12 lead.
