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The Commanders beat the Bears with a wild 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown on the final play of the game

High expectations come from him being a high NFL draft pick. Midway through their rookie seasons, quarterbacks Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels, the first two players selected in April's draft, had lived up to the hype behind their often explosive offensive play, building anticipation for their first meeting on Sunday.

For three quarters, the match lived up to these high expectations to a certain extent – and immediately became a classic in the final quarter, ending with the decisive game of the 2024 NFL season so far.

Using the offense that had been lacking in the first three quarters, Williams and the Chicago Bears rallied from a 12-point deficit to take a 15-12 lead over Washington with 23 seconds left, followed by a two-pointer -Recycling.

With one last play to get a pass into the end zone, Daniels attempted to extend the play by 12 seconds. With every tick, his receivers were able to advance further downfield. He then threw a high-arching Hail Mary 65 yards into the air, which was tipped by a Bears defensive back at the goal line and flew perfectly into the arms of Commanders teammate Noah Brown for the game-winning touchdown.

Washington won 18-15 to improve to 6-2, while Chicago fell to 4-3 in the most unlikely of ways.

As seen in a video posted on When he fell into coverage, Stevenson jumped up and made the pass – straight to Brown.

Daniels finished the game with 326 passing yards and that one unforgettable touchdown. Williams returned to the Washington, D.C. area where he grew up, throwing for 131 yards and running for another 41 yards.

The shocking final finish was a stunning, big play to cap a game that had produced little for most of the afternoon, as Washington took a 9-0 halftime lead. A Commanders defense that struggled to get stops for much of the first two months of the season held Williams in check after totaling 530 passing yards and six touchdowns to just 33 in consecutive victories over the past two weeks Passing yards and 29 rushing yards at halftime.

NFL: Chicago Bears at Washington Commanders
Commander wide receiver Noah Brown hauled in the Hail Mary with no time left.Peter Casey/Imagn Images

Daniels, meanwhile, rushed for 61 yards and threw for more than 150 yards in the first half, making it the league's second-best offense in terms of scoring average. And yet Washington couldn't convert its production into the usual touchdowns and settled for field goals instead.

Chicago rallied in the fourth quarter; Of the Bears' 10 longest plays, five came in the final quarter, four of which were on passes from Williams. Chicago even recovered a fumble by the fullback at the goal line that cost a potential touchdown with 6:18 left.

The Bears didn't hold the lead the entire game until there were 23 seconds left. And it seemed like they were going to hang on when Daniels evaded tacklers on the final play of the game and had well over half a field in front of him. Then the right arm that suddenly sparked hope in a fan base that hadn't seen a postseason berth since 2020 or a postseason win since 2005 brought another high point in a season full of them.

By Vanessa

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