Anatomy of a Hail Mary: How Jayden Daniels and the Commanders beat the buzzer

LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Jayden Daniels’ Hail Mary touchdown pass to Noah Brown that gave the Washington Commanders an 18-15 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday was one of the most memorable finishes to an NFL game in recent history. It went down as a 52-yard completion with the clock expired, but in reality, it was a much longer throw and a product of hours of preparation.

Here’s how it went down:

The situation

After failing to score a touchdown all game and going 0 for 3 in the red zone, the Commanders fell behind with 25 seconds left on Roschon Johnson’s 1-yard TD run that came after a pass interference penalty on Benjamin St-Juste and the ensuing 2-point conversation that made it 15-12 Bears.

Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards: “Offense did an awesome job of scoring and giving us the lead.”

Commanders running back Brian Robinson: “We knew we shouldn’t have been down. That’s something that the whole locker room knew. We knew we had another opportunity, as well.”

After a 24-yard kickoff return by Austin Ekeler, there were just 19 seconds on the clock.

Commanders coach Dan Quinn: “You don’t have timeouts. We used one early, obviously.”

An incomplete pass was followed by Daniels finding tight end Zach Ertz for an 11-yard gain and wide receiver Terry McLaurin for 13 to get to almost midfield.

Commanders center Tyler Biadasz: “Those plays leading up to the Hail Mary, those are huge plays.”

McLaurin: “We just wanted to give ourselves a chance to put it in position for Jayden to throw the ball down there.”

Bears coach Matt Eberflus: “You’re defending a touchdown there, and them throwing a ball for 13 yards or 10 yards, whatever it is, really doesn’t matter.”

Quinn: “I thought we’d had a chance if we could get up the field some. And so that’s what I was trying to get to.”

The preparation

McLaurin: “We know we had enough time left. We practice that literally a few times a week in those situations, got-to-have-it situations.”

Commanders right guard Sam Cosmi: “If you don’t practice it, it’s not going to come to fruition. If you practice it, then you’ll be ready for that moment.”

Ertz: “We walk through the play. Never like full-speed reps. Obviously you’re not going to just burn 70-yard sprints in practice. But we talk about it. I’m kind of the jumper, per se, and then you’ve got a receiver in front, a receiver behind.”

Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu: “I was just walking down just telling guys, ‘Head up, man, it’s not over yet.’”

There were two seconds left on the clock.

Daniels: “Buy some time and don’t throw the ball out of bounds. Try to give your guys an opportunity.’”

Brown: “We are a team full of fighters. We don’t give up to the final whistle.”

The scramble

The Bears sent three pass rushers with another near the line of scrimmage and the remaining seven defenders dropping into coverage. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson had his back to the line of scrimmage and was taunting fans when the ball was snapped.

Eberflus: “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.”

Commanders left guard Nick Allegretti: “It’s chaos. You’re just trying to hit somebody in a different color jersey, give Jayden a shot to rip the ball.”

Cosmi: “Two of them went this way, came back, swung around to the left. Nick cleaned somebody’s clock.”

McLaurin: “You got guys dumping guys on the ground. We know that’s a physical play, and you got a chance that you can make a play and change the game.”

Edwards: “He’s fast, right? He does a good job of keeping the play alive. It’s a long time for our guys to be covering stuff like that.”

Quinn: “Jayden did a fantastic job of buying time, buying time, over to the right side. I don’t know how long the play was. ... Thirteen seconds? Yeah, I felt every bit of them.”

Commanders center Tyler Biadasz: “We just wanted to give him time. Jay did a great job of scrambling around like he did to get to a stop. Having all the wideouts and the tight ends get down there, that’s the biggest part for that type of play.”

Brown: “Try and get down there as fast as you can, box out, keep good position and hope Jayden can get the ball down there. He did a phenomenal job keeping the play alive.”

The throw

Daniels, playing through a rib injury, heaved the ball up from the Washington 35-yard line.

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams: “I thought it was going to be a little short.”

Daniels: “Let the guys get down there and get in kind of that formation and put some air on the ball and let them go make a play.”

McLaurin: “He has an unbelievable arm.”

Daniels: “Just throw the ball up, give my guys a shot. I didn’t see anything.”

Cosmi: “I just saw him chuck it. I’m just sitting there.”

The catch

Allegretti: “What’s the percentage on those? Not high. And it was like the perfect tip and then just one guy standing there.”

McLaurin: “Zach had an unbelievable tip. It ran just like we practiced it.”

Eberflus: “The guy that we were boxing out was (McLaurin), so it just depended on where he was.”

Allegretti: “I looked up on the screen and saw the ball get tipped.”

Ertz: “I don’t think I actually touched the ball. I don’t know what the film says, per se. But I’m taking the hockey assist, for sure. I know I impacted the play and Noah ended up with a touchdown and so we won the game and that’s all the matters.”

Brown: “That happened to be my assignment on the Hail Mary. We got one guy in front and two in the back, try and throw it up to the jumper and Zach did a great job getting a hand on the ball, allowing it to get back to me and we made the play.”

McLaurin: “It felt like it was going in slow motion, honestly. That ball fell right into Noah’s arms. I don’t think I’ve seen a Hail Mary fall that perfectly off of a tip drill.”

Biadasz: “You’ve got to have a little bit of luck. Coach always talks about the ball finds energy, and we were in the right spots at the right time and that’s an amazing moment you don’t forget.”

Cosmi: “I see the ball come down in Noah’s hands. I just couldn’t believe it. I was like, ‘Is that a black jersey?’ And then just sprinted 60 yards.”

Allegretti: “I got a charley horse so I was wandering somewhere while the ball was in the air and looked up and I was like, ‘Let’s see what happens.’”

Daniels: “I just heard people screaming and our sideline rushing the field. That’s how I knew.”

The aftermath

Quinn: “I felt, rest in peace, a little like (late N.C. State basketball coach) Jim Valvano just running around, not sure what to do and where to go.”

Robinson: “I went and jumped in the stands and everybody was just excited.”

McLaurin: “In the big moments, you want to come through for your team. We were just telling each other, ‘It’s not over till it’s over.’”

Daniels: “I was juiced up, for sure. Excited because that’s kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Not too many people get to experience stuff like that. That was my first time.”

Allegretti: “I couldn’t believe it. It was disbelief.”

McLaurin: “We made it happen. It wasn’t just one guy. But for us to execute that play, it doesn’t happen a lot, I haven’t been part of a win like that in the league.”

Quinn: “I feel like I’m 6 inches off the ground with a big hug.”

Bears tight end Cole Kmet: “A Hail Mary is a Hail Mary. It’s a prayer. You’re just tossing up a prayer. ... When you talk about losing a game off a Hail Mary and you’re trying to fix that, that’s not really a play you want to obsess over. It’s a Hail Mary. It is what it is. The ball literally just fell their way.”

Eberflus: “We did everything we could at the very end, and we just have to execute better.”

Biadasz: “Every win, you never take one for granted, however it happens.”

McLaurin: “It was pandemonium out there. It was real pandemonium. I couldn’t breathe.”

Cosmi: “It was like a movie, to be completely honest with you. To be a part of that, it’s like, ‘Oh, front-row seats to something amazing.’”

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