Bears lose to Commanders on Hail Mary as clock expires

LANDOVER, Md. — Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels threw a 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown as the clock expired to beat the Bears 18-15 and end what had, to that point, been a slog between the top two picks in this year’s draft.

Daniels danced in the backfield and heaved a pass into the end zone Sunday that bounced off the hand of cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and into the arms of receiver Noah Brown, who was standing three yards behind the players camped out hoping to catch a miracle. The crowd at Northwest Stadium erupted in disbelief.

For 59 minutes and 35 seconds, it seemed like Bears quarterback Caleb Williams’ homecoming peaked with high school kids from his alma mater holding the American flag during the national anthem and went downhill from there. Then running back D’Andre Swift fell one yard forward into the end zone to cap a 10-play, 62-yard drive and give the Bears their only lead of the game. A two-point conversion pass to Cole Kmet gave the Bears a 15-12 lead — and the Commanders the ball back with 19 seconds to play.

Daniels threw an incompletion, an 11-yard pass and a 13-yard pass. He took the Hail Mary snap with one second to play.

The Bears were on the verge of taking the lead on third-and-goal from the 1 with 6:21 to play when they tried to get cute. It failed spectacularly. Offensive guard and part-time fullback Doug Kramer reporting as eligible and Williams turned and handed the ball to him. He never secured it — officially, Williams was credited with the fumble — and Illinois graduate Jer'zhan Newton recovered the ball at the 3.

The Bears defense, which didn’t allow a touchdown until the Hail Mary, forced a three-and-out on the next play, setting up a chance for Williams to atone for an otherwise disappointing day. He converted a third-and-10 from the Bears’ 38 with a 16-yard pass to fellow rookie Rome Odunze. Two plays later, he rolled right and improvised a 22-yard completion to move to the Commanders’ 19.

Bears coordinator Shane Waldron called back-to-back runs for Williams on second and third down to set up fourth-and-3 from 12. He threw a lob to his right to receiver Keenan Allen, who was interfered with by cornerback Benjamin St.-Juste. To plays later, running back Roschon Johnson plunged forward one yard to take the lead with 25 seconds to play.

The Bears were shut out in the first half and trailed by nine at halftime, with Williams completing only 3-of-8 passes for 33 yards.

Williams made three mistakes that, even for a rookie, were inexcusable:

On third-and-2 early in the second quarter, Williams scrambled and slid to the ground a yard short of the sticks. The Bears punted.

Later in the quarter, the Bears faced fourth-and-1 and threw a smoke pass to receiver DJ Moore, who was tackled immediately. The Commanders took over at the Bears’ 40 and eventually kicked a field goal.

Finally, on third-and-12 from the Commanders 25 with a little more than one minute to play in the half, Williams took a sack for a loss of 15 yards that took the Bears out of field position. Williams was in the grasp of a defender but ran backward to try to break away. By doing so, Williams forced the Bears to punt rather than to move within a score with a field goal try.