LANDOVER, Md. – You buy the property, you buy the piece, my mother always said.

This means that once you accept the general concept of a plan or idea, you must also accept everything that leads to the realization of that plan.

So if you believe in Jayden Daniels and all the potential he brings, the idea is that he would complete a Hail Mary on the final play of what was shaping up to be a brutally disappointing loss to the Chicago Bears – a pass that would be tipped by Chicago cornerback Tyrique Stevenson and fall into the hands of Noah Brown for the game-winning touchdown — shouldn’t be a shock to the system, right? I mean, Daniels did winning the Heisman last year, he did threw 40 touchdowns at LSU last season, he was The second pick in the NFL Draft for good reason. Right?

Oh, come on.

This. Is. Incredible!

HAIL NOA!!!!!!!!!!!

📺 #CHIvsWAS CBS pic.twitter.com/nRr3sIF17K

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) October 27, 2024

Cats and dogs, living together – mass hysteria!

“I was like Jim Valvano, just running around, not sure where to go or what to do,” Washington coach Dan Quinn said.

The Commanders are 6-2, having won their first four home games in a season. Minority owner Mitchell Rales volunteered to leave for the first time in two decades. Washington remains in first place in the NFC East. There are signs of a real home field advantage at Northwest Stadium. Daniels, playing with a bad rib after being cut last week against the Carolina Panthers, was magical again when mortal behavior wouldn’t do.

“I did it once in high school, at the end of the half,” Daniels said of the Hail Mary. “But nothing of this magnitude.”

You may recall that Bob Myers, the Commanders’ new consigliere, helped put together the Golden State Warriors dynasty that won four NBA titles. That’s how he saw the “double bang” shot that Stephen Curry hit in Oklahoma City in 2016, from the middle of the court, to beat the Thunder in a memorable regular-season game. So he’s seen incredible things from some fantastic players, with Curry at the top of the list.

“This is better!” Myers exclaimed on Sunday. “This is worth about five (NBA) games.”

Indeed.

For 59 minutes and 58 seconds, Washington’s offense was held out of the end zone. Despite getting incredible field position all afternoon, with drives starting at the Chicago 40 and the Chicago 41, and with three trips into the Bears’ red zone, the Commanders could only make four Austin Seibert field goals. The Commanders defense was excellent all day, but gave up two touchdown drives, the latter capping off a 62-yard drive in the final four minutes of play, with Roschon Johnson’s 1-yard score and successful 2-point conversion capping off the Bringing Bears to 15. -12 with 25 seconds left.

But in the madness of the final two seconds there was an awful lot about why this team is 6-2.

First, consider the time from the snap at Washington’s 48-yard line from center Tyler Biadasz to the moment the ball left Daniels’ hands. From snap to throw was 13 seconds. That meant not only that Daniels had to run around and buy time, but that his offensive linemen, who are built for strength and not speed — and certainly not for holding blocks for 13 seconds — had to hit everything in a road uniform that moved without to miss. . (This celebrated Donovan McNabb fight and completion in 2004 against the Dallas Cowboys lasted 14 seconds, for reference.)

Chicago rushed three linemen, with linebacker TJ Edwards acting as a spy for Daniels. In the blink of an eye, running back Austin Ekeler, who remained in the backfield, helped the backup tackle Trent Scott – who came in for the injured Cornelius Lucas, who came in for the injured Brandon Coleman – Defensive double team DeMarcus Walker. Yes, that means the Commanders were working on their third-string left tackle on the last play of the game. Biadasz took Bears lineman Gervon Dexter Sr. alone.

After a few seconds, Walker shed Ekeler and Scott’s blocks and forced Daniels to his right. The problem was that Bears defensive lineman Jacob Moore simultaneously began shedding double-team blocks from guard Sam Cosmi and tackle Andrew Wylie and would have been in position to beat Daniels. Fortunately for Washington, Moore slipped. So Daniels was able to drift to the right. But there was still no clear passing lane.

Daniels hit a double back to the left, which he was only able to do because Cosmi pushed him out of the chase. Biadasz had held Dexter still for about eight seconds. But Dexter eventually released Biadasz and started chasing Daniels to his left, drawing a bead on him. Except that Commander’s guard Nick Allegretti, who had suffered a bad ankle, backed up and planted Dexter in the ground. All of these things had to happen before Daniels had a chance to step up and put his full body weight into the throw.

“I think these are the guys that aren’t on the stat sheet, but (you) know they’re in contention,” Quinn said. “And that’s part of the reason why Allegretti was captain tonight. Because he showed that to the team, about his willingness to be a warrior, by playing an ankle that was bad and tough. For him, I think it just shows who he is. And that is an identity that you have to build, because you show it again and again.”

Daniels, now able to plant his feet, threw the ball from his own 35-yard line. It landed on the Chicago 2 after traveling 200 feet (63 meters) in the air.

“I can’t hit a golf ball that far,” Allegretti said.

As always, Daniels didn’t have much to say after that.

“Just throw it as far as you can, and don’t throw it out of bounds,” he said.

MIRACLES HAPPEN BABY pic.twitter.com/lapiphNA38

— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) October 28, 2024

But on the other side of Daniels’ parabola there was… planning.

“I know this sounds crazy,” said CBS’s Tony Romo, “but there’s a method to the madness here.”

WHERE. Every football team – high school, college, pro – practices Hail Marys. And like most NFL teams, the Commanders practice it a lot. The formation is roughly a diamond: one receiver up front, two behind him on the wings and a fourth receiver in the back. On Sunday, Terry McLaurin led the way. Tight end Zach Ertz and receiver Luke McCaffrey were the wings. And Brown was in the back. Depending on how deep the ball is thrown, it is possible that each of the four Commanders players will be able to catch the ball.

Of course, practicing the exercise doesn’t mean it will work. It almost never works. There is pushing, pushing and holding.

“It’s all free there,” McLaurin said. ‘The referees are not going to call boxing out. It’s physical.”

Two Bears defenders went to McLaurin. Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson knocked down McLaurin, so he was out of the game. At the 2-yard line, Ertz and McCaffrey jumped, with Ertz getting higher. But higher than Ertz was Stevenson, who had been chatting with McLaurin all afternoon and very clearly mouthed the normally cool McLaurin in the second half: “You’re not (beep)” at Stevenson. And Stevenson took a circuitous route to the pass, taunting the Commanders fans as the ball was struck and with his back turned to the play. That will be an interesting film session in Halas Hall on Monday.

But Stevenson got his right hand on the ball. Bears safety Kevin Byard III also jumped. But the ball rolled off Stevenson’s hand, over Byard and into the waiting arms of Brown, who wasn’t there for the start of training camp, a late addition to the roster after being among the final cuts of the Houston Texans for the season belonged. It was the easiest of Brown’s six catches of the day.

“That just happened to be my assignment on the Hail Mary,” Brown said. “We have one guy up front and two in the back, try to hand it over to the jumper. … And we made the play.”

Well, there was luck involved too. But luck seems to follow certain teams in certain seasons. The harder they work, the luckier they get. Daniels outplayed Caleb Williams, who was taken one pick ahead of him in the draft by Chicago, for most of the game. He completed 21 of 38 passes for 326 yards, and Washington again won possession as the Bears were a paltry 2 of 12 on third downs. But Williams drove his team off the field when it mattered most, leaving Daniels with just 25 seconds left.

And Daniëls did that too.

Nothing seems beyond his reach and, by extension, that of his team. Not now, not after the final chapter in this incredible, franchise-altering start to the season. There are nine regular season games left, and then… who knows?

(Photo: Greg Fiume/Getty Images)