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

Here’s how it went.

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 on a pass- interference penalty on Benjamin St-Juste and the subsequent 2-point call that made it 15-12 Bears.

Bears linebacker TJ Edwards: “Offense did a great job scoring and putting us ahead.”

Commanders running back Brian Robinson: “We knew we shouldn’t have crashed. The entire dressing room knew that. We knew we still had a chance.”

After a 24-yard kickoff return from Austin Ekeler, there were only 19 seconds left on the clock.

Commanders coach Dan Quinn: “You don’t have timeouts. We obviously took advantage of it early on.”

An incomplete pass was followed by Daniels finding Ertz for an 11-yard gain and Terry McLaurin for 13 to almost reach midfield.

Commanding 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 get the ball in position so Jayden could throw the ball out there.”

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

Quinn: “I thought we might have had a chance if we could move up a bit. And so that’s what I was trying to achieve.”

The preparation

McLaurin: “We know we still had plenty of time left. We literally practice that a few times a week in those ‘must-have-it’ situations.”

Commander right guard Sam Cosmi: “If you don’t practice it, it won’t come to fruition. If you practice it, you will be ready for that moment.”

Commanders tight end Zach Ertz: “We’re walking down the stretch. Never like full speed reps. It’s clear that in practice you’re not just going to burn off 70-meter sprints. But we talk about it. I’m kind of a jumper per se, and then you have a receiver in the front, a receiver in the back.

Commander linebacker Frankie Luvu: “I just walked down and told the guys, ‘Head up, man, it’s not over yet.'”

There were 2 seconds left on the clock.

Daniels: “Buy some time and don’t throw the ball out of bounds. Try to give your boys a chance.”

Brown: “We are a team full of fighters. We will not give up until the final whistle.”

The battle

The Bears sent three pass rushers, while the remaining eight defenders were given coverage. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson stood with his back to the line of scrimmage and was taunting fans when the ball was hit.

Eberflus: “We opted for the three-man rush. “I think he had the ball for a good 12 seconds, and I’m not sure what happened in terms of blocking and getting after the quarterback.”

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

Cosmi: “Two of them went this way, came back and turned to the left. Nick cleaned someone’s clock.”

McLaurin: “You’ve got guys dumping guys on the ground. We know this is a physical game, and you have a chance to make a play and change the game.”

Edwards’ He’s fast, right? He does a good job of keeping the piece alive. It takes a long time for our guys to beat this stuff.”

Quinn: “Jayden has done a fantastic job of buying time, buying time, on the right side. I don’t know how long the play lasted. …Thirteen seconds? Yes, I felt them all.

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

Brown: “Try to get down as quickly as possible, box out, keep a good position and hope Jayden can get the ball there. He has done a phenomenal job keeping the piece alive.”

The throw

Daniels, playing due to a rib injurythrew the ball up from Washington’s 35-yard line.

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams: “I thought it would be a little short.”

Daniels: “Let the guys go out there and get in that formation, put some air on the ball and let them play.”

McLaurin: “He has an incredible arm.”

Daniels: “Throw the ball up, give my guys a chance. I didn’t see anything.”

Cosmi: “I just saw him throw. I just sit there.”

The catch

Allegretti: “What is the percentage of that? Not high. And it was like the perfect tip and then there was only one guy standing there.”

McLaurin: “Zach had an incredible tip. It went exactly as we practiced it.”

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

Allegretti: “I looked at the screen and saw the ball was tipped.”

Ertz: “I don’t think I actually touched the ball. I don’t necessarily know what the movie is saying. But I’ll definitely take the hockey assist. I know I had an impact on the game and Noah finished with a touchdown and so we won the game and that’s all that matters.”

Brown: “That happened to be my assignment on the Hail Mary. We have one guy up front and two in the back, try to throw it to the jumper and Zach did a great job catching the ball with his hand which allowed him to get back to me and we made the ball.

McLaurin: “Honestly, it felt like it was going in slow motion. That ball fell straight into Noah’s arms. I don’t think I’ve seen a Hail Mary fall off a drill so perfectly.”

Biadasz: “You have to have a bit of luck. The coach always talks about the energy the ball gets, and we were in the right place at the right time and that’s a great moment you won’t forget.

Cosmi: “I see the ball falling into Noah’s hands. I just couldn’t believe it. I thought, ‘Is that a black sweater?’ And then I just sprinted 60 meters.”

Allegretti: “I had a Charley horse, so I was wandering around somewhere with the ball in the air, looking up and thinking, ‘Let’s see what happens.'”

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

The aftermath

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

Robinson: “I jumped into the stands and everyone was just excited.”

McLaurin: “You want to come out for your team in the big moments. We just said to each other, ‘It’s not over until it’s over.’

Daniels: “I was definitely excited. Excited because it’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Not many people experience things like this. That was my first time.”

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

McLaurin: “We made it happen. It wasn’t just one man. But it doesn’t happen often that we can execute that game. I have never participated in such a victory in the competition.”

Quinn: “It feels like I’m six 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 just throw up a prayer. … If you’re talking about losing a game on a Hail Mary and you’re trying to solve 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 fell their way.”

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

Biadasz: “You never take any victory for granted, no matter how it happens.”

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

___

AP N.F.L.: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl