LANDOVER, Md. — As the quarterback at Gonzaga College High in Washington, D.C., Caleb Williams won what was called one of the greatest high school games ever played with a Hail Mary touchdown pass.
Sunday, he lost one of the ugliest NFL games ever played.
On a Hail Mary touchdown by Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Talk about a homecoming.
“It’s funny enough,” Williams said after the Chicago Bears’ 18-15 loss at Northwest Stadium. “It happened actually just like that. I threw an out ball and then threw a Hail Mary. And they did the same thing today. Weird. Definitely weird.”
Beyond weird.
In the final 10 seconds of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship game in 2018, Williams hit a quick route to the right sideline and Gonzaga’s receiver got out of bounds, leaving four seconds on the clock.
On the next play, Williams bounced around in the pocket as his receivers raced down the field as time expired. He then lofted a pass into the end zone that was caught by receiver John Marshall for a 53-yard touchdown.
Insanity.
Game over.
Gonzaga won the WCAC, one of the toughest conferences in high school football, with a 46-43 victory against rival DeMatha.
History repeated itself in the worst way Sunday.
With six seconds remaining on first-and-10 from Washington’s 35, Daniels threw a quick out to receiver Terry McLaurin, who was uncovered. McLaurin immediately ran out of bounds for a 13-yard gain, leaving two seconds on the clock.
On the next play, Daniels scrambled back and forth before unleashing a pass toward the end zone that went off the hand of Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson — who was recorded seemingly taunting the Commanders’ home crowd as the ball was snapped — before landing in the hands of Commanders receiver Noah Brown in the end zone for a 52-yard touchdown.
Insanity.
Game over.
Washington won the first meeting between Williams and Daniels in a game CBS flexed into its afternoon slot for most of the country to see. The broadcast showed Williams’ game-winning touchdown pass from high school. Williams then lost on one by Daniels. Gonzaga’s current football team held the flag before the game for the national anthem, too.
“I think I did a pretty good job tuning it out, emotion-wise,” Williams said. “Just another football game. I did my best to try and go out and win the game — and win the game at the end. Didn’t come out with the win.”
Daniels was better than Williams in Round 1 of what the Bears and Commanders hope becomes the best quarterback matchup in the NFC. Williams was 10-for-24 passing for 131 yards and a 59.5 passer rating. He was sacked twice, including one for a 15-yard loss late in the second quarter that pushed the Bears out of kicker Cairo Santos’ field goal range.
“I knew we were in field goal range, and I’ve got to be better,” Williams said. “I got to get the ball out of my hands. I’ve got to throw it out of bounds.”
Williams ran for 41 yards on 10 carries as he escaped pressure behind the Bears’ battered offensive line. The Bears lost left tackle Braxton Jones and left guard Teven Jenkins to knee injuries. Williams also slid short of a first down on one scramble.
“I actually thought I had the first down,” he said. “I should’ve just taken the hit and fell forward, but I slid.”
For Williams, it was just a bad game after three good ones.
“The progressions, I thought he got off them a little bit,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “But again, the rhythm and timing that we’ve seen over the last couple weeks … it could be guys that were covered, pressure in his face, whatever that might be. But again, that’s an everybody thing. That’s a protection thing. That’s a route-running thing. And that’s a quarterback thing.”
And yet the Bears had a 15-12 lead with 25 seconds remaining after running back Roschon Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown run and tight end Cole Kmet’s 2-point conversion. It punctuated a possession that was kept alive by Washington cornerback Benjamin St.-Juste’s pass-interference penalty on receiver Keenan Allen on fourth-and-3 from Washington’s 12.
On that scoring drive, Williams hit receiver Rome Odunze for a 16-yard gain on third-and-10 from the Bears’ 38. Two plays later, he danced around defensive end Dorance Armstrong on a play-action play before lofting the ball to Allen, who gained 22 yards.
“Obviously, when you have a drive like that to go down and score and then they have a Hail Mary like that, it’s tough,” Williams said. “I believe in this defense when they go out there, and to have a play like that, they covered it pretty well, tipped back to No. 85. I’m going to keep believing in them as they believed in us multiple times when we just got stalled, shot ourselves in the foot.
“It was 12 points (before the Hail Mary), so give them kudos. Obviously, it’s a heart-wrenching play to have. We practice it. Trust me. We practice it. And sometimes things just don’t go your way. And it’s tough when it’s something like that.”
The Bears got some help from an ineligible-man-downfield penalty on lineman Sam Cosmi, which negated receiver Olamide Zaccheaus’ 32-yard score on a screen. But, as Williams said, Eberflus’ defense prevented the highest-scoring team in the NFL from running away with the game as the offense struggled.
It was a wild game that required a wild finish. Johnson’s touchdown run — which came a possession after the Bears’ ill-fated decision to call a dive for center-turned-fullback Doug Kramer that resulted in an awful fumble at the goal line — just wasn’t wild enough.
The game needed a Hail Mary to end it.
But this time Williams didn’t throw it. Daniels did.
“I thought it was going to be a little short,” Williams said. “Actually, it did end up being a little short, but the tip ended up pushing it back.”
Right into Brown’s hands.
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(Top photo: Greg Fiume / Getty Images)
