Commanders' Jayden Daniels edges Caleb Williams, Bears as both top draft picks come up clutch in wild finish

Both teams have reason to be proud of their young quarterbacks

Only one rookie quarterback from Sunday's anticipated matchup between the Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders got the headlines and highlights after the fact. And that man deserved it: Jayden Daniels came in as the Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite, and he lived up to the hype, standing tall despite bruised ribs to launch a 52-yard walk-off Hail Mary touchdown in an 18-15 victory.

Yet the otherwise sluggish Week 8 contest, in which both sides failed to reach the end zone in the first half, was ultimately a promising moment for both signal-callers. Perfect? No. But you could see why the Bears and Commanders went Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels, respectively, atop the 2024 NFL Draft.

Let's start with Daniels, since he was victorious. Even with battered ribs, which briefly prompted some grimacing late in the game, the LSU product looked himself against a feisty Matt Eberflus defense, which is to say he looked smooth on the ground and snappy through the air, leading three scoring drives in Washington's first four possessions. If not for self-inflicted wounds at the fundamental level -- namely a pair of illegal-man-downfield penalties -- he might've had three different touchdown series by the end of the day.

The Commanders aren't 6-2, surprisingly atop the NFC East, in spite of Daniels. They're 6-2 primarily because of him. And it was never more apparent than on the final drive of Sunday's bout between the first and second overall picks of this year's class. Handed an abrupt three-point deficit after Chicago's 10-play touchdown drive to go ahead with just 25 seconds on the clock, Daniels didn't panic. He lasered two completions to set up the Hail Mary with six seconds left, and then he flitted around the pocket until the time was just right for the final heave, giving his men downfield the best chance at miraculous glory.

Obviously he doesn't come out with the "W," or nearly as pretty stats, without Noah Brown's uncovered reception behind the scraggle of leaping bodies on the desperate conclusion. Here's the kicker, though: With Daniels, the magical finish doesn't feel out of the ordinary. It feels par for the course. He's elevated everything about Washington with natural dynamism and unshaken composure. He might just elevate the Commanders to the playoffs soon enough.

As for Williams, things certainly weren't as smooth. His playmaking tends to register as more frenetic, in part because he's got that Kyler Murray-esque start-and-stop pocket movement, and in part because the Bears just aren't as seamless an operation under offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. It was evident early, with Williams entering halftime just 3 of 8 through the air, evoking memories of his ugly and erratic first starts in Windy City. By the closing minutes, however, he'd shifted into a higher gear, showcasing some of his own resilience with essentially three touchdown drives on his final four possessions.

One of those drives did not end in an actual score, but it wasn't really his fault, with Chicago getting cute on a trick goal-line handoff to "fullback" Doug Kramer, a backup offensive lineman who promptly fumbled the ball into Washington's hands. In fact, Williams only upped his game after the Kramer blunder, hitting back-to-back first-down throws to get Chicago into enemy territory, down five with less than three minutes to play, and then wisely targeting Keenan Allen on fourth down from the Commanders' 12 to draw a pass-interference penalty. In other words, he was a savvy quarterback when it mattered most, and if not for Daniels' superior heroics on the ensuing and final drive, he would've improved the Bears to 5-2.

In the end, it's probably fitting that Daniels won this first meeting of the top-two draft picks, because his rookie season has been superior on the whole. Bears fans shouldn't be fully pouting just yet, though. Both franchises have reason to maintain hope under center. Sunday showed it most as the clock winded down.