LANDOVER, Md. – As Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels danced around for 12.79 seconds on the final play of Sunday's game at Northwest Stadium, Caleb Williams was still happily standing on the Chicago Bears sideline, still believing his defense would seal the comeback he had staged.

Then Daniels' 52-yard pass bounced from a group of players into the arms of Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown in the end zone, and Williams settled on a prevailing emotion.

Frustration, but not just in the result – an 18-15 loss that dropped the Bears to 4-3. It was frustrating knowing that the Bears' offense missed numerous opportunities early in the game that could have prevented them from defending a desperate last-minute play by the Commanders.

“Because I could have played better, we could have played better on offense the whole game to put ourselves in a better position,” Williams said. “And we will.”

Williams said he did a good job of tuning out the hubbub leading up to the game, which was billed as a showdown between Williams and Daniels, the Nos. 1 and 2 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. It was also a homecoming for Williams, who grew up in Maryland and played high school football in Washington, D.C

Williams said last week that he had given away his allotment of tickets to the game, and football players from Gonzaga College High School, his alma mater, held the American flag during the national anthem on Sunday.

But Williams and the Bears' offense, which has struggled with slow starts all season, certainly didn't look cool and composed before the fourth quarter. They went scoreless in the first half, and Williams completed just four of 13 passes for 36 yards and had seven carries for 36 yards in the first three quarters.

“That's just because we're shooting ourselves in the foot, and that comes from the details and the focus in the game all week long,” Williams said. “It comes from myself. I was definitely there. I definitely missed a few passes that I don’t normally miss.”

Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Williams' rhythm and timing, which had worked so well in the Bears' last three games, were off. Eberflus regretted that the offense didn't find more ways to get the ball to their tight ends or running backs. And he felt the Bears, who changed offensive lines several times because of knee injuries to left tackle Braxton Jones and left guard Teven Jenkins, did not handle pressure well from the Commanders' linebackers.

There were also glaring missed opportunities. In the second quarter, Williams gained a yard on third-and-2, and his pass to DJ Moore on fourth-and-1 on the next drive was unsuccessful. Then, late in the first half, Williams suffered a 15-yard loss on a third-down sack that pushed the Bears out of field goal range.

“I have to get the ball out of my hands,” Williams said of the sack. “In this situation I have to throw it out of bounds. The hardest thing about this job is that you want to go out and make plays and do special things, but you also have to understand that this is the play. If you get those three points and we get some momentum, get some points on the board, it would definitely help us in the long run, it would definitely help me in the long run.”

The most notable mistake, however, was a third-and-goal call from the 1-yard line with 6 minutes, 21 seconds left in the game.

The Bears trailed 12-7 at the time after D'Andre Swift's 56-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter finally got them on the field.

With two plays to gain a yard, Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron asked Williams to hand the ball to offensive lineman Doug Kramer Jr., who they had been using at fullback on short-yardage plays. Williams said he was confident in the game. Kramer too.

“We’ve been advocating it for a few weeks now,” Kramer said. “I felt comfortable in the situation. I think Caleb did it. And apparently Shane had no problem calling it. And unfortunately I just couldn’t do it.”

The ball bounced off Kramer's chest into a pile of players, and the Commanders were able to recover the fumble. The Bears missed the chance to take the lead.

“It's a 1-yard play, and we felt like a guy that big making a leap could do it,” Eberflus said when asked if it was a questionable play.

Of course, the bright spot on the night is that Williams was 30 seconds away from adding a game-winning drive to his resume.

On the Bears' final two drives, including the one that ended in a fumble, Williams completed 6 of 8 passes for 95 yards. On the final drive, Williams hit Rome Odunze for a 16-yard gain and Keenan Allen for a 22-yard gain.

Allen then drew a pass interference penalty on Commanders cornerback Benjamin St-Juste in the end zone on fourth-and-3.

“I just put him in motion,” Allen said. “He grabbed me and wouldn’t let me through. I did my best flop job.”

Two plays later, Roschon Johnson scored on a 1-yard run. Williams completed a two-point conversion pass to Cole Kmet and the Bears took a 15-12 lead. Williams went 10 of 24 for 131 yards and 41 rushing yards to the bench.

It looked like an unlikely ending to a tough night until Daniels' final twist shocked the Bears' offense considering how well the defense had played most of the game.

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“It’s heartbreaking,” said rookie offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie, who filled in for Jones. “It’s just a super hard pill to swallow. It’s difficult to fight back in the game, win it at the end with 30 seconds left, and then to do that is just tough.”

Allen said: “It sucks. You couldn't really believe your eyes back then. Like, 'Damn, did that really just happen?'”

Williams had another description for it.

Part of Williams' legend during his rise – from a star prep player in Washington D.C. to Heisman Trophy winner at USC to the Bears' No. 1 draft pick – is that he played a big game for Gonzaga against DeMatha on a Hail Mary won.

Williams said it happened almost exactly like what happened with the Commanders — a quick out ball to get a little closer to the end zone and then a 53-yard stunner.

On Sunday, as Williams returned home to the Washington, D.C., area, Daniels, the area's new hero, added to his legend with a Hail Mary.

“Weird,” Williams said. “Definitely strange. But we have to keep going.”