The 2024 NFL season featured several memorable plays for the Washington Commanders. The “Hail Mary” from quarterback Jayden Daniels to Noah Brown to sink the Chicago Bears in Week 8 stands out above the rest. After all, it was the “NFL Moment of the Year.”
Daniels’s touchdown pass to wide receiver Terry McLaurin in the Week 3 edition of Monday Night Football to defeat the Bengals also ranked high on the list.
However, perhaps the most underrated play of the year came in Week 12 when the Commanders hosted the Cowboys in Landover. It was a wild game tied 3-3 at halftime but featured 41 combined points in the fourth quarter.
It looked like the Cowboys had clinched the win when wide receiver KaVontae Turpin returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown with just over two minutes remaining to extend Dallas’ lead to 27-17.
After the Commanders kicked a quick field goal to make it 27-20, Washington made a defensive stop, giving Daniels one more shot. Remarkably, Daniels threw a dart to McLaurin, and he did the rest, taking it 86 yards to the house.
According to Next Gen Stats, the McLaurin catch-and-run made the list of “Incredible YAC” plays.
NGS explained what makes a play “incredible.”
Receiver X catches the ball with no defenders near him and gets 10 yards after the catch. Receiver Y catches the ball in tight coverage, breaks a tackle and gains 5 yards after the catch.
Here’s McLaurin’s touchdown.
COMMANDERS 86-YARD TOUCHDOWN WOW
: #DALvsWAS on FOX
: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/apaNEKNCkh
— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2024
McLaurin went 60 yards after the catch, including 48 “YAC above expected.”
Unfortunately for the Commanders, kicker Austin Seibert missed the extra point, allowing the Cowboys to hold on for the win.