Jayden Daniels and Commanders may have been stripped of awesome NFL award in tough loss to Cowboys

Even though the Washington Commanders (7-5) are in the midst of a three-game losing streak, it’s hard to argue that 2024 has been anything but successful through 12 games.

One of the best moments of the Commanders’ season, and across the NFL in general, was back in Week 8 when Jayden Daniels hit Noah Brown on a Hail Mary attempt to beat the Chicago Bears on the final play of the game.

That play is forever-burned in the minds of both Commanders and Bears fans, as well as plenty of NFL fans in general. How can it not be? Any successful, game-winning Hail Mary is a big deal and will be etched in football lore for as long as the sport continues to exist.

It’s definitely going to be a candidate for the NFL’s Moment of the Year award, which is handed out during the NFL Honors ceremony, an annual event where the league recognizes the biggest and best contributions from the prior season.

In fact, one could easily argue it’s the leading candidate. Well, that is until Dallas Cowboys KR KaVontae Turpin put his name in the running after his sensational kick return during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s disappointing 34-26 loss.

The Commanders had just scored a touchdown and converted the two-point conversion to cut the Cowboys’ lead to three. Daniels and the offense had serious momentum after a very dismal three-quarters-and-change before that and the defense had been playing pretty well throughout the game.

A non-answer for the Cowboys certainly would’ve put the game on the line, if not into overtime at worst, considering where things had stacked up to that point. But, Turpin completely shut that down and even added some flair with the spin move.

Turpin’s touchdown has to be a strong candidate for the prize presented by Next Gen Stats not because of the yardage alone but because of the nasty spin move he pulled out followed by a show of blazing speed and the fact that the seemed to be broken from the start as he failed to field the football.

The play has been all the rage among NFL fans following Week 12 and for good reason. Additionally, Turpin clocked in at 21.35 miles per hour during the play, the third-highest speed on any kick return of the season, according to Next Gen Stats.

Obviously, there will be other strong contenders for the award, such as Josh Allen’s game-clinching scramble against the Kansas City Chiefs or Jayden Daniels‘ Hail Mary touchdown pass, and as we head into December, moments from games with more at stake will have an edge over Turpin’s return.

Even still, I fully expect this play to be a finalist at next year’s NFL Honors show. – Mauricio Rodriguez, A to Z Dallas

We’ll see if the Cowboys one-up the Commanders again, but until then, the Week 18 matchup is Washington’s best shot at revenge. Regardless of what side you’re on, if the rematch is anything close to what we just saw this past week – we’re in for yet another treat.

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