LOVERRO: Daniels-Williams rivalry has potential to be NFL’s next Brady-Manning

Sunday’s Jayden Daniels-Caleb Williams showdown was supposed to be a sneak preview of one of the NFL’s hottest coming attractions: an updated version of Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning for a new generation of fans.

But for 55 minutes and 19 seconds, this Washington Commanders versus Chicago Bears contest Sunday at Northwest Stadium felt more like Jason Campbell against Kyle Orton. Rex Grossman versus, well, Rex Grossman. Carson Wentz against Justin Fields – remember that glorious 12-7 Washington win in 2022?

That was the score — 12-7 — on Sunday when Williams and the Bears took the field with 4:21 left and the Commanders trying to protect a lead built on four Austin Seibert field goals.

Williams, the former heralded Gonzaga College High School quarterback who went on to star at USC, drove the Bears down the field with completions to Rome Odunze, Keenan Allen and a key pass interference call on Washington’s Benjamin St-Juste at the goal line. With just 27 seconds left in the game, Chicago took a 15-12 lead.

Then Daniels took the ball on his 24-yard line with 19 seconds left.

You know what happened then. The whole world knows.

In that last 4:21, everyone got what they came for. Brady-Manning redux. 

Daniels’ Hail Mary toss with no time left that bounced its way to Noah Brown in the end zone for an 18-15 Washington win was an unforgettable inaugural W in what the NFL and the two franchises and their fans would like to see as the beginning of a career-long rivalry between two young stars.

Coach Dan Quinn tried to downplay the idea of quarterbacks looking to top the guy from the other team under center before the Commanders played the Baltimore Ravens two weeks ago and Daniels went up against two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson.

“They’re not playing against each other,” Quinn said.

But the reality is, like great baseball pitchers who don’t actually face each other, quarterbacks inevitably measure themselves against the quarterback on the other sideline.

After the loss to Baltimore, Daniels told that tale when he said, “You go out there, and obviously, you keep that in the back of your head like, ‘Man we got to score, because they have a quarterback on the other side who can put up points, too.”

In moments of quiet honesty, Daniels likely does not have the same concerns about Daniel Jones, the quarterback the Commanders will face next when they travel to the Meadowlands to take on the 2-5 New York Giants.

Williams isn’t Jackson, but neither is he Jones.

The Daniels-Williams rivalry is in its infancy and may be undermined by a Bears organization that has yet to prove they can get it right with their young quarterback. Circumstances may change. 

But going into Sunday, the story was the clash between the two rookie passers. Williams, the No. 1 pick in 2024, and Daniels, the No. 2, will be measured against each other for the immediate future at least and perhaps beyond.

If a rivalry does blossom, so could the rivalry between the two teams. The Bears don’t play in the NFC East, but they are in the same conference. The Colts didn’t play in the AFC East, but that didn’t stop the creation of a rivalry between the two teams in the postseason conference showdowns. 

We are a long way from that, but, hey, right now Washington has no blood rival. The Cowboys feud has been dead for years, and, with Dallas in typical self-destruct mode, is not likely to be revived anytime soon. That rivalry is living on the fumes of memories.

There was a time when Chicago versus Washington meant everything. 

They played each other four times in the NFL title game from 1937 to 1943, and in their first championship bout, Washington owner George Preston Marshall came out of the stands and jumped into the middle of a fight between players from both teams. He and Bears owner and coach George Halas nearly came to blows.

I doubt that Commanders owner Josh Harris will be coming out of the stands anytime soon to fight Bears owner Virginia Halas McCaskey. 

But Daniels and Williams? That got off to a rocking start Sunday. Score one knockout for the kid whose fans chanted, “MVP, MVP,” as they poured out of Northwest Stadium.

• You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.