Daniels passes for 2 TDs and Commanders outlast Saints 20-19 on New Orleans' failed 2-point try

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jayden Daniels threw two first-half touchdown passes to Terry McLaurin, and the Washington Commanders narrowly held off a rally by Spencer Rattler and the Saints, winning 20-19 on Sunday when New Orleans failed on a 2-point conversion with no time left.

Daniels, returning to play in Louisiana a year after winning the Heisman Trophy with LSU, completed 25 of 31 passes for 226 yards. He also ran for 66 yards, highlighted by a first-down scramble on third-and-14 to set up a third-quarter field goal by the recently signed Greg Joseph that put the Commanders (9-5) ahead 17-0.

But Rattler relieved starting quarterback Jake Haener and nearly carried the Saints (5-9) to victory. After Joseph missed a 54-yard field goal with 1:55 to go, Rattler led a 56-yard drive and threw a 1-yard TD pass to Foster Moreau as time expired.

Interim coach Darren Rizzi went for the win, but Rattler could not complete his pass to tightly covered tight end Juwan Johnson — and the Saints fell to 0-4 without quarterback Derek Carr, who was concussed and injured his left, non-throwing hand a week earlier.

Washington helped New Orleans stay in the game with a combination of penalties (nine for 84 yards) and missed opportunities.

McLaurin had seven catches for 73 yards, but was overthrown while open deep down the middle in the fourth quarter. He later got his hands on, but could not control, a long pass down the sideline.

Rattler passed for 135 yards and a touchdown after replacing Haener, a second-year pro who made his first career start. Haener completed just four of 10 passes for 49 yards and was intercepted.

Rattler led all four of New Orleans' scoring drives, the first of which ended with receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. passing to running back Alvin Kamara for a 21-yard touchdown that made it 17-7. Field goals of 41 and 51 yards by Blake Grupe cut Washington's lead to 20-13.

Daniels took eight sacks, although a couple of those came when he ran out of bounds for no gain.

Washington opened the scoring on a play resembling sandlot football, with Daniels rolling left to elude defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, nearly falling down as he ducked away from defensive tackle Brian Bresee, and then throwing over the outstretched arms of linebacker Pete Werner. McLaurin caught it while running across the end zone and held on while colliding hard with three players — teammate Brian Robinson Jr. and defenders Alontae Taylor and Kool-Aid McKinstry.

Commanders: TE Zach Ertz left with concussion symptoms after his one-handed catch across the middle in the second quarter gave Washington a first-and-goal at the 4, setting up McLaurin's second TD catch. ... C Tyler Biadasz was added to the injury report with an illness on Saturday and was ruled out shortly before kickoff. ... S Jeremy Chinn was hurt while assisting on a tackle in the fourth quarter.

Saints: RB Alvin Kamara was checked for a groin injury in the fourth quarter and did not return. ... McKinstry was treated for an unspecified injury in the fourth quarter.

Commanders: Host Philadelphia next Sunday.

Saints: Visit Green Bay on Monday, Dec. 23.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Washington Commanders defensive end Dorance Armstrong (92) sacks New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler (18) in the second half of an NFL football game in New Orleans, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Washington Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil (0) celebrates a win after an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) scores a touchdown in the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders in New Orleans, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) throws a touchdown pass in the first half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) sets back to pass the ball in the first half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler (18) throws a pass in the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders in New Orleans, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) runs the ball in the second half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

The Washington Commanders celebrate a win against the New Orleans Saints after an NFL football game in New Orleans, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson (83) missed a two point conversion in the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders in New Orleans, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana officials are preparing to execute the state's first death row inmate in 15 years, who was convicted a quarter-century ago of killing his brother and three other men.

Joseph Corcoran, 49, has been on Indiana's death row since 1999. If he is put to death as scheduled Wednesday, it will be the state's first execution since 2009. In that time, 13 executions were carried out in Indiana but those were initiated and performed by federal officials in 2020 and 2021 at a federal prison.

Corcoran is scheduled to be executed before sunrise Wednesday at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of Chicago.

Indiana's resumption of executions is refocusing attention on Corcoran's case and questions about how the state has been able to obtain a drug for lethal injections.

Corcoran was 22 on July 26, 1997, when he fatally shot his brother, 30-year-old James Corcoran, and three other men: Douglas A. Stillwell, 30, Timothy G. Bricker, 30, and Robert Scott Turner, 32.

According to court records, Joseph Corcoran was under stress because the forthcoming marriage of his sister to Turner would necessitate moving out of the Fort Wayne, Indiana, home he had shared with his brother and sister.

He awoke to hear his brother and others downstairs talking about him, loaded his rifle and then shot all four men, records show.

While jailed, Corcoran reportedly bragged about shooting his parents in 1992 in northern Indiana's Steuben County. He was charged in their killings but acquitted.

Corcoran's sister, Kelly Ernst, who lost a brother and her fiancé in the 1997 shootings, declined to discuss whether she believes her younger brother killed their parents.

But Ernst, who lives in northeastern Indiana, said she believes the death penalty should be abolished and her brother’s execution won’t solve or change anything. She does not plan to attend his execution.

Ernst said she had been out of contact with her brother for 10 years until recently. She believes it’s “fairly obvious” he has a serious mental illness.

“I kind of just feel that there’s no such thing as closure," Ernst, 56, said Friday. “I just don’t know what else to say. I haven’t slept in weeks.”

Indiana last executed Matthew Wrinkles, who was put to death in 2009 for killing his wife, her brother and sister-in-law in 1994.

State officials said they couldn't continue executions because a combination of drugs used in lethal injections had become unavailable. There has been a yearslong nationwide shortage because pharmaceutical companies — particularly in Europe, where opposition to capital punishment is strongest — have refused to sell their products for that purpose.

That has prompted states to turn to compounding pharmacies, which manufacture drugs specifically for a client. Some states have switched to more accessible drugs such as the sedatives pentobarbital or midazolam, both of which, critics say, can cause excruciating pain.

Indiana is following that lead, planning to use pentobarbital to execute Corcoran.

The federal government also used pentobarbital in the 13 federal executions carried out during the final six months of then-President Donald Trump’s first term.

Many states, including Indiana, refuse to divulge where they get the drugs. When asked how the state obtained the pentobarbital it plans to use in Corcoran’s execution, the Indiana Department of Correction directed The Associated Press to a state law labeling the source of lethal injection drugs as confidential.

In June, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the state had acquired pentobarbital and asked the Indiana Supreme Court to set a date for Corcoran’s execution. The high court set his Dec. 18 execution date in September.

State law lays out the specific timing and process. It also limits the people who have a role in an execution and shields their identities and specifies who can witness executions at the Indiana State Prison.

At the time of an execution, Indiana code states that the only people allowed to be present are the prison warden, those selected to assist in the execution, the prison physician, one additional physician, the condemned person's spiritual adviser and the prison chaplain.

Up to five friends or relatives of the person being executed and up to eight relatives of the victims of the crime are allowed to view the process.

The Indiana Department of Correction did not respond to multiple queries from the AP asking whether any of the staffers who will help carry out Corcoran’s execution have previously taken part in a state execution.

Indiana is one of only two states, along with Wyoming, that do not allow for members of the news media to witness state executions, according to a recent report by the Death Penalty Information Center.

That report states “unobstructed media access to exe­cu­tions is crit­i­cal because the media observes what the pub­lic can­not. States gen­er­al­ly pro­hib­it cit­i­zens from attend­ing exe­cu­tions, so the media becomes the public’s watch­dog, pro­vid­ing impor­tant infor­ma­tion about how the gov­ern­ment is fol­low­ing the law and using tax­pay­er funds.”

Corcoran had exhausted his federal appeals in 2016.

His attorneys asked the Indiana Supreme Court to stop his execution but were denied on Dec. 5. The high court also denied petitions to argue whether he is competent to be executed.

In a handwritten affidavit to the justices, Corcoran said he no longer wanted to litigate his case.

“I am guilty of the crime I was convicted of, and accept the findings of all the appellate courts,” he wrote.

On Wednesday, his attorneys filed a petition in U.S. District Court of Northern Indiana asking the court to stop his execution and hold a hearing to decide if it would be unconstitutional because Corcoran has a serious mental illness.

They argued he has “severe and longstanding paranoid schizophrenia” and his condition “manifests as auditory hallucinations and delusions that prison guards are torturing him with an ultrasound machine.”

“Indeed, he has volunteered to be executed, and is eager to be executed, because he believes his execution will give him relief from the perceived pain his delusions and hallucinations inflict upon him,” the filing states.

But on Friday, the federal district court declined to intervene, prompting defense attorneys to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

There's also the possibility that outgoing Gov. Eric Holcomb, who has said he would let the legal process “play out,” could step in.

Indiana Disability Rights, a disability rights organization, asked Holcomb in a Dec. 6 letter to commute the death sentence to life in prison without parole.

“Executing individuals who cannot fully comprehend their circumstances, or the consequences of their actions, violates fundamental principles of human dignity and equity,” the letter said.

Associated Press reporter Sophia Tareen contributed to this report from Chicago.

David Frank walks into the governor's office during a gathering of the Indiana Abolition Coalition at the Statehouse, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

David Frank speaks during a gathering of the Indiana Abolition Coalition at the Statehouse, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

David Frank speaks during a gathering of the Indiana Abolition Coalition at the Statehouse, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Bob Henry stands in the governor's office during a gathering of the Indiana Abolition Coalition at the Statehouse, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

This undated photo provided by the Indiana Department of Corrections, shows Joseph Corcoran, who is scheduled to be executed before sunrise on Dec. 18, 2024. (Indiana Department of Corrections via AP)

David Frank speaks during a gathering of the Indiana Abolition Coalition at the Statehouse, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)