Commanders' Daniels takes blame for botched final play in OT
LANDOVER, Md. -- The Washington Commanders were in position to attempt a winning kick in overtime to beat the New York Giants . But all they ended up kicking was themselves after botching the final play in OT and preventing a potential field goal attempt.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels was tackled for no gain with eight seconds left in overtime and, with no timeouts, the Commanders could not stop the clock. So rather than a potential Drew Stevens 42-yard field goal, they were left trying to explain what appeared to be inexplicable in a 27-27 tie with the New York Giants.
"We have to stop the clock," Daniels said. "We have to know the situation. We have to relay that as an offense. It starts with everyone, top down. Ultimately, it's on me."
"Unacceptable," receiver Terry McLaurin said.
Even Magic Johnson, one of the team's minority owners, weighed in with a post on X , writing that he was in "total disbelief my Commanders had such poor clock management in today's overtime game. ... All we had to do was kick the field goal and we would have won the game!"
It resulted in a game McLaurin -- echoing his teammates and coach Dan Quinn -- said "feels like a loss." After the play, Quinn stood at the 25-yard line as players exited the field. Guard Sam Cosmi kicked a pylon in the end zone as he approached the tunnel.
Washington is 1-3-1 heading into next week's Monday night game at the San Francisco 49ers .
Giants coach John Harbaugh said to the media before taking the podium, "I don't want any of you all acting like you've ever seen a game like that or you're ever going to see a game like that again. Wow."
Washington was in position to win multiple times Sunday -- first by holding a 14-point fourth-quarter lead and then by driving downfield after forcing a fumble at its own 24-yard line in overtime. In Daniels' first game back since dislocating his left elbow in Week 2, he completed three passes for 35 yards and scrambled for another 16 on the Commanders' final drive.
After a Rachaad White 2-yard run to the Giants' 24, all heck broke loose for Washington in what might have been a season-altering sequence. White was tackled with 50 seconds left. Washington snapped the ball with 12 seconds remaining; Daniels dropped back as three tight ends and receiver Trey Burks ran routes.
Daniels then turned upfield and rather than throw the ball away to stop the clock, he tucked it and was tackled for no gain with eight seconds to play. The Commanders could not spike the ball in time to get Stevens onto the field.
"They run the play, and it seemed like a bunch of confusion on the play from their part," Giants defensive lineman Shelby Harris said. "I'm thinking, they're not going to be able to get a play. And then they're rushing. They were slow getting [to] the ball, too."
Quinn said the play was intended to be an outside throw to tight end Ben Sinnott .
"That has to come from me," Quinn said. "Don't even put him into that spot. We don't need to gain more [yards]."
When asked whether it was communicated to Daniels that he should call for a spike, Quinn said, "No, we're just trying to gain more. We don't need to. Easy enough to say, 'Hey, man, let's clock it right here. We're early enough. Go get It.'"
When Daniels was asked whether the players knew they were out of timeouts, he said, "We just got to communicate that. That's the whole thing. It starts with me communicating to the whole offense in the huddle, and I think everyone will say that top down."
Quinn said they practice end-of-game situations every Thursday in practice. McLaurin said they practice centering the ball in the middle of the field to set up a kick.
"Obviously, we didn't have it executed or communicated right as an offense," said McLaurin, who was not on the field for the play. "That just can't happen. That just can't happen. We have to take that. That's a bad lesson to learn. You've got to be better at the NFL level."
The gaffe overshadowed Giants running back Cam Skattebo 's fumble that set up Washington's drive. The Giants were in position to attempt their own field goal to complete a comeback from down 27-13 with 11:05 seconds left in the game.
"It was a sigh of relief," Skattebo said of the Commanders' botched ending. "I probably won't get reamed as much, but I'm still going to get reamed. ... If that happens again this year, I promise you [a fumble] won't happen."