Jayden Daniels leads Commanders to first playoff win in nearly 7,000 days
Can an entire team come in clutch? The answer is: Yes.
The Commanders win once again with another late game scoring drive, lifting Washington to a dramatic 23-20 victory over the Buccaneers in Tampa in an NFC Wild Card playoff game.
Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels threw for two touchdowns and led the final drive setting up a game-winning 36-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez.
The Commanders picked up the team’s first playoff win in 19 years and now advance to face the Lions in Detroit next weekend in the NFC Divisional Round.
Daniels, playing with a bandage beneath his right eye after his face was bloodied, became the third rookie quarterback in three years to win a playoff game.
Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers (10-8) missed several opportunities and the veteran quarterback committed a critical turnover in the fourth quarter. The Bucs couldn’t get 1 yard on two tries from the Commanders 12 and settled for a field goal to tie the game before Washington’s winning drive.
The Buccaneers opened the season with a 37-20 victory at home against the Commanders in Daniels’ first game. Daniels went on to have an outstanding season, was selected to the Pro Bowl and helped Washington improve from 4-13 to 12-5.
Now, he has them headed to Detroit to face Jared Goff and the Lions’ high-octane offense.
After Tampa Bay’s defense held inside the 5 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to preserve a 17-13 lead, Mayfield gave the Commanders the ball right back when he fumbled an exchange on a handoff to Jalen McMillan. Washington recovered at the Buccaneers 13. On fourth-and-2 from the 5, Daniels connected with Terry McLaurin in the back of the end zone for a 20-17 lead.
Mayfield drove the Buccaneers to a second-and-1 at the Commanders 12 but they settled for a 32-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin that tied it at 20-20 with 4:41 left.
The Bucs never got the ball back, thanks to Daniels, who calmly led his team downfield. With less than a minute left, he was hit behind the line of scrimmage but scrambled for 4 yards on third-and-2, allowing him to take a knee to set up Gonzalez’s winning kick.
Commanders coach Dan Quinn previously passed up short field goals on fourth down twice and the offense failed to convert before McLaurin’s TD catch.
On fourth down from the Buccaneers 4 less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Daniels threw incomplete. He was pressured and threw incomplete on fourth-and-2 from Tampa Bay’s 20 on Washington’s first possession of the game.
Mayfield tossed a 4-yard TD pass to Bucky Irving to give the Buccaneers a 17-13 lead in the third quarter. On the previous play, 350-pound defensive tackle Vita Vea was Mayfield’s intended receiver, but the QB got sacked for a 2-yard loss.
Mayfield fired a 1-yard TD pass to Mike Evans to tie it at 10 late in the first half.
Gonzalez kicked a 22-yard field goal to give Washington a 13-10 lead on the opening drive of the second half. The Commanders had a first down at the 3 but Tampa Bay’s defense held.
After Austin Ekeler ran 2 yards on fourth-and-1 from the Buccaneers 23 late in the first quarter, the Commanders went ahead a few plays later to complete a 92-yard drive. Daniels, with his face bloodied, tossed a 10-yard TD pass to Dyami Brown for a 7-3 lead.
A holding call on cornerback Zyon McCollum negated a third-down sack by Yaya Diaby and allowed Washington to extend its next drive that ended with Gonzalez nailing a 50-yarder for a 10-3 lead.
McLaughlin kicked a 50-yard field goal on the opening drive. The Buccaneers were 9-1 when they scored first in the regular season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.