It was a game of key plays but no play so key as the amazing pass and catch from Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels to veteran tight end Zach Ertz against the Atlanta Falcons in overtime for a walk-off touchdown to clinch a playoff berth on Sunday night at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland.
The 30-24 win put the Commanders into the sixth seed for the playoffs, replacing the Green Bay Packers, now the seventh seed following the Packers loss earlier in the day to the Minnesota Vikings, 27-25.
On Sunday night, it’s a celebration for the Commanders. Tomorrow, the focus is on Dallas week for the Commanders and they can retain the sixth seed in the playoffs with a win over the Cowboys next Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.
Sunday night’s game could have been something completely different. On the last play of regulation, tied 24-24, Falcons kicker Riley Patterson lined up for a 56-yard field goal to win the game. The kick was high enough and straight enough but short. No good.
Daniels was again dazzling in the second half, turning third and fourth down plays into first downs and six and seven minute drives. While it was an emotionally draining game for Commanders fans like myself, Northwest Stadium fans were in a frenzy.
In overtime, the Commanders won the coin toss and took the ball, starting on their own 30 yard line. A 5-yard false start–one of the less costlier penalites of the night–brought the ball to the Washington 25. Daniels started with a 7 yard run up the middle followed by a 10 yard pass to Ertz for a first down. Daniels ran for another 7 yards around the left end. On 3rd and 2 at the 50, Daniels scrambled to his right, dodging Falcon defenders for 16 yards to the Atlanta 34. Another key play, on 2nd and 6 at the Atlanta 30, Daniels threw to the right flat and a wide open Chris Rodriguez, Jr., who tried to hurdle a Falcon player and was pushed out of bounds at the Atlanta 18 yard line. After a six-yard run to the right on 2nd down and 6, Daniels had the Commanders at the 8-yard line, first and goal. Three plays later, the rookie phenom threw to Ertz low enough so that only the veteran tight end could make the reception.
The fans in the stadium erupted. One person who attended the game said he never heard the stadium that loud before. It was a wild finish for a team that played at a different level in the second half.
In the first half, Falcons running back Bijan Robinson ran completely over Commanders defenders much like Saquon Barkley had done in the first half last week for the Philadelphia Eagles. In the first half for the Falcons, Robinson, ran for 82 yards with two touchdowns and the Falcons were up 17-7 over the Commanders at halftime.
But in the fourth quarter, on first down, Commanders safety Quan Martin knocked the arm of Falcons rookie quarterback Michael Penix, Jr., for an incomplete pass. Dante Fowler rushed the Falcons quarterback into an incomplete pass as the stadium sounded much like it did during the Washington football glory days at RFK Stadium. The defense sacked Penix, who fumbled only to have it recovered by a Falcon. Following the punt, that Washington football spirit came alive on the field and it wasn’t Bijan Robinson running over defenders but Commanders running back Brian Robinson, Jr., running down Falcon defenders.
A roll out to the right by Daniels passing to his left and tight end John Bates ran to the 3 yard line. First and goal. Jayden Daniels connects with Olamide Zacchaeus for a touchdown to take a two score lead with less than 5 minutes remaining. But wait. A holding penalty by Sam Cosmi held the Commanders to only a field goal and a 24-17 lead with 4:32 remaining in the game.
The Commanders could not put Falcons rookie quarterback Penix away on Sunday night as Penix emerged from the game not only the current quarterback for Atlanta but the future for the Falcons organization.
Late in the fourth quarter, on 4th and 11 and down 24-17, Penix fired a pass left to Drake London at the 31-yard line to keep the Falcons drive alive with just under 3 minutes remaining. On 1st and goal at the five yard line with just over 2 minutes remaining and Robinson in the wildcat, the snap to Robinson flied over his head and all the way back to the 26. A 13-yard pass from Penix to London put the ball on the 13 and after an incomplete pass, it was fourth down again. Penix, however, zipped a pass into the hands of a diving tight end Kyle Pitts to tie the game at 24-24.
At the beginning of the game, it looked like Penix wasn’t ready for prime time. Commanders cornerback Quan Martin intercepted Penix at the Washington 33 yard line on a pass deep left for wide receiver Chris Blair and Martin returned it 29 yards to the Atlanta 38. It clearly a miscommunication between Penix, Jr., starting his second game of the season, and Blair. Washington would drive down to the 7-yard line and Daniels hit Olamide Zaccheaus in stride for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
But Penix kept his composure driving Atlanta down the field with Robinson runs, Penix and Pitts connecting for at 23 yard gain to the Washington 34 yard line and capping off the drive with a Robinson burst for a 1 yard and a touchdown.
Daniels and the Commanders quickly drove the ball down the field into the Atlanta territory and the second quarter. But Falcons linebacker Kaden.Ellis intercepted Daniels at the Atlanta 16 yard line and returning it 12 yards to the 28-yard line. Penix and the Falcons turned the 7-7 game around driving the Falcons on an 11-play, 72-yard drive to a second Bijan Robinson one-yard TD and a 14-7 Falcons lead. Just before the half, Penix guided the Falcons down the field again 51 yards in 8 plays and in under two minutes for a Patterson 39-yard field goal and a 17-7 lead at the half.
Last week, Daniels overcame a number of penalties along with five Commanders turnovers in their win against the Eagles. This week, despite the one interception, it was penalties that plagued the Commanders for most of the game with 13 penalties totaling 108 yards. Despite the mistakes, once again Daniels continued running and passing for key first downs.
In the third quarter, Washington received the opening kick. On 1st and 20 at the Washington 24 yard line, following one of many holding penalties for the night, Daniels found Ertz for a catch and run of 37 yards to the Atlanta 39 yard line. During that drive, Daniels connected with running back Jeremy McNichols on 4th and 5 and McNichols muscled his way to the first down marker to keep the drive alive. On 4th and 1 at the Atlanta 12-yard line, Daniels scrambled to the right for four yards to the 8 yard line and on 3rd and goal, he tossed a 10-yard TD pass to Ertz to cut the Falcons lead to 17-14. The 15-play, 69 yard drive took nearly 7:50 off the clock.
The Commanders held the ball for most of the third quarter, they simply kept the ball out of the hands of Penix and Robinson, making neither of them a factor for the third quarter and keeping Robinson quiet for the remainder of the game.
As the third quarter wound down, Daniels drove the team into Atlanta territory starting at the Washington 30 and running past Falcon defenders for 13 and 18 yards during the drive. Then, it became the Chris Rodriguez show. Rodriguez bulled through defenders, running the ball on four plays straight. After getting a first down on two runs to the Atlanta 8 yard line, Rodriguez pounded it into the end zone and the Commanders took the lead, 21-17, into the fourth quarter after a 14-play, 70-yard drive that lasted for just over 7 minutes.
Now at 11 wins, the most for a Washington football team since the 1991 Super Bowl season, the Commanders have clinched a playoff berth with one game remaining in the regular season against the Dallas Cowboys. The Commanders and Daniels have passed the many tests presented to them this season and have gone far beyond most fan expectations. It’s been fun and entertaining with a new enthusiasm for the future of this Washington football organization. But the excitement is still not over this season. The Commanders have an opportunity to be the sixth seed going into the playoffs, the team is playing with confidence and they’re playing with house money. That means that the Commanders will also earn some equity going into next year.
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