The Washington Commanders brought an agressive style of play to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field by going for touchdowns rather than field goals and getting five turnovers on defense to advance to the NFC Championship with a 45-31 win.
The Commanders will go to the NFC Championship for the first time in 33 years after winning a game that had more than 1,000 yards of combined offense and a playoff record 42 combined points in the second quarter alone.
One play by the Washington Commanders, however, exemplified the mentality of the Commanders team not only for this game but for the season. On 4th and 2 at the Detroit 13 with 8:24 remaining in the game, the Commanders were up 38-28. Rather than kick the field for a 13 point lead, head coach Dan Quinn decided to go for the jugular with a first down to get the touchdown.
Rookie-phenom Jayden Daniels had a defender running straight toward him but he calmly hit wide receiver Terry McLaurin who bounced off two Detroit defenders for a first and goal at the one yard line. On the next play, running back Jeremy McNichols bulled through the line and extended the ball over the goal line to give the Commanders a commanding 45-28 lead.
Washington made 3 of 4 fourth down attempts for the night.
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The defense also needed turnovers against the Lions and they got them on Saturday night. Lions quarterback Jared Goff threw three interceptions for the game and fumbled on a sack late in the first quarter.
Prior to the McNichols score, Goff gave the ball to wide receiver Jameson Williams on a trick play called by offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Williams threw to running back Jamyr Gibbs at the Washington 34. But University of Michigan rookie cornerback Mike Sainristil picked off his second of two interceptions for the game.
Down 45-28, the Lions drove 60 yards on 10 plays and on 4th and 8 kicked a 28-yard field goal to make the score 45-31. An onside kick went by the front line but Zach Ertz caught up to the ball and the Commanders held onto the ball and set up Zayne Gonzalez for a 44 yard field goal with 2:31 remaining. The kick veered off to the left.
The Lions then moved the ball against the Commanders’ prevent defense to the Washington 17 with 32 seconds remaining. Goff’s pass to wide receiver Tim Patrick was intercepted by safety Jeremy Chinn for Goff’s fourth interception of the game.
By scoring touchdowns inside and outside of the red zone, the Commanders offense was achieving its goals. Meantime, five turnovers helped the defense to put the game away.
While the Lions may have been off for two weeks, their offense didn’t take long to get the rust off at the beginning of the game.
Starting at their own 40-yard line after Zayne Gonzalez kicked the ball out of bounds. But the Commanders defense held the Lions to three plays and out. After an impressive opening drive by the Commanders, however, the Lions defense stopped the them on a blown execution of a 4th and 1 run by Marcus Mariota.
Goff took over at the Commanders 18 yard line and engineered a 6- play, 72-yard drive ending with running back Jamyr Gibbs easily making a one-yard run for a touchdown. Goff used all his weapons on the drive with the one exception of wide receiver St. Brown who would make his presence known later in the game.
The Commanders responded with a 10-play, 41-yard drive leading to a 47-yard Gonzalez field goal.
As Goff and the Detroit offense drove deep into Commanders territory on the next possession, again utilizing the running of Gibbs and the pass catching abilities of tight end Sam LaPorta, defensive end Dorance Armstrong sacked Goff and forced a fumble on 3rd and 1 at the Washington 25. Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu recovered the ball at the 22 and the Commanders offense took over.
Commanders running back Brian Robinson, Jr.,, jumped out early in the game bursting through holes and looking the best he has looked since before the last home game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The second quarter started with Daniels hitting wide receiver Dyami Brown long for 42 yards to the Detroit 16 yard line. Brown had another big game with 6 catches and 98 yards. After two runs by Daniels and an incomplete pass, the rookie phenom hit Zach Ertz on 4th and 3 for a first and goal at the Detroit 3 yard line. On third and goal, a pass interference penalty on cornerback Kevin Joseph against Terry McLaurin placed the ball at the one yard line for a 1st and goal. On second down, Robinson plowed into the end zone for the first Commanders touchdown and a 10-7 lead.
With already 173 yards of offense by the Commanders, it was clear early in the second quarter that Washington could move through the Detroit defense, particularly with the injury to Lions cornerback Amik Robertson early in the first quarter.
At 10-7, Goff responded by hitting St. Brown down the sidelines for yards followed by Gibbs runs and at the two-yard line, a wicked one-handed catch by LaPorta in the end zone made it 14-10 in favor of Detroit.
A screen pass from Daniels to McLaurin on a blitz turned into a 58-yard catch-and-run touchdown as McLaurin was not to be denied. He dipped his head to split the defenders. Then he was off to the races and a 17-14 lead for the Commanders. With the lead came the momentum. During the Lions’ next drive, Conmanders safety Quan Martin picked off Goff on an overthrown pass to Patrick and Martin ran it back into the end zone for a pick six and a 24-14 lead. On the play, Goff also suffered an injury after getting blocked by Luvu on Martin’s return. Goff temporarily left the game.
But Teddy Bridgewater took over at quarterback on the next Lions drive. At the Detroit 39 yard line, a first down hand-off to Gibbs turned into an end around to Jameson Williams who took the ball for a 61-yard touchdown run cutting the Commanders lead to 24-21.
There was still 4:01 remaining in a half that already looked like a full highlight reel for an entire game. With the Commanders moving the ball again from their 30 to the Detroit 47-yard line, Daniels hit Brown on a 38-yard pass deep right to the Lions 7. On third and goal, Daniels fired a pass to Ertz in the end zone and the Commanders were again up by 10, 31-21, with 1:46 remaining in the half.
It was plenty of time for Goff and company.
Goff returned to the game and hit St. Brown and LaPorta before handing the ball to Gibbs up the middle to the Commanders 29-yard line. With 34 seconds left in the half, there were over 600 combined yards by both teams on offense. But Goff threw an interception to Sainristil as he tried to get the ball to Williams in the end zone. Sainristil ran with the ball out to the Washington 14-yard line and the half ended with the Commanders enjoying a 31-21 lead.
After a wild first half of 52 combined points, the Commanders received the second half kickoff.
Robinson started the second half for the Commanders trucking downhill for a 14 yard run but the Lions defense pushed back and on fourth and 11, punter Tress Way put the Lions back to their own 8 yard line. The Lions were moving the ball and helped by a personal foul face mask penalty, albeit nonexistent, on a 3rd and 2 at the Detroit 28 yard line. Despite putting pressure on Goff, running backs David Montgomery and Gibbs contributed in moving the ball down the field.
On the same drive, offensive coordinator Johnson called a trick play that did work. After Goff tossed a lateral back to Montgomery, the running back threw a shovel pass to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown who ran the ball to the Commanders seven yard line. Gibbs ran the ball into the end zone and Detroit cut the Commanders lead 31-28 following an 11-play, 91-yard drive.
On the Commanders’ next possession, Daniels ran 14 yards on 2nd and 9 at the Washington 31 yard line and on the next play he handed the ball to Robinson for a 6-yard run. Lions defensive end Joshua Paschal slammed Daniels to the ground after the hand off and the Commanders picked up 15-yards on the penalty. With 2:19 remaining in the third quarter, Daniels threw to Brown on 3rd and 5. Brown was covered by pro bowl cornerback Brian Branch who tackled Brown two yards short from the first down at the Detroit 16-yard line.
Going for it again on 4th and 2, Daniels faked the handoff to Robinson and scrambled three yards around the right end for the first down. On 1st and 10 at the Lions 13 yard line, Austin Ekeler took the ball to the 7 yard line and then to the 5. As the third quarter ended, the Commanders still held the lead at 31-28.
The fourth quarter started with Robinson plowing into the end zone on a one-yard run for a touchdown and the fifth extra point by kicker Zayne Gonzalez made the score 38-28. Robinson’s touchdown ended a 15-play, 8 minute drive that started in the third quarter at the Washington 30-yard line and ended with 13:29 remaining in the game.
The Commanders continue to rise to new heights and on Saturday night, this team reached a new stratosphere. Using the word “phenom” to describe the incredible talent of Daniels seems too subtle as the rookie has led this team to an NFC Championship game.
It’s been a storybook year for a fanbase craving the return for that Washington football team spirit. Hall of Fame head coach Joe Gibbs, an icon in Washington football history, was in Detroit for the game. Next week the Commanders will play in the NFC Championship for an opportunity to go to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1991 season with Gibbs as head coach.
This season is completely unexpected and like a dream come true. Sure, the team is playing with house money and to be in the playoffs this season much less the NFC Championship is all gravy based on fan expectations before the season started, but the reality is that the Commanders are one game away from going to Super Bowl LIX.
Today, Washington fans like myself can bask in the glow of having a football team in the NFC Championship and find out the next opponent in the other NFC Divisional Playoff game on Sunday watching the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Then, next week, we’ll take another ride on the gravy train to its next destination.
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