Divisional Playoff – Commanders at Lions game recap: 2nd quarter summary – Commanders lead 31-21; Goff 3 turnovers

Second Quarter

Washington opened the second stanza facing 2nd & 5 at their own 42-yard line, trailing by 4 points.

Daniels hit Dyami Brown deep, inside the Lions 30-yard line on the first play of the quarter, and Dyami carries the ball inside the 20.

Daniels scrambled twice to move the ball to the Lions 9-yard line, 3rd & 3, but couldn’t find Zaccheaus on the 3rd down play.

With 4th & 3, Dan Quinn, of course, left his offense on the field. Daniels hit Zach Ertz in the middle of the field at the 5 yard line, and he ended up at the Detroit 2-yard line, 1st & goal.

Daniels missed a wide open John Bates for what would have been a walk-in TD on first down, then lost a yard running the ball right on 2nd down.

On 3rd & goal from the 3-yard line, Daniels targeted McLaurin on a fade to the right corner of the end zone, but a defensive pass interference flag was thrown as Terry rolled on the ground. 1st & goal from the 1-yard line.

On 2nd & goal, Brian Robinson finished the drive with a run up the gut to score the go—ahead touchdown!!

Sam Cosmi was injured on the play and had to be helped from the field in apparent pain.

Following the PAT, the score was WAS 10, DET 7.

Robinson now has 35 yards on 7 carries, with a touchdown.

The scoring drive following the defensive takeaway lasted 11 plays and covered 78 yards.

Following the kickoff, Detroit’s offense came back on the field with just under 11 minutes left in the game, with the ball near at 30-yard line following a 28-yard return.

On first down, Goff threw deep downfield to Jamison Williams, but overthrew the open receiver by half a step. Two plays later, on 3rd & 3, Goff hit Amon-Ra St. Brown for a big gain of 34 yards with Noah Igbinoghene in coverage. It was a great throw and catch.

The Lions ran Gibbs on the next play, and he earned the 1st down at Washington’s 17-yard line.

A few plays later, with 1st & goal a the Washington 2-yard line, Goff, under pressure, threw a pass to TE Sam La Porta, who made a sensational catch for another touchdown. With the extra point, the score was 14-10 Lions.

Following the kickoff, Washington started its 4th offensive drive of the day at the 30-yard line

So far, the Lions have 189 total yards compared to 173 for Washington. Goff is 8-10 for 120 yards and a TD while Daniels is 10-16 for 132 yards. But Jahmyr Gibbs has 6 runs for 70 yards and a TD.

With under 8 minutes left in the half, the Commanders offense takes the field with Trent Scott in at RG for the injured Sam Cosmi.

On the third offensive play of the drive, 1st & 10 at the Washington 41-yard line, I looked at the formation and knew the play call before the snap.

That didn’t matter, because Daniels hit McClaurin on a receiver screen behind the LOS to the left. Terry split his blockers, broke a tackle, and raced 59 yards for a huge touchdown!!

After the PAT, the Commanders led 17-14 on the road in the divisional round playoff game. The scoring drive lasted 3 plays and covered 70 yards. Terry now has 3 catches for 70 yards and a TD while Dyami has 3 receptions for 58 yards. We have an offensive ball game undeway with 5 scores and only one punt in 8 offensive possessions by the two teams.

The Lions start the drive at their own 22 yard line following good kick coverage.

Following a penalty and a run for loss, on 2nd & 16, Jared Goff went deep for Tim Patrick, but he badly overthrew him, and Quan Martin fielded the pass like a punt and returned it for a touchdown!!!

TOUCHDOWN! TOUCHDOWN WASHINGTON!!!

Gonzalez nailed the extra point and in a flash, Washington had a 10-point lead with under 6 minutes remaining in the half, 24-14.

The Lions fans at Ford Field sat in stunned silence as Commanders fans cheered. The difference in this game has been two turnovers — a fumble and interception each charged to Goff.

Jared Goff was blown up by Frankie Luvu on the INT play and went to the locker room.

Teddy Bridgewater, Goff’s backup, came out to run the offense, starting a the 27-yard line after a short return.

He did the right thing by handing the ball to and then throwing short to Jahmyr Gibbs for a first down. On the TV coverage, Goff was shown coming back to the field just as Jamison Williams took the ball on a reverse and ran 61 yards untouched for a huge touchdown run to get the Lions back in the game!!

Washington’s lead is cut to 24-21 with 4 minutes left in the half.

Following the touchback, the Commanders offense takes over at the 30-yard line.

Austin Ekeler got 8 yards on a run up the middle, followed by a 15-yard scamper by Daniels on 2nd down to quiet the crowd for a moment — but only a moment. They were full-throated by the time the next play was called.

On 2nd & 8 from the DET 45-yard line, Daniels, with great protection, went deep for Dyami Brown, who hauled in a perfect pass against good coverage for a 38-yard gain to the Lions 6-yard line as the 2-minute warning was given.

Following the timeout, the Commanders faced 1st & goal at the 6 with a chance to extend the lead before halftime. With 45 points on the board already, people who bet the “over” seem to be in pretty good shape at the moment.

Two plays later, Washington faced 3rd & goal from the 5 yard line. On the 3rd down play, Zach Ertz went in motion and ran a simple route. Daniels had plenty of time and hit the TE one-yard deep in the end zone for a workmanlike touchdown play.

After the PAT, the Commanders enjoyed a 31-21 lead with 01:45 on the clock.

The Lions took the field for their final drive of the first half at the 30-yard line following the touchback. Goff led his offense onto the field for the drive with 2 timeouts in his pocket.

The Commanders played 2 safeties, leaving the middle of the field open. After a couple of middle-field completions, a called completion was reversed on review, and the Lions had the ball 3rd & 3 at their own 48-yard line with 61 ticks on the clock. This is a big play.

On 3rd down, Gibbs carried the ball up the middle to the Washington 41-yard line and a first down.

Another middle-field completion to Gibbs went for 12 yards and a 1st down at the Washington 29-yard line with 35 seconds left. Detroit has one timeout remaining.

On the 1st down play, Goff went for the big play throwing to Jamison Williams in the middle of the end zone, but Mikey Sainristil stepped in front of the receiver and picked off the pass to kill the drive!!!

Sainristil returned the ball to the 29 yard line, where Jayden Daniels came out and kneeled down in front of a stunned Detroit partisan crowd to close out a dominant first half of Commanders football that has featured 3 Jared Goff turnovers and a 10-point Washington lead.

Detroit will get the ball to open the second half.

Halftime Stats

Statistics via ESPN