Washington Commanders Articles

The most mind-boggling ending of the NFL season just happened in Maryland, and somehow the Commanders were both the victim AND the executioner. Let's set the scene, because you truly cannot make this up. The Commanders had no timeouts remaining when Jayden Daniels snapped the football at the Giants' 24-yard line with 13 seconds left in overtime. He scrambled around before diving to the ground with 8 seconds left — and then could not spike the ball before the clock expired. Game. Over. Final score: a stunning 27-27 tie — the NFL's first of the 2026 season. Let that marinate for a second. The Commanders had just been gifted the ball in overtime when Giants running back Cam Skattebo fumbled. After Skattebo's fumble in the final minutes of overtime gave Washington a golden opportunity to win the game, the Commanders' failure to acknowledge the clock cost them massively. They drove into field goal range. They had 13 seconds and a chip shot to win a game against their division rival. All they had to do — the ONLY thing they had to do — was get the ball spotted and spike it. Then kick the field goal. Win the game. Drive home. Done. When the snap that left the entire NFL in disbelief began, Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels was supposed to do one of two things, according to coach Dan Quinn — throw the ball out of bounds or spike it into the turf. Instead, Daniels, feeling some defensive pressure, improvised a run and barely got back to the line of scrimmage with 8 seconds left on the clock. He lay on the turf nonchalantly for 2 more seconds, until the Commanders seemed to remember they did not have a timeout left and that the clock was running out. Fox broadcaster Chris Myers said on-air: "They don't have a timeout. What are they doing?" What were they doing? Absolutely nothing. That's the problem. Giants players jumped for joy as the clock expired. Commanders players hunched over in disbelief. Dan Quinn threw his headset to the ground in disgust. Even the Fox broadcast team was a mix of disbelief, confusion and shock. Instead of a possible game-winning 42-yard field goal from kicker Drew Stevens, the Commanders were left with egg on their face. In the words of Washington wide receiver Terry McLaurin after the game: "Unacceptable." An unnamed NFL game-management coach told The Athletic's Mike Sando exactly what went wrong: "Dan Quinn and his staff told the quarterback no sack or scramble. You can't do that. You throw it away, and if you have eight seconds, throw it away again, get it to four seconds." The Commanders not knowing the situation is truly atrocious on every level — from Quinn to offensive coordinator David Blough to Daniels — and an absolute gut punch for a team that had hoped Daniels' return from a dislocated elbow would provide a spark. Instead, it resulted in one of the most shocking errors anyone will see at the professional level. Even Commanders minority owner Magic Johnson couldn't stay quiet. He posted: "I'm in total disbelief my Commanders had such poor clock management in today's overtime game against the Giants. All we had to do was kick the field goal and we would have won the game!" When your own owner is posting WTF reactions in real time, you know you've done something historically bad. 💬 WTF QUESTION FOR COMMANDERS FANS: Dan Quinn and Jayden Daniels both took the blame — but who do YOU think is more at fault? And more importantly: after an entire week of practice preparing for two-minute drills, how does an NFL team not know they need to stop the clock? Drop your rant below. Both Quinn and Daniels addressed the media after the game and took responsibility for the blunder. Quinn said the tie felt like a loss — and said, "We pride ourselves on those moments at the end of the game. After the first down run, still trying to gain more for the kick." When Daniels was asked directly if anyone in the huddle mentioned stopping the clock, he refused to give a direct answer, saying only: "Just gotta be better, just gotta be better." The Giants improved to 3-1-1 and still lead the NFC East. The Commanders went to 1-3-1 — in embarrassing fashion. Washington's record is bad enough. But a tie you handed yourself by forgetting how clocks work? That's a different level of humiliating.