EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — For the first time since 2024, it feels like, well, 2024, for the Washington Commanders.
The 2024 Commanders pulled off comeback after comeback and seemed unbeatable in one-score games. Since then, coach Dan Quinn’s team has been anything but clutch, exemplified by their 1-3-1 record in one-score games this season entering their “Thursday Night Football” matchup
on the road against the New York Giants.Quarterback Jayden Daniels turned back the clock to his magical rookie year and found wide receiver Stefon Diggs for the go-ahead touchdown with 57 seconds remaining as the Commanders knocked off the Giants 24-21 to keep their season, and chances to win what will likely be a middling NFC East, alive.
“This is one that we had
to have,” Quinn said. “Our guys made sure we had it.”
At 3-5-1, the Commanders now trail the Giants by two games in the loss column with eight games to play for both teams. Washington has the tiebreaker thanks to Thursday night’s win. Going into the game, Daniels called it a “must win.” But he nearly choked the game away with a pair of late interceptions.
“It would have been really easy for us to lose faith in that moment,” Quinn said. “So to see us battle and stay in the fight, that’s what I was looking for. So I’m proud of how we responded. That was a big deal for us.”
The defense, combined with some shoddy playcalling and game management from the Giants, gave Daniels another opportunity to clutch up in the two-minute drill. He looked for Treylon Burks deep down the left sideline and the play drew a 33-yard pass interference penalty. Two plays later he hit Diggs for a 32-yard score over the middle.
“You got to assume you’re going to be in the dogfight for sixty minutes,” Daniels said after throwing for three touchdowns and 249 passing yards.
Daniels was also brilliant at various points during the victory. He threw Antonio Williams into space and the rookie speedster turned the play into a 31-yard catch-and-run touchdown. The 2024 Rookie of the Year put a pass on the facemask of tight end Ben Sinnott for the Commanders’ first touchdown of the game with five seconds left before halftime; Giants linebacker Abdul Carter was yanking Daniels to the MetLife Stadium turf when he unleashed the pass. The play was just one of the two times Daniels was hit by the Giants all night. The other was the lone time he was sacked.
Then there was the game-winner to Diggs, in which Daniels signaled to a specific read for his receiver after properly recognizing the Giants’ all-out, cover-zero blitz.
“He cold,” Diggs said of Daniels, who “doesn’t flinch.”
“I’ve been doing this (expletive) a long time,” Diggs added, wondering if he should have gone down to waste more time.
A loss would have turned up the heat surrounding Quinn’s job security, especially with a mini-bye following the “TNF” game giving ownership and the front office an extended window to make a move. That seemingly won’t be a concern until the end of the season now, and perhaps not at all.
The motto before the final drive of the game, Diggs said, was “execute.”
“Don’t make a moment more than it is,” Diggs said. “We know what it is. We know what’s at risk. I mean, you make it more than what it is, you forget the details of it, the fundamentals of it.”
Dwelling on the picks would do him no good, Daniels said. He took the last drive one play at a time and didn’t want to let his teammates down.
“I think you understand the magnitude of the moment, and you’re not really thinking about the season in that moment,” Daniels said. “You’re thinking about winning this game.
“Everything’s right in front of us. We got to go out there and enjoy this one but also know we got more games left.”
Going into the game, Quinn knew it was going to take four quarters based on the recent Commanders-Giants history.
“It felt like the most adversity, but probably the most belief,” Quinn said, “so it’s this great balance of both.
“We needed every bit of it.”
Sinnott, who was also a rookie in 2024, reminded the media what it was like to be around the 2024 Commanders.
“Y’all were here in ’24 and know how many drives (Daniels) led us to victory then,” he said.
“We felt it tonight,” Sinnott said of the win serving as a callback to two seasons ago. “ … It definitely took me back to that season.”
Daniels moved to 4-0-1 against the Giants with the win. Asked if he knew that he’d never lost to the Giants, Daniels smiled.
“Um, yeah,” he said, “I did know that.”
And he reminded them of that yet again in the most backbreaking – yet reminiscent – fashion.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Commanders have winning feeling back with Jayden Daniels leading comeback: 'He cold'
