The Washington Commanders suffered perhaps the most embarrassing tie in the history of the NFL during their Week 5 game against the New York Giants.
New York made a 14-point comeback to force overtime. Then, they missed a field goal at the start of overtime. This gave the Commanders a chance to win the game, but they punted on their first drive of overtime, giving the Giants the ball back with a chance to win with just a field goal.
However, New York fumbled its chances away. Running back Cam Skattebo fumbled, and Washington recovered, giving them a second chance to score and win. The Commanders marched all the way down the field to the Giants' 24-yard line.
With 12 seconds left, Washington took one more snap. Quarterback Jayden Daniels just needed
to throw the ball out of bounds to stop the clock. Instead, he tried to run the ball and was sacked. The Commanders had no timeouts, and with the clock running, they needed to get back to the line of scrimmage to stop the clock and kick the game-winning field goal. However, there was not enough time to get back to the line of scrimmage, and time ran out.
This play is confusing for so many reasons. First, it was overtime, and the next score won the game. Why were they running down the clock? Second, if they were going to run down the clock, why did Daniels run the ball? He could have easily thrown the ball away. Did he realize they did not have a timeout? When offensive lineman Chris Paul was asked that final question, whether they realized they didn’t have a timeout, Paul said it “was talked about in the huddle.”
Did the Commanders offense know they didn't have any timeouts left on the final drive of overtime?
— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) October 11, 2026
I asked Chris Paul.
He told me, "Yes, that was talked about in the huddle." pic.twitter.com/Mi8PnqcLa1
After Washington and New York tied, the Philadelphia Eagles lost in London in dramatic fashion, and the Dallas Cowboys lost their Thursday night game; every NFC East team officially came away from Week 5 without a win. Therefore, Washington is still in the thick of the division race, as New York is still on top with a 3-1-1 record.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Commanders’ OL says offense knew they did not have a timeout
