Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn was furious after a costly clock-management mistake denied his team victory on Sunday.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels returned to the lineup for the Commanders’ Week 5 meeting with the New York Giants, but he was unable to deliver a late win in a dramatic overtime contest.
With 12 seconds left in overtime, Washington appeared to be within reach of setting up a game-winning field-goal attempt.
Instead, a remarkable error by the Commanders quarterback ensured the team never got the opportunity to kick for the win.
On second-and-eight, Daniels took the snap from center Nick Allegretti and scrambled around behind the line of scrimmage. He allowed valuable time to run off before intentionally going to ground.
The Commanders had no timeouts left and only eight seconds remained. They could not get set quickly enough to spike the ball before the clock reached zero.
Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn was left livid after his team’s error
The Commanders were forced to settle for a 27-27 tie against the New York Giants on Sunday
Washington’s wide receivers were still positioned deep downfield, leaving them with virtually no chance of returning to the line of scrimmage in time to stop the clock.
The remaining seconds disappeared, leaving the Commanders with a 27-27 tie against their NFC East rivals rather than the victory that had appeared to be within their grasp.
Television cameras then captured Quinn’s reaction on the Washington sideline.
The visibly enraged head coach ripped off his headset and threw it onto the ground.
The bizarre finish stunned fans on social media. Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, the NBA legend and minority owner of the Commanders, also criticized the team’s mistake.
‘I’m in total disbelief my Commanders had such poor clock management in today’s overtime game against the Giants,’ he wrote on X. ‘All we had to do was kick the field goal and we would have won the game!’
Many fans focused their criticism on Daniels, blaming the quarterback for the confusion and suggesting he appeared unaware that Washington had already used all of its timeouts.
‘JAYDEN DANIELS AND THE COMMANDERS CHOKED,’ one account posted. ’13 Seconds left and they FORGOT THEY DIDN’T HAVE A TIMEOUT.’
Quarterback Jayden Daniels went to ground with just seconds remaining in overtime
Daniels addressed the mistake in his postgame press conference, taking responsibility
‘What was Jayden Daniels thinking???,’ another user questioned. ‘He forgot they didn’t have a timeout. Absolutely ZERO game awareness. One of the dumbest mistakes ever.’
‘The Commanders put together the worst clock management you will ever see to end in a tie vs. the Giants,’ Awful Announcing’s account shared.
Daniels addressed the mistake in his postgame press conference as he admitted that the team needed to do better.
‘We just gotta be better, like, overall. Like, the whole team with just situational football,’ Daniels said. ‘You know, we had a chance early in the game to finish the game – offensively, defensively – and we didn’t capitalize on that. And then we still have the opportunity at the end of the game to win the game, and we didn’t do that.
‘It’s not a win, so not really feeling that one.’
The quarterback accepted responsibility for the gaffe, adding: ‘Yeah, we just gotta communicate that. That’s the whole thing.
‘Like I said, it starts with me communicating to the whole offense in the huddle. And I think everybody would say that, top down. Just gotta be better. Ultimately, it’s on me.’
