After a 30-24 OT win vs the Falcons the Commanders have clinched the playoffs. Jayden Daniels has added to his clutch season with his 5th touchdown in the last :30 seconds of the game (this one was in OT).
Game Rundown
This game was an absolute dogfight. It was rookie vs rookie at the Quarterback position, but it definitely did not feel like it with clutch play after clutch play down the stretch by the QBs.
The Commanders went down 17-7 at halftime and had to complete a 10+ point comeback for the second week in a row.
The main key to the Commanders victory was the dominant third quarter. They held the Falcons to negative yardage while they soaked up about 13 minutes of the clock and scored two TDs.
The Commanders started the 4th quarter by going up seven with a field goal, in which the Falcons responded with an insane drive where the Commanders let up two 4th and longs and tied the game.
With about 1:20 seconds on the clock the Commanders came out needing a field goal to win, but the drive was capped off by a pair of drops and they were forced to punt.
The Falcons started the drive with 40 seconds and two timeouts. They started the drive by getting a big play, but a mind boggling decision to not take a timeout led to them continuing the drive with only 12 seconds. They ended up at the Commanders 39 yard line and took a game winning field goal. Riley Patterson, who started the preseason with the Commanders, missed the field goal short (but it definitely looked good from the broadcast view).
In OT the Commanders won the toss and Jayden Daniels led them down the field through his legs and passed the game winning touchdown on a slant to Zach Ertz.
Takeaways from the game:
Jayden Daniel had his best game on the ground. In the 4th quarter and in overtime Jayden Daniels scrambling ability took over and really was the factor that put us in position to win the game. Jayden Daniels also beat RG3’s rookie rushing record for a QB. He’s Electric.
Terry McLaurin had a disappointing game. Terry was held to 1 catch for 5 yards. AJ Terrell shadowed Terry and did a really great job taking him out of the game. Unlike other games when Terry was largely lost his matchup, he was still getting the ball targeted to him– 7 targets and only 1 reception.
Olamide Zaccheaus. Zaccheaus absolutely stepped up today when Terry was being shut down, he had 8 receptions 85 yards and 1 TD (another was wiped off after a holding call). He has been really great over the last two weeks and has become a reliable target after Noah Brown went down.
Offensive Line struggled. Jayden Daniels was sacked 5 times today. Both Cornelius Lucas and Tyler Biadasz both went down with injuries during today’s game. Biadasz impact was especially missed as it looked like the offensive line really took a step back as the guard Nick Allegretti had to step up and work out protections.
Great job by the coaches. The big difference between the two teams today was the coaching. Dan Quinn, Kliff Kingsbury, and Joe Whitt Jr did amazing job today. The play calling and adjustments made in the 2nd half was huge, and it felt like it allowed the Commanders to control the game throughout most of the 2nd half. I thought that there was a lot of amazing play calls from Kliff today, it schemed up a lot of good runs for Jayden, allowed for us to really sustain long lasting drives. We had two different 7 minute drives in the third quarter.
We miss Marshon Lattimore. A lot. This secondary is really struggling especially when they need to go one on one against their best receiver, this week being Drake London. It felt like the secondary just couldn’t contain Drake London from getting big plays whenever they needed it. Although I do think that the secondary was solid for most of the game, it really showed how much we miss Marshon Lattimore when Mike Davis had to go one on one in the 4th quarter.
Run Defense & Pass Rush. In the first half the run defense was absolute Swiss cheese. Bijan Robinson ran for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half alone. Along with that Michael Penix didn’t get sacked once in the entire first half. The weak performance up front is what really allowed for the Falcons to get their 17-7 lead. This was massively improved on in the second half as Bijan Robinson ended the game with 90 rushing yards and they brought down Penix twice. But it was overall a really weak game by the front 7 and there were also multiple moments where Penix had 7+ seconds to sit in the pocket. It was against a great offensive line, but it is something that really worried me while watching.
Another note. This is only partially about the Commanders but it is something that coaches do that really bugs me. When the Commanders got the ball back with 1:20 seconds in a tie game, they went on to throw the ball 3 times in a row. It feels correct to throw the ball in that situation, you don’t have a lot of time to get the ball downfield and you need to reach field goal range. But I think it is crucial to run the ball on the first down in that situation. Get 4-5 yards, face 2 and 6 but you get the clock running you can run the clock lower in case you end up needing to punt, and it puts you in much more control of the pace of the game. That’s just something that bugs me.
Big Picture
The Commanders have now won 11 games for the first time since 1991. Dan Quinn and Jayden Daniels has completely changed the feel of this team and there is finally something to be excited for in *NorthWest Stadium.*
They currently hold the 6th seed and would play the Rams in the playoffs if the playoffs started today. In order to keep the 6th seed they need to either win next week against the cowboys or have the Packers lose to the Bears.
Commanders play next week against the Cowboys @ AT&T Stadium. HAIL.
image via (X/PFF)
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