TAMPA, Fla. — Jayden Daniels ran for a critical first down to set up Zane Gonzalez’s 37-yard field goal that clanged off the right upright and went through as time expired, and the Washington Commanders beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-20 in an NFC wild-card game Sunday night for the franchise’s first playoff win in 6,945 days.
Daniels, playing with a bandage beneath his right eye after his face was bloodied, became the third rookie quarterback in three years to win a playoff game.
The Commanders (13-5) will face the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions (15-2) in the divisional round.
Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers (10-8) missed several opportunities and the veteran quarterback committed a costly turnover in the fourth quarter. The Bucs couldn’t get 1 yard on two tries from the Commanders’ 12 and settled for a field goal to tie the score before Washington’s winning drive.
Daniels threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns, joining C.J. Stroud and Brock Purdy as rookie QBs to win playoff games in the past three seasons.
“It means a lot,” Daniel said during his on-field, postgame interview on NBC. “Our fans are over there waiting for us. They’ve waited a long time for this feeling, so I’m just so happy for them.”
Washington hadn’t won in the postseason since beating the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay 17-10 in a wild-card game on Jan. 7, 2006.
“He came in humble, he does the work, and he has a lot of fun,” Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner said of Daniels during his interview on NBC. “It’s fun to be here … definitely because I’m playing with him.”
The Buccaneers opened the season with a 37-20 victory at home against the Commanders in Daniels’ first game. Daniels went on to have an outstanding season, was selected to the Pro Bowl and helped Washington improve from 4-13 to 12-5.
Now, he has them headed to Detroit to face Jared Goff and the Lions’ high-octane offense.
After Tampa Bay’s defense held inside the 5 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to preserve a 17-13 lead, Mayfield gave the Commanders the ball back when he fumbled an exchange on a handoff to Jalen McMillan. Washington recovered at the Buccaneers’ 13. On fourth-and-2 from the 5, Daniels connected with Terry McLaurin in the back of the end zone for a 20-17 lead.
Mayfield drove the Buccaneers to a second-and-1 at the Commanders’ 12 but they settled for a 32-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin that tied it at 20-20 with 4:41 left.
The Buccaneers never got the ball back, thanks to Daniels, who calmly led his team downfield. With less than a minute left, he was hit behind the line of scrimmage but scrambled for 4 yards on third-and-2, allowing him to take a knee to set up Gonzalez’s winning kick.
Commanders coach Dan Quinn previously passed up short field goals on fourth down twice and the offense failed to convert before McLaurin’s scoring catch.
On fourth down from the Buccaneers’ 4 less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Daniels threw incomplete. He was pressured and threw incomplete on fourth-and-2 from Tampa Bay’s 20 on Washington’s first possession of the game.
Mayfield tossed a 4-yard TD pass to Bucky Irving to give the Buccaneers a 17-13 lead in the third quarter. On the previous play, 350-pound defensive tackle Vita Vea was Mayfield’s intended receiver, but the QB got sacked for a 2-yard loss.
Mayfield fired a 1-yard TD pass to Mike Evans to tie it at 10 late in the first half.
Gonzalez kicked a 22-yard field goal to give Washington a 13-10 lead on the opening drive of the second half. The Commanders had a first down at the 3 but Tampa Bay’s defense held.
After Austin Ekeler ran 2 yards on fourth-and-1 from the Buccaneers’ 23 late in the first quarter, the Commanders went ahead a few plays later to complete a 92-yard drive. Daniels, with his face bloodied, tossed a 10-yard TD pass to Dyami Brown for a 7-3 lead.
A holding call on cornerback Zyon McCollum negated a third-down sack by Yaya Diaby and allowed Washington to extend its next drive that ended with Gonzalez nailing a 50-yarder for a 10-3 lead.
McLaughlin kicked a 50-yard field goal on the opening drive. The Buccaneers were 9-1 when they scored first in the regular season.
