The Washington Commanders were visitors to Raymond James Stadium on Sunday night, but they left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' stadium as history-bucking victors. Despite an iffy stretch of red-zone showings, the NFC's final wild-card team got a sterling postseason debut from rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who used both his arm and legs to set up a game-winning "doink" of a walk-off field goal by Zane Gonzalez, securing the Washington franchise its first playoff win since 2005.
Daniels did it all to outlast Todd Bowles' defense, which stepped up with several red-zone stands to keep the game tight, firing two touchdowns through the air while leading the Commanders with 13 carries for 36 yards on the ground. The rushing total doesn't do justice to his impact in that area, either, as Daniels notably carried the ball himself to move the chains on Washington's game-winning drive, which ended as Gonzalez's 37-yard field goal bounced off and then through the uprights.
Both Terry McLaurin and Dyami Brown came up big as Daniels' top targets, logging 89 yards and one touchdown apiece, and guaranteed Washington a date with the No. 1-seeded Detroit Lions in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.
Here are some key takeaways from Sunday's big Washington win:
Zane Gonzalez barely hitting the game-winning kick will be the defining image of this one, but Dyami Brown put on a clinic as an overlooked but feisty pass weapon for Washington. His toughness was on full display after he broke free to haul in this dart from Jayden Daniels in Tampa Bay territory:
What a truck by Brown 🔥
— NFL (@NFL) January 13, 2025
📺: #WASvsTB on NBC
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For both the short and long term, too. Think about it: The young quarterback almost never plays like a stereotypical rookie, and he consistently leads Washington as both a runner and thrower, often serving as a one-man band under center. That was again the case Sunday, when he overcame consecutive defensive stands by the Buccaneers to keep the Commanders scratching and clawing, controlled the rock despite a heavy workload, and ultimately outdid a Pro Bowl-caliber Baker Mayfield on his own turf. And we haven't even finished Year 1 of his NFL career yet! The present and future are bright in D.C.
If Dan Quinn's contender intends to win another postseason matchup, that is. Daniels is a threat on the move, that's for sure, but can he actually get help from the backfield? Austin Ekeler had a play or two that flashed his vintage multipurpose ability, but he was otherwise deployed as a minimally effective short-yardage option, with Brian Robinson Jr. somehow managing just 16 yards on 10 carries in a "complementary" role. Not every team boasts the Bucs' front, but again, Daniels can't always be expected to carry Kliff Kingsbury's entire attack, especially against clearly superior lineups.
Look, Bowles deserves credit for getting Tampa Bay to three straight playoff appearances, but he's now 1-3 in the postseason, with two one-and-done showings during that span. His trademark defense showed up for stretches of Sunday's matchup, but the unit's reliance on the blitz also hurt, as Daniels routinely moved the ball up and down the field even without steady ground support. Bowles' clock management also left something to be desired, and this isn't the first time his in-game decision-making has come under fire. A day after Pittsburgh Steelers fans reignited chants for change thanks to Mike Tomlin's scrappy but unspectacular squad once again failing to make January noise, will Bucs faithful follow suit?
The Commanders will soak up their first playoff win in almost 20 years, then gear up for a divisional-round matchup with arguably the top team in all of football, the Detroit Lions. The Buccaneers, meanwhile, will get an early start on their 2025 offseason, unable to parlay an NFC South title into playoff victory.
Zane Gonzalez's kick from 37 yards out hits the uprights and then goes through! Wow. That does it. The Washington Commanders get their first playoff victory since 2005.
Jayden Daniels does it again. Unfazed by the bright lights of prime-time playoff ball, the rookie quarterback takes the ball himself on a first-down carry with under a minute to play, milking the clock in Washington's favor before an inevitable Zane Gonzalez field goal try that could send the Commanders to the divisional round:
Chase McLaughlin hits a 32-yard field goal to tie this one at 20-20, but only after a broken play forces the kick: Baker Mayfield calls for the snap, but part of the line doesn't move, and Mayfield himself is slow to turn and hand the rock to Bucky Irving, who gets stuffed in the backfield for a loss. The negative play offsets a nice tackle-shedding play from Cade Otton earlier in the drive. Let's see what Washington does next.
Uh-oh. Baker Mayfield's crisp Sunday night performance takes a big hit, as the quarterback loses control of the ball on an apparent play-action fake to rookie wideout Jaden McMillan. The Commanders take over in the red zone, and Jayden Daniels proceeds to strike, hitting Terry McLaurin on a fourth-and-2 lob that finally gives Washington a touchdown in scoring range. The Commanders are back on top, 20-17.
Washington boasts an 87% fourth-down conversion rate on the season, but Jayden Daniels has nowhere to go with the ball on fourth-and-goal, and once again, Washington fails to put six on the board at the end of an otherwise impressive drive. The rookie gets the Commanders all the way to the 1-yard line after Zyon McCollum is flagged for defensive pass interference on Dyami Brown, who's given Tampa some surprising fits out wide, but Daniels goes 0 for 3 thereafter, failing to hit Zach Ertz in tight coverage, including by Lavonte David, to turn it over. Replay suggests David should've been called for interference, but either way, it's another sour finish for Washington's offense, which now trails this one 17-13.
Lead change! After the Commanders once again move up and down the field but have to settle for three, Baker Mayfield takes his turn, feeding Mike Evans with a picturesque over-the-middle dart to move the chains and then finding Bucky Irving in the flat for the go-ahead score. Irving is probably the MVP of this series, rattling off a couple of first-down runs, including a 19-yarder, earlier in the drive.
Zane Gonzalez connects on a 22-yard field goal to give Washington another lead. But it's kind of a shame, because Jayden Daniels delivers a tremendous series of plays in the lead-up to the red-zone slowdown; the Commanders should be up at least seven at this point. The highlight before Tampa's defensive stand: A rollout in which Daniels calmly finds a wide-open Dyami Brown, who proceeds to bulldoze through Mike Edwards along the sideline for a big gain. The rookie clearly isn't fazed by the magnitude of this game, continuing to shine on the move, even if Kliff Kingsbury's red-zone call sheet isn't similarly ablaze.
The Commanders have held the ball for 7+ minutes more than their opponents, but it's a tie game at the break, thanks in large part to Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans showing out on Tampa Bay's final drive of the first half. Both quarterbacks are doing the heavy lifting for their squads, as both Mayfield and Jayden Daniels also lead their respective sides in rushing.
First, Baker Mayfield targets his top receiver, Mike Evans, in the end zone, and Marshon Lattimore, the pass catcher's former New Orleans Saints nemesis, gets flagged for pass interference, his arms draped all over Evans in coverage. Then Mayfield goes right back to Evans, and it's a pinpoint slant that just escapes the arms of Quan Martin, as Tampa's top receiver beats Lattimore (again) for the score.
Who says the Buccaneers quarterback can't do a little running, too? Baker Mayfield charges forward on a scramble and lowers the shoulder to plow through Bobby Wagner and the second level of Washington's defense, putting Tampa Bay in position to potentially knot this one up before the half:
Jayden Daniels throws it nine times and runs it another three to lead Washington all the way down the field, engineering a 17-play touchdown drive capped with a strike to a wide-open Dyami Brown. The Commanders still aren't firing on all cylinders on the ground, relying on Austin Ekeler as a short-yardage back to convert another fourth-down try, but Daniels is too smooth as a quick-strike thrower to be denied.
Jayden Daniels shows off his connection with Terry McLaurin right away, floating a beauty of a 35-yard bomb to his No. 1 wideout, who cradles the ball perfectly for an over-the-shoulder catch. Unfortunately, the highlight-reel play doesn't produce points for Washington, with the Bucs deflecting a short fourth-and-2 pass from Daniels to Austin Ekeler a few moments later.
Chase McLaughlin is good from 50 yards out on the field goal try to put Tampa Bay up 3-0 in this one. Baker Mayfield tries a couple deep balls beforehand, airing it out twice for Jalen McMillan, but Washington holds up on the back end. Mike Evans is already involved, though, moving the chains on a couple catches of his own.
Injury alert: Buccaneers star safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is active for the first time since early December. The veteran missed Tampa Bay's final five games with a knee injury. Big get for Todd Bowles' defense.
Kickoff is fast approaching in Tampa, where Baker Mayfield (fresh off a career year featuring 41 touchdowns through the air) is looking to lead the Buccaneers to their second wild-card victory in as many years. On the other side: Jayden Daniels, who's hoping his rookie-year magic will translate to an even bigger stage.
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