Hail Mary TD masks the Commanders' offensive woes on third down and in the red zone

Published Oct. 28, 2024 1:28 p.m. ET

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LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Even after throwing a Hail Mary touchdown pass that delivered the Washington Commanders an improbable victory, Jayden Daniels let his mind drift to why that should not have been necessary.

“I’m happy that we won, but at the end of the day I know there’s a lot that we left out there, a lot that we could continue to get better from," said Daniels, who played through a rib injury. "We’ve got to clean some stuff up on the offensive side. We’ve got to clean up some stuff — penalties, communication. We won the game, so it’s always better on a win.”

The win on the frantic finish of Daniels' 52-yard TD pass to Noah Brown with zeroes on the clock got the Commanders to 6-2. Moving forward, sputtering in the red zone and faltering on third down are significant problems the offense needs to solve before they threaten to derail what's looking like a playoff-bound season.

"Obviously you don’t want to struggle in the red zone like we did, and you want to have touchdowns versus field goals," center Tyler Biadasz said. “You want to work on the correctable things that you got to work on but just appreciate the moment.”

Washington went 0 for 3 in the red zone and 5 for 15 on third down and settled for four field goals from Austin Seibert. Coach Dan Quinn called it a frustrating game, and it's not the first time his team experienced some of those issues.

It also happened when beating the New York Giants in Week 2, when all the offense was provided by Seibert's franchise-record seven field goals. That might have been a loss, too, if not for the Giants losing kicker Graham Gano to injury on the opening kickoff.

Fittingly, the Commanders visit the Giants on Sunday with the chance to get things right. Washington opened as a 3 1/2-point road favorite on BetMGM Sportsbook.

“We got a lot of things, obviously, to clean up moving forward,” receiver Terry McLaurin said. “Next week's going to be a tough game. It's a division game, but we'll be up for the challenge.”

What’s working

The defense kept Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears off the scoreboard until late in the third quarter, forced a turnover just outside its own goal line and in allowing 15 points did its job.

“Defense is the reason why we won the game, just getting the stops and giving us the ball back,” Daniels said.

Dating to a rout of Carolina, Washington held its opponent scoreless in the first half in back-to-back games for the first time since 1997. The revamped unit with a half-dozen new starters now has the 10th-best scoring defense and 14th overall in the NFL after being ranked 29th of 32 teams in each of those categories three games into the season.

Williams was under constant pressure, got sacked twice and completed just 10 of 24 passes.

“We knew to keep it a phone booth for him, make him scramble around," linebacker Frankie Luvu said. “Make him get out the pocket and throw it out, so we kind of got to our game plan and executed what we can.”

What needs help

Ill-timed penalties continue to be an issue, including an ineligible man downfield call that wiped out what would have been a 32-yard TD pass from Daniels to Olamide Zaccheaus in the third quarter.

It's not the quantity of penalties — just five for 30 yards — but when they are happening that is concerning. Quinn has said he does not mind some that stem from aggression, but he and his staff are trying to cut down on flags for mental mistakes.

Stock up

General manager Adam Peters' roster overhaul already looked like a smashing success. Then consider he signed Brown after final cuts around the league, brought in Seibert off the New York Jets practice squad between Weeks 1 and 2 and added Jalyn Holmes earlier this month after fellow defensive tackle Jonathan Allen was lost for the season with a torn pectoral muscle. Holmes had one of the sacks of Williams.

Stock down

The offensive line has been a surprising revelation, but Daniels took too many hits after letting go of the ball — especially for a rookie dealing with sore ribs.

“Obviously you want to minimize those hits on him, but he just continues to prove how tough he is,” running back Brian Robinson said.

Injuries

The left tackle situation could become an issue if rookie Brandon Coleman is not ready to return from a concussion. Cornelius Lucas departed the Bears game with an ankle injury, pressing Trent Scott into duty protecting Daniels' blind side.

Key number

12.79 — Seconds Daniels scrambled before throwing the Hail Mary pass from the Washington 35-yard line. It's the franchise's first time winning a game with a touchdown on the final play in regulation since at least the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

Next steps

Don't underestimate the Giants, particularly given Daniel Jones' career success in this NFC East matchup, with 12 TDs and just three interceptions. It would be easy to do, too, with games against Pittsburgh and Philadelphia looming within a five-day span from Nov. 10-14.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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Washington Commanders

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