Washington Commanders fans woke up on Monday still feeling the effects of the team’s unexpected tie against the New York Giants. It was a rough ending, to say the least.
In overtime, Jayden Daniels managed to run out the clock, seemingly losing track of the fact that he had no timeouts and not enough time to set up a last-ditch field goal attempt. It was a disappointing moment, especially with all eyes on Washington’s ownership during such a critical time.
Magic Johnson, the Lakers legend, who holds a 4% stake in the franchise after Josh Harris’ $6.05 billion acquisition in 2023, expressed his frustration on social media—a rare move for him. “I’m in total disbelief my Commanders had such poor clock management in today’s overtime game against the Giants,” he wrote. “All we had to do was kick the field goal and we would have won the game!” His words resonated with many fans who likely shared his disbelief regarding the team’s performance.
At one point in the game, the Commanders were leading 27-13, thanks to Daniels’ 26-yard touchdown run with just over 11 minutes remaining. However, Giants quarterback Jameis Winston led an impressive comeback, bringing the game to a tie at 27-27.
It’s worth wondering—I mean, if Giants kicker Dominic Zvada had managed to convert even one of his three missed field goals, would the narrative be different today? Perhaps. But at the end of the day, Dan Quinn, the Commanders’ head coach, accepted responsibility for the blunder at the end of the game.
Quinn stated, “The sequencing of that does not fall on (Daniels). It’s an outside throw or a clock — an out of bounds throw, or a clock. That has to come from me. I have to put him in that spot. I can do that earlier and we can finish the kick earlier. We don’t need to gain more yards.” It seems he wanted to clarify that the misstep was a broader issue rather than solely on the quarterback.
With the tie, Washington is now 1-3-1 for the season, and fans are left pondering what could have been.
