Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders don’t flinch in the face of pressure.
Any pressure. Whether at the end of a regular-season game or in the playoffs.
The latter was proven on Sunday when Zane Gonzalez kicked a 37-yard field goal off an upright as time expired to give Washington a 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a thrilling wild-card game.
A DOINK TO THE DIVISIONAL ROUND!!!! @COMMANDERS WIN! pic.twitter.com/TRwyX11zcZ
— NFL (@NFL) January 13, 2025
Washington overcame a fourth-quarter deficit thanks to a fumble recovery and a fourth-down TD pass from Daniels to Terry McLaurin.
After Tampa Bay kicked a field goal to knot the score, Daniels worked his magic.
On a third-and-one coming out of a Tampa Bay timeout, Dan Quinn sent in Marcus Mariota to take a snap. Daniels went in motion but Mariota was just trying the hard count to get Tampa Bay to jump.
After a Washington timeout, Daniels called his own number, escaped a Buccaneer defender in the backfield and ran for a first down with 39 seconds left.
Gonzalez, the most recent of a myriad of kickers for the Commanders in his sixth game for Washington, came on with three seconds left.
He kicked the football and it hit off the upright and went through the goalposts from 37 yards for Washington’s first playoff win since 2005.
A DOINK TO THE DIVISIONAL ROUND!!!! @COMMANDERS WIN! pic.twitter.com/TRwyX11zcZ
— NFL (@NFL) January 13, 2025
