The Washington Commanders were one play away from snapping a three-game losing streak Sunday from FedEx Field. Instead of celebrating a win, the Commanders dropped a heartbreaker, falling 21-17 to the Tennessee Titans to fall to 1-4 on the season.
The Commanders had a first and goal from Tennessee’s two-yard line with 19 seconds remaining, meaning Washington would have four chances to win the game. On the first two plays, quarterback Carson Wentz had two incompletions to set up a third and goal.
With limited time, Wentz tries to sneak the ball into running back J.D. McKissic for the game-winning interception, but Titans linebacker David Long made a great read, diving in front of McKissic to intercept the pass and clinch the win for Tennessee.
It was a gut punch for the Commanders.
After the game, Wentz explained what he saw on the play.
“Yeah, the guy made a heck of a play,” Wentz said of Long’s interception. “At least from my vantage point, it looked like he was kind of covering Terry a little bit on the crossing route and I just tried to squeeze it in there to J.D. Guy made a heck of a play; that was an emotional rollercoaster because I thought we had six points, then it left my hand and the result, that was it, unfortunately.”
Here is the play.
TTFU ⚔️
📺: Watch #TENvsWAS on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/VPVmpluulc
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 9, 2022
It wasn’t an egregious mistake as some of Wentz’s past interceptions have been. It seemed accurate in how described the play. It was a tight window with little time to react.
What did Long see?
“We practiced that, you know, the red zone all week,” Long said. “They moved me around a little bit. I was prepared for the play. The thing is we never panicked. They made some plays. We know they are playing. We know what type of players we got on this side of the ball. You never panic; just make a play.”
Long made a play, and it will likely be one of the NFL’s top highlights of the week. That one play represented a huge swing of emotions for the two teams. Tennessee heads into the bye week winners of three games in a row, while the Commanders have a short week and travel to Chicago to face the Bears on Thursday Night Football.
It was interesting to see the differing perspectives on the game’s final play.
