In securing the first playoff win of Jayden Daniels’ young career, the Washington Commanders played a gutsy NFC Wild Card game on Sunday. Against a solid Tampa Bay Buccaneers team, the Commanders were convincingly better. They more than earned a place in the divisional round against the top-seeded Detroit Lions next Saturday.
To add to an already magical Renaissance season for these upstart Commanders, they had the help of the uprights. Without them, the Commanders don’t close the first electric postseason win for Washington since January 2006.
After a poised Daniels led a masterful drive to put the Commanders in position for the victory, all Zane Gonzalez had to pot a chip-shot 37-yard field goal. As you all should know, you shouldn’t really have to sweat a professional kicker making this distance of a kick, even in a clutch situation.
The problem for Gonzalez was that he gradually hooked the kick right. He ended up doinking the right upright. (Note: that’s one of the most satisfying sounds in sports, isn’t it?) However, in sticking with the theme of this Commanders’ destiny-like season, the ball did not fall backward back onto the front of the end zone.
It actually bounced in to give the Commanders the 23-20 triumph.
Man, this is so unreal:
A DOINK TO THE DIVISIONAL ROUND!!!! @COMMANDERS WIN! pic.twitter.com/TRwyX11zcZ
— NFL (@NFL) January 13, 2025
Good for the Commanders.
A once-dormant franchise is no longer stuck in the darkness with no sign of respite. Washington finally has a talisman quarterback. Its team culture prepares its players to fight through adversity and play with poise in tense moments.
Most importantly, the Commanders know who they are.
They’re smart. They’re well-coached. They don’t make many mental mistakes. They play to their strengths. They lean on Daniels’ playmaking. They do just enough to survive on defense. And you can tell they genuinely play for each other.
For a team still on the rise, that’s not a bad bread and butter to have.
When you do these kinds of things in the NFL, the football gods tend to reward this positive energy. You know, like in gifting a team with doinked clutch field goals for playoff wins.
