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In one of the biggest moments of one of the biggest games of the entire season, Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels proved he’s actually human.

After leading the offense up and down the field all night long against a motivated and desperate Atlanta Falcons team, the Heisman Trophy winner needed a moment to catch his breath. Deep into overtime, head coach Dan Quinn called a timeout to allow his electrifying 24-year-old time to regain his composure.

As Daniels kneeled on the field, his backup, Marcus Mariota, walked over to him and delivered a timely pep talk.

“Stand up, catch your air, get your wind and go out there and execute,” Mariota said. “Use your God-given abilities, and let’s go win this game.”

It should come as no surprise the rookie phenom did just that. Daniels connected with veteran tight end Zach Ertz in overtime for his third touchdown pass of the game, capping off an incredible performance. The LSU standout completed 24 of 36 passes for 227 yards with three touchdowns and ran for a season-high 127 yards, including 42 in overtime.

During the most-watched Sunday Night Football game since 2019, the most clutch version of this franchise during my 20 seasons covering the team delivered once again. The Commanders, led by Daniels, rose to the occasion with the game on the line, defeating the Falcons in overtime, 30-24. Washington has 11 wins for the first time since 1991 and has officially qualified for the playoffs.

Washington has scored 30 or more points seven times, including three times in the last four games, and is one of only three teams to score on more than half of its drives this season. Considering the Commanders were 4-13 one year ago and the franchise hadn’t posted a winning season since 2016, it’s been a remarkable turnaround for a franchise that hasn’t had much to be cheerful about over the years.

The Commanders’ win was also testament to Daniels’ poise and resilience. He shook off an interception and a 10-point halftime deficit to lead the winning drive in overtime. At 11-5, Washington now has a chance to secure the sixth seed in the NFC. A victory over the Dallas Cowboys next weekend, could set up a wild-card round game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Los Angeles Rams.

The Philadelphia Eagles came into town riding a 10-game winning streak, thanks to a potent two-headed offensive attack featuring Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley as well as arguably the best defense in the league. Philadelphia rushed out to an early lead and a blowout of the Commanders looked likely … until the 11th play of the game when Hurts was sidelined with a concussion.

With backup Kenny Pickett behind center, the Eagles leaned heavily on Barkley, who rushed for 150 yards and two touchdowns, enabling the Birds to jump to a 14-0 lead barely eight minutes into the game. By the third quarter, Philly was ahead 27-14 lead and the Commanders had a five percent chance of winning the contest. But the fourth quarter veered heavily off script and the burgundy and gold rallied to stun their division rival.

Washington’s rookie phenom Jayden Daniels sparked an improbable 22-point fourth quarter to steal a 36-33 win over the Eagles, capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder with just six seconds remaining. On the day, Daniels completed 24 of 39 attempts for 258 yards with a career-best five touchdowns and two interceptions, while also rushing for a team-high 81 yards.

Through 15 weeks, Philadelphia hadn’t given up more than two touchdown passes in a single game this season. Daniels, who is still technically a rookie, threw for five. One of those went to his favorite target, Terry McLaurin, who hauled in his 12th touchdown reception of the season — tying the franchise record with Super Bowl champion Ricky Sanders.

With the win, Dan Quinn became the first coach in franchise history to win at least 10 games in his first season. Amazingly, the last time the franchise was 10-5 was back in 1991. The Commanders now have a 94 percent chance to make the postseason, and a win over Atlanta next week on Sunday Night Football will clinch their spot. As the franchise seeks its first playoff victory in 19 years.

When playing a bad team, the ideal approach is to put points on the board early and then allow them to implode. Put your foot on their neck until they roll over and show you their belly, if you will. 

The Washington Commanders lost to the Dallas Cowboys a few weeks prior because they started slow, messed around for most of the first half and allowed a clearly limited inferior opponent to stick around long enough to become invested. Well. It almost happened again in New Orleans, when the Commanders once again played an injury ravaged opponent who should have represented an easy win. 

Spencer Rattler and the Saints went marching on for two touchdowns and two field goals during the final 23 minutes of the game and were a failed two point conversion away from a shocking come-from-behind victory for the home team. Considering Washington led 17-0 earlier in the afternoon, it was quite a nerve racking conclusion for everyone involved, with the Commanders eeking out a 20-19 victory. 

To absolutely no one’s surprise Jayden Daniels, returning back to the bayou where he won the Heisman Trophy at LSU, was the best player in the game. His preferred target, Terry McLaurin, had two touchdown catches and could have easily had two more. But Washington allowed eight sacks, committed nine penalties and failed to produce a consistent ground game without center Tyler Biadasz, who was a late scratch due to an illness. 

Greg Joseph missed a 54-yard field goal attempt with roughly two minutes remaining that would have sealed the win for the visitors. Because kicker has been Washington’s least stable position on the roster all season — and for more than two decades — the newest addition to the roster was always unlikely to convert the long attempt. Nothing against Joseph, who is probably a solid kicker and/or human being. It’s just he’s the latest guy to walk through the revolving door at kicker this season, filling in for Zane Gonzalez, who was filling in for Austin Seibert, who replaced Cade York, who replaced Brandon McManus.

With veteran quarterback Derek Carr injured, interim coach Darren Rizzi opted to start Jake Haener, who led the Saints to just 38 yards of offense before he was benched at halftime in favor of Rattler. Cornerback Marshon Lattimore played 53 snaps in his burgundy and gold debut. New Orleans wisely opted to avoid the former Saints standout, not targeting the four-time Pro Bowler once the entire game. 

While it wasn’t easy and it certainly wasn’t pretty, the victory ensures Washington’s first winning season since 2016. Depressing stat of the day: The last time the franchise was 9-5 after 14 games was 1992. With three games remaining, the Commanders have an 88 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to the league’s website. 

Angst was readily apparent in the nation’s capital after consecutive losses to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Dallas derailed an improbable 7-2 start by the Washington Commanders.

Had the franchise quarterback hit the rookie wall? Had the offensive coordinator become too predictable? Could the head coach turns things around before it’s too late or is the fanbase destined for yet another winter of sadness?

While it’s too early to know how the rest of the season will unfold, Washington scored touchdowns on its first four drives in a 42-19 rout over the Tennessee Titans for the franchise’s first December home victory since 2017.

Coming into the game, Tennessee excelled at shutting down the run and had the best third-down defense in the NFL. Amazingly, Washington dominated the Titans in both facets of the game — rushing for 267 yards while also converted nine of 14 third-down attempts.

On his first carry of the day, running back Brian Robinson Jr. broke free for a career-long 40-yard touchdown that set the tone for the afternoon. After leaving the Dallas game early due to injury, Robinson bounced back with 16 carries for 103 yards and a touchdown.

Quarterback Jayden Daniels completed 25 of 30 passes for 206 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. The rookie also rushed for a touchdown that gave Washington an early 14-0 lead. And when Daniels went to the air, he looked for receiver Terry McLaurin, who was targeted eight times. Scary Terry caught all eight passes thrown his way for 73 yards and two touchdowns.

By the time the Titans ran their 10th offensive play, they already trailed 28-0 early in the second quarter. While Tennessee looked better in the second half, the game was far from ever becoming competitive. Washington outgained the visitors 463 to 245 and dominated time of possession. Backup running back Chris Rodriguez Jr., who has been a forgotten man for most of the season, even racked up 94 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Bobby Wagner reached a significant milestone on Sunday, when he joined fellow Washington linebacker London Fletcher as the only players to reach 100 tackles in 13 consecutive seasons. The 34-year-old future Hall of Famer continues to be worth his weight in gold for a Commanders franchise that desperately needed veteran leadership and consistent production from the heart of the defense.

For roughly 55 minutes, the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys played in an ugly and fairly forgettable affair. And then, the final five minutes of the contest devolved into utter madness as the two franchises traded haymakers (and self-inflicted errors) with reckless abandon.

A 41-point fourth quarter featured a backbreaking 99-yard kickoff return Cowboys returner KaVontae Turpin and an improbable 86-yard touchdown catch-and-run by Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin.

The Commanders came into the matchup heavy favorites — with Vegas odds makers believing Washington would be 11 points better than the visiting Cowboys. But Jayden Daniels and the Commanders offense struggled to get going throughout the first half and allowed a bad Cowboys squad to stick around long enough to become invested. The Dallas offense, which consistently struggles to create explosive plays, was able to protect backup quarterback Cooper Rush with a patchwork offensive line and put points on the board when needed.

Ultimately, the game was decided when the Commanders missed two extra point attempts and allowed two kickoffs to be returned for a touchdown in a crushing 34-26 loss to the Cowboys. Austin Seibert, who was sidelined the previous two games with a hip injury, did not resemble the reliable kicker that Commanders fans have come to expect this season — missing one field goal attempt, two extra points and failing on two less-than-stellar onside kicks which never really had a chance of being successful.

With the win, Dallas snapped a five-game losing streak while extending Washington’s losing streak to three games. The Commanders have one more game, at home next week against Tennessee, before their much-needed bye week.

The Washington Commanders stunned the Chicago Bears 18-15 courtesy of a last-second 52-yard, walk-off touchdown. As insane as the ending was, it was a fitting conclusion for the highly-anticipated matchup between the top two picks in the 2024 NFL Draft — Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Amazingly, after trailing the entire game, Chicago held a 15-12 lead with 25 seconds remaining and heartbreak looked inevitable for the burgundy and gold. A 56-yard touchdown run by running back D’Andre Swift woke a previously dormant Bears offense while the defense kept Washington’s offense out of the endzone all afternoon.

On the final snap of the game, Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson had his back to the play — too consumed with taunting and trash-talking fans to realize he was missing in action. Eventually Stevenson turned around, saw the ongoing play and scrambled to get involved at the edge of the endzone. Stevenson all-out sprinted to the scrum, arriving just in time … to deflect the ball into the waiting hands of Commanders receiver Noah Brown for an improbable 52-yard game-winner.

Bedlam ensued. The home team’s sideline exploded onto the field. The packed stadium roared at a volume previously unthinkable. Players wandered around aimlessly amid the hysteria, not sure how to react to what they’d just witnessed. The latest chapter for the NFL’s feel-good team of the 2024 season delivered an absurd twist.

Daniels, who was a gametime decision after a rib injury knocked him out of the Carolina game one week earlier, finished with 326 yards in the air and another 52 yards on the ground. Oh, and one miracle touchdown completion to snap Chicago’s three-game winning streak.

“I thought we had a chance if we could get up the field some,” said head coach Dan Quinn. “Then it turns into Hail Mary time.”

In order to give the Commanders that chance, Daniels knew he needed to buy his pass catchers time to get into a position downfield to secure his desperate pass attempt. So what did he do? The athletic 23-year-old held onto the ball for an eternity (12.79 seconds) while scrambling for an insane 40.7 yards before launching the ball from his own 35-yard line. The rest is literally history.

The rookie on the other sideline was less stellar, completing just 10 of 24 passes for 131 yards and a 59.5 quarterback rating. Surprisingly, 95 of Williams’ 131 passing yards came during Chicago’s final two drives of the game. With roughly 10 minutes remaining, the USC product had completed just four of 16 passes for 36 yards — a jaw-dropping lack of production for the Heisman Trophy winner.

A once-beleaguered Commanders defense appears to be showing some signs of life, holding an opponent scoreless in the first half of consecutive games for the first time since 1997. With the win, Washington improves to 4-0 at home, which hasn’t been done since 2005. The victory also puts the franchise potentially on pace to win 11 games for the first time since 1991, a highly-memorable season that ended with a Super Bowl victory.

The Washington Commanders have become the talk of the NFL this season, thanks to transcendent play by a record-breaking rookie quarterback. When Jayden Daniels was knocked out of the game after suffering a rib injury on Washington’s first offensive series, it would not have been unreasonable for fans to feel a tad quesy.

Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota was thrust into action … and missed on his first three pass attempts. Fortunately for all involved, the veteran settled into a groove and led the Commanders on six scoring drives in an emphatic 40-7 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

On the day, Mariota completed 18 of 23 passes for 205 yards, two touchdown passes and a QB rating of 132.8. Tight ends Zach Ertz and Ben Sinnott each collected their first touchdown reception of the season and Brian Robinson Jr. added a rushing touchdown as Washington defeated an opponent by 21 points or more for the third time this season.

Carolina quarterback Andy Dalton was picked off on the opening drive, when his errant screen pass ended up in the hands of defensive end Dante Fowler Jr., who returned it 67 yards for the first pick six of his career. A week after Fowler sacked Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson twice in a 30-23 loss to the Ravens, the 30-year-old had his best game in burgundy and gold — with a sack, a run stuff on 4th-and-2 and the defensive touchdown.

Things didn’t get any better for Dalton, who finished the day with a meager 93 yards passing, two interceptions and a QB rating of 44.0. The second interception came courtesy of cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr., who was inactive one week ago and desperately needs to string together a series of strong showings if he’s going to stick around beyond this season.

The Commanders dominated the Panthers in every way imagineable — including total yards (421 to 180), first downs (26 to 10) and time of possession (35:05 to 24:55). The day started with the face of the franchise being knocked out of the game, and yet, ended with a “business as usual” domination of the lowly Panthers. Mariota summed up the team’s performance best, saying: “When you have a brotherhood like this, you’ll find ways to win.”

The franchise also honored Hall of Fame cornerback Darrell Green by retiring his jersey number during a touching halftime ceremony. For 20 years, Green was a staple of the secondary, helping the Redskins win two of their three Super Bowls. If anyone from the Joe Gibbs era is worthy of such an honor, it’s Green (and fellow Hall of Famer Art Monk).