Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn sat in the locker room after his team’s Week 5 matchup with the New York Giants trying to process a sequence that prevented a game-winning field-goal attempt and produced a 27-27 overtime tie. Quinn said, “Feels like a loss,” and appeared visibly stunned as he addressed the media.
With 50 seconds remaining in overtime, the Commanders had the ball at the Giants’ 24-yard line and no timeouts. The offense did not snap the ball until there were 12 seconds left. Quarterback Jayden Daniels dropped back, began to scramble and was tackled with nine seconds remaining; he did not get to his feet for another four seconds as teammates displayed little urgency.
Quinn slammed his headset to the ground and stood near the 25-yard line as players headed toward the locker room. Guard Sam Cosmi threw his helmet and kicked a pylon on his way inside. Receiver Terry McLaurin, standing against a burgundy wall in the locker room, called the outcome “Unacceptable” and appeared upset and drained.
The failed final sequence prompted a week of questions about whether players knew they were out of timeouts, who called the play, why it took so long and why the ball was not spiked. The episode also prompted internal review and outside scrutiny and raised questions about Daniels, first-year offensive coordinator David Blough and Quinn’s job status.
Washington entered the week 1-3-1 and prepared for Monday night’s game against the San Francisco 49ers (8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN and ABC). Running back Austin Ekeler said, “It’s easy to come in and mope around, but we can’t do that because we still have a goal in front of us.” Coaches and players returned to practice and said the team was moving forward, while one former Commanders player said outside observers would know whether the team had stayed united by whether everyone delivered the same message. “Winning cures all,” the former player said.
On the drive leading to the final play, Treylon Burks caught a pass with 1:02 remaining, broke three tackles and went out of bounds with 55 seconds left. A subsequent run consumed five seconds, then 38 seconds elapsed before the final play. Some on the field reacted as if more time remained; at least one participant wondered whether players had lost track of the situation as the sequence unfolded.
