The Washington Commanders are back in the playoffs. Despite an inspired performance by Falcons rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr., Washington prevailed in overtime after their rookie quarterback, Jayden Daniels, hit tight end Zach Ertz for the game-winning score in the extra session.
Washington (11-5) has clinched its first playoff berth since 2020 with Sunday night's 30-24 win. The Commanders also clinched a playoff berth for the Los Angeles Rams. Conversely, Atlanta (8-8) lost control of its own playoff destiny.
The Commanders scored 17 unanswered points after trailing 17-7 at halftime, but Atlanta forced overtime after Penix hit Kyle Pitts on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1:19 left in regulation. The Falcons could have won it in regulation, but Riley Patterson's 56-yard field goal try at the buzzer was short.
In overtime, Daniels led the Commanders on a 12-play, 70-yard drive that was punctuated by his third touchdown pass of the night. Daniels also led both teams with 127 yards on 16 carries. Penix threw for 223 yards with a touchdown and a pick in a losing effort.
Here's a closer look at how Washington punched its playoff ticket.
Without taking anything away from Atlanta, Washington's win was largely the result of Dan Quinn's team not getting in its own way as much in the second half and in overtime after committing several costly errors in the first half. One of those mistakes was a special teams penalty on a Falcons punt that extended the drive and ultimately led to a touchdown for the visiting team.
The Commanders were flagged a whopping 13 times for 108 yards, but Daniels largely overcame the sloppy play with breathtaking plays. Daniels' night also included some history; he broke former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III's rookie record for rushing yards by a quarterback.
With A.J. Terrell following Terry McLaurin's every move, Commanders wideout Olamide Zaccheaus stepped up with eight grabs for 85 yards that included his 7-yard touchdown catch on Washington's first drive.
Defensively, the Commanders set up the game's first score after picking off Penix on the game's fifth play. In the second half, Washington was able to get Atlanta's offense off the field on its first two possessions. The Falcons had run just nine plays prior to their game-tying touchdown drive in the final moments of regulation.
The Falcons sacked Daniels five times, but they weren't able to bring him down when it mattered most. They also were unable to come up with a fourth-down stop, as the Commanders converted on all three of their fourth-down tries.
While the loss surely hurts, Falcons fans should take solace in Penix's performance. After a shaky opening drive, Penix quickly found his rhythm, leading the Falcons on three scoring drives in the first half. Two of those drives ended with touchdowns by running back Bijan Robinson, who rushed or 82 yards on 13 carries in the game's first 30 minutes.
Penix then led an improbable, game-tying drive near the end of regulation that included a 31-yard completion to Drake London (who caught seven passes for 106 yards) on a fourth-and-11 play. His touchdown pass to Pitts was on a fourth-and-13 play.
Speaking of Robinson, his lack of involvement in the second half loomed large in the loss. He had just eight yards on four carries in the second half after being an integral part of the Falcons' success in the first half.
One of Washington's most important plays of the night took place on a fourth-and-5 on the Falcons' 39-yard line late in the third quarter. On the play, Daniels threw a short pass to running back Jeremy McNichols, who was initially short of the first-down market before fighting for the necessary yardage. The 6-yard gain helped set up the Commanders' go-ahead touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter.
Daniels' game-winning touchdown pass was a dart that corralled by Ertz, who caught six passes for 72 yards and two scores.
"I like our teams' chances against anyone." -- Daniels with NBC Sports afterward when asked about Washington's playoff prospects
Atlanta will play host to the Panthers in their regular-season finale. The Falcons need to win and have the Buccaneers lose to the Saints in order to capture the NFC South division title and the playoff berth that comes with it.
The Commanders will wrap up the regular season in Dallas against the rival Cowboys.
Washington clinches the playoff spot and right now is the No. 6 seed ahead of the Packers due to the conference record tiebreaker. That'll be settled next week.
Atlanta now needs the Buccaneers to lose next week in order to win the NFC South.
For the second week in a row, Jayden Daniels leads a game-winning, walk-off drive. This time, he sends the Commanders to the playoffs with a strike to Zach Ertz over the middle of the field. That drive was basically all Daniels the whole way. What a performance: 24 of 36 for 227 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception, plus 16 (SIXTEEN) carries for 127 yards. WOW.
Daniels' escapability is just unreal.
Riley Patterson's 56-yard field goal came up way short, so the Davis penalty escapes ignominy. We're headed to an extra period.
This penalty on Michael Davis being pass interference rather than holding may have just won Atlanta the game. Wow.
Noah Igbinoghene may have gotten away with illegal contact on that last throw to Drake London. Their feet got tangled so it wasn't pass interference, but Igbinoghene had hands on London farther than 5 yards downfield.
EXTREMELY suspect time management from the Falcons. Wow. They let the clock run all the way down to 12 seconds when they still had an extra timeout. Wow. Might have just cost themselves a chance to win the game.
AJ Terrell got away with a pretty obvious pass interference on second down and Olamide Zaccheus had a ball hit him in the facemask on third, and now the Falcons will have 40 seconds to drive for the game-winning score, with two timeouts still in their pocket.
And Penix comes back on the very next snap and makes up for it with his best throw of the night. Fantastic job by Kyle Pitts to make the contested catch over the middle. Extra point tied it up. What a drive.
Yikes. Second time Penix has missed an open corner route for a touchdown.
Absolutely massive loss for the Falcons on a bad snap on first-and-goal results in a 21-yard loss. It'll be second-and-goal from the 26-yard line after the two-minute warning. Atlanta tried to go with the direct snap to Bijan again and it backfired in a big way.
Penix has made two really nice throws to the wide left side of the field to extend this drive. Falcons still have a shot to tie.
Washington tacked on a field goal after the Cosmi penalty, and now leads by 7. The Falcons have 4:32 to drive the field for a game-tying touchdown, armed with two timeouts.
Oh boy, that could be a huge penalty. Holding on Sam Cosmi wipes a Zaccheus TD off the board and now it'll be third-and-goal from the 13 with Washington up by 4 points.
Daniels just broke the record for rushing yards by a rookie quarterback. It was, of course, previously held by Robert Griffin III for this same Washington franchise.
Second time tonight that Penix has gotten stripped but the Falcons have recovered the fumble. He's got to have better ball security in the pocket, especially when he's trying to step up and through the rush.
What a move by Ray-Ray McCloud! Stayed on his feet through a pair of tacklers on third down and created a whole bunch of yards after the catch by himself. Moved the Falcons into plus territory as they try to take the lead here.
Another fantastic drive from Washington culminates with a trip to the end zone. This time it's Chris Rodriguez scoring on a pitch play from 2 yards out to cap a 14-play, 70-yard drive that again took more than 7 minutes off the clock.
Really nice coverage from A.J. Terrell on a third-down deep shot to Terry McLaurin forced Washington into fourth-and-5. Naturally, Daniels converted it again, this time with a checkdown over the middle to Jeremy McNichols. He was nearly stood up just before the line to gain but appeared to reach out and convert it at the last second.
Atlanta got away with one on third down, as Penix got stripped of the ball but fell on it himself before a defender could recover the fumble. Washington will get it back with a chance to tie or take the lead.
Big drive for Zach Ertz. He had the huge gain earlier and now he steps up on third-and-long inside the red zone and makes a great contested grab in the front of the end zone to get Washington back within one score. 15 plays, 79 yards and a touchdown in a drive that took more than half the third quarter.
Second fourth-down conversion of the night for Washington. Now 18 of 21 on the year.
Zach Ertz has basically been a catch-and-fall guy for years now, He just had a MASSIVE catch and run for a huge gain on a scramble-drill play after Daniels evaded pressure in the pocket.
Washington's offensive line is getting totally bowled over here. Just got bailed out by an illegal contact penalty.
Some really, really bad clock management from Atlanta on this final drive, and then Penix airmailed an open corner route on third down, so the Falcons settled for a Riley Patterson field goal to take a 10-point lead into the break. Washington gets the ball to begin the third quarter.
It looked like the second score of the night for Bijan Robinson, but apparently the ball was behind him as he went through the front corner of the end zone, so they took the score off the board. Michael Penix then got stopped on a QB sneak from inside the 1-yard line. Falcons still trying to punch it in.
And then Bijan took it into the end zone anyway, bouncing it outside the tackle box and easily jumping into the end zone to give the Falcons their first lead of the night.
Really undisciplined performance from the Washington defense so far. Already three penalties to extend drives.
After a penalty set Washington's drive back inside the red zone, Kaden Elliss came up with a huge play to shut down the scoring opportunity. Looks like Daniels got fooled by the coverage and never saw Elliss dropping into his zone, and just threw the ball right into the defender's chest.
Former Falcons WR Olamide Zaccheus has 5-53-1 against his former team less than 5 minutes into the second quarter. One of the best games of his career already.
That looked like the third miscommunication of the game for the Falcons already. The snap operation isn't on the same page, and neither are the receivers.
