Whenever a team fails to win a game because of a late mistake, the head coach usually tries to minimize the guilty party by pointing out the previous mistakes that could have turned the game in the team's favor. They don't like to publicly blame a player for making a physical or mental mistake. That was the case once again after the Washington Commanders (1-3-1) failed to execute correctly at the conclusion of overtime and were forced to settle for a 27-27 tie with the New York Giants (3-1-1).
The Commanders had the ball at the Giants 24-yard line with 12 seconds remaining in the 10-minute overtime period. Neither the Giants nor the Commanders had a time out, and it seemed obvious that the Commanders could go for the win if QB Jayden Daniels either spiked the ball or threw it out of bounds.
However, Daniels tried to escape from the pocket and he ended up getting sacked on the play. As he picked himself up, the clock ran down to 0:00 and the Commanders had blown their opportunity to kick the winning field goal
Daniels was asked about his awareness of the team's timeout situation and his overall clock management, but he said very little. “Just gotta be better,” Daniels said. “Just gotta be better.”
As the game ended, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn slammed his headset to the ground in an explosion of anger. He did not blame his quarterback when he met the media after the game, saying it was up to him to make the play options known to the players on the field.
He will almost certainly be more demonstrative behind closed doors.