Instant analysis: Jayden Daniels’ late miscue costs Washington a win

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LANDOVER — Washington had the game won.

In overtime, the Commanders were setting up for a game-winning field goal at the New York Giants’ 24-yard line.

But with 16 seconds left and no timeout, quarterback Jayden Daniels — whose triumphant return from an elbow injury had powered the offense — decided to scramble instead of throwing the ball out of bounds. He fell to the ground and couldn’t get up in time to spike the ball and stop the clock.

Time ran out, and a messy game finished with a 27-27 tie at Northwest Stadium.

The Commanders are now 1-3-1 overall and 0-2-1 in the division.

Here are three instant takeaways from Washington’s win.

A second-half issue

Washington has been a bottom-three defense in the NFL during second halves, allowing over 20 points a game. Last week, it was more of a slow leak as the Colts ran for over 100 yards and bled the game away.

This week, it was a sudden calamity.

The Giants, who managed a single field goal in the first half, proceeded to erase a 14-point deficit in the final seven minutes of the game.

Backup quarterback Jameis Winston put together a nine-play, 75-yard drive to get the comeback started. Then he had a 10-play, 72-yard drive to tie the game.

Washington barely put up any resistance due to poor tackling and porous coverage. New York turned screen passes into first downs and found soft spots for receptions.

Quinn acknowledged last week that the Commanders would need to focus on “finding a way to respond in those strongest moments at the end of the game.”

The Commanders did not find a way Sunday.

Testing Daniels early

What do you do when the opposing quarterback is returning from injury with a makeshift brace on his elbow?

You blitz him. A lot.

New York clearly wanted to test how comfortable Daniels was with contact. In the first quarter alone, New York brought the blitz 62.5% of the time, 32.4 percentage points higher than league average. And it was effective. Daniels saw pressure on 62.5% of his snaps. Even when Washington brought in an extra blocker, like tight end Chig Okonkwo, it didn’t work.

But Daniels absorbed the hits and figured it out — a positive sign for a nervous fanbase.

He countered by finding receivers running free on the back end of New York’s defense. He hit Okonkwo over the middle four times for 60 yards. He evaded a blitz and dumped the ball off to running back Austin Ekeler for 17.

And Daniels was willing to run. He had nine carries for 103 yards — including two rushing touchdowns on which he outran New York’s linebackers. The first was a 38-yarder and the second went for 26.

In a normal world, this is what a good quarterback should do against the blitz. When Daniels was fully healthy in 2024, he eviscerated pressure. He did it against the Lions in the playoffs, going 12-of-16 for 191 yards against the blitz and adding 62 rushing yards.

But this is a different version of Daniels, one who is still figuring out how to balance the risk of injury with the reward of extra yards. Still, when he cuts loose, he flashes the ability that made him a record-setting rookie in 2024. He looked healthy and unafraid to show all parts of his game, running and passing.

Harbaugh in search of a ground game

Back in January, it was Tyler Loop going wide right. In October, it’s Dominic Zvada going wide left. One thing remains true five games into his new job: Former Ravens coach and current Giants coach John Harbaugh is still looking for a kicker he can trust.

Taking a wider view, he’s still missing another essential ingredient. In his northward journey to the Big Apple, Harbaugh brought several Baltimore cast members with him to help overhaul the Giants, including Isaiah Likely, Pat Ricard and Jordan Stout. His former OC Greg Roman is back in the booth as a senior offensive assistant.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t import the Ravens’ stellar run game. On Sunday, the Giants were clearly still searching for answers on the ground.

Since quarterback Jaxson Dart was lost for the year, New York’s lack of quarterback mobility has left the Giants increasingly stuck in their rushing attack. They are in the bottom third of yards per carry, and they had just 55 rushing yards (2.4 yards per carry) in regulation against the Commanders’ feisty defensive front.

Cam Skattebo is a physical grinder but not an explosive game-changer, and the Giants have just one run of more than 20 yards this entire season. Overtime produced some better outcomes, with Skattebo carving out some solid runs against a backed-up Washington defense, but his drive-ending fumble on New York’s final possession illustrates other issues.

Winston is cut from the pocket-passer archetype, so New York experimented with putting new backup J.J. McCarthy under center for running plays — but found little success with the package. Harbaugh’s best teams in Baltimore could dictate the ground game and wear opponents down with physicality. In his new job, Harbaugh is still searching for how to re-create that without the stars he enjoyed with the Ravens.