TAMPA, Fla. — New owners. New general manager. New coach. New franchise quarterback.
That’s the formula — with an emphasis on the QB — that Washington rode to playoff success after nearly two decades of futility.
Jayden Daniels ran for a critical first down to set up Zane Gonzalez’s 37-yard field goal that clanged off the right upright and went through as time expired, and the Commanders beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 23-20, in an NFC wild-card game Sunday night for the franchise’s first playoff win in 6,945 days.
Daniels, playing with a bandage beneath his right eye after his face was bloodied, became the third rookie quarterback in three years to win a playoff game.
The Commanders (13-5) will face the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions (15-2) in the divisional round.
“It means a lot, man,” Daniels said. “You could just see all the fans over here, man, they’re waiting for us. They’ve waited a long time for this moment and this feeling, so I’m just so happy for them.”
Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers (10-8) missed several opportunities and the veteran quarterback committed a costly turnover in the fourth quarter. The Bucs couldn’t get 1 yard on two tries from the Commanders 12 and settled for a field goal to tie the game before Washington’s winning drive.
Daniels threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns, joining C.J. Stroud and Brock Purdy as rookie QBs to win playoff games in the past three seasons.
Washington hadn’t won in the postseason since beating the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay 17-10 in a wild-card game on Jan. 7, 2006.
The turnaround for the organization began when Daniel Snyder sold the team in 2023 to a group led by Josh Harris that includes NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. They hired GM Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn after their first season in control and selected Daniels with the No. 2 pick in the draft in April.
“You gotta give Josh a lot of credit because we picked the right people,” Johnson said. “When you pick Adam Peters and you pick coach Quinn and they picked the right players, the culture changed. You went from a losing culture to a winning culture. But it’s about those players. They decided they wanted to win. They didn’t worry about what all the analysts said. And, the right quarterback. Enough said right there.”
The Buccaneers opened the season with a 37-20 victory at home against the Commanders in Daniels’ first game. Daniels went on to have an outstanding season, was selected to the Pro Bowl and helped Washington improve from 4-13 to 12-5.
Now, he has them headed to Detroit to face Jared Goff and the Lions’ high-octane offense.
“We’re not going to give up until the clock hits zero,” Daniels said. “We’re going to keep fighting until the end.”
After Tampa Bay’s defense held inside the 5 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to preserve a 17-13 lead, Mayfield gave the Commanders the ball right back when he fumbled an exchange on a handoff to Jalen McMillan. Washington recovered at the Buccaneers 13. On fourth-and-2 from the 5, Daniels connected with Terry McLaurin in the back of the end zone for a 20-17 lead.
“It’s disappointing because I believe in this team because we have the talent and the coaching staff to go far,” Mayfield said. “I did some dumb stuff and it’ll wear on me for a while.”
Mayfield drove the Buccaneers to a second-and-1 at the Commanders 12 but they settled for a 32-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin that tied it at 20-20 with 4:41 left.
The Bucs never got the ball back, thanks to Daniels, who calmly led his team downfield. With less than a minute left, he was hit behind the line of scrimmage but scrambled for 4 yards on third-and-2, allowing him to take a knee to set up Gonzalez’s winning kick.
Quinn previously passed up short field goals on fourth down twice and the offense failed to convert before McLaurin’s TD catch.
On fourth down from the Buccaneers 4 less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Daniels threw incomplete. He was pressured and threw incomplete on fourth-and-2 from Tampa Bay’s 20 on Washington’s first possession of the game.
“We were going to be bold but not reckless,” Quinn said.
Mayfield tossed a 4-yard TD pass to Bucky Irving to give the Buccaneers a 17-13 lead in the third quarter. On the previous play, 350-pound defensive tackle Vita Vea was Mayfield’s intended receiver, but the QB got sacked for a 2-yard loss.
Mayfield fired a 1-yard TD pass to Mike Evans to tie it at 10 late in the first half.
Gonzalez kicked a 22-yard field goal to give Washington a 13-10 lead on the opening drive of the second half. The Commanders had a first down at the 3 but Tampa Bay’s defense held.
After Austin Ekeler ran 2 yards on fourth-and-1 from the Buccaneers 23 late in the first quarter, the Commanders went ahead a few plays later to complete a 92-yard drive. Daniels, with his face bloodied, tossed a 10-yard TD pass to Dyami Brown for a 7-3 lead.
A holding call on cornerback Zyon McCollum negated a third-down sack by Yaya Diaby and allowed Washington to extend its next drive that ended with Gonzalez nailing a 50-yarder for a 10-3 lead.
McLaughlin kicked a 50-yard field goal on the opening drive. The Buccaneers were 9-1 when they scored first in the regular season.
Injuries
Commanders: DT Daron Payne (finger), TE Ben Sinnott (shoulder), and LB Jordan Magee (hamstring) left the game. … Daniels got the gash on his face glued and bandaged up and stayed in.
Buccaneers: DT Calijah Kancey was evaluated for a concussion and returned. … CB Jamel Dean left with a knee injury in the second half.
Up next
Commanders: One win away from the NFC championship game.
Buccaneers: Begin the offseason.
NFC divisional round
Commanders at Lions
Saturday, 8 p.m.
TV: FOX
Radio: 100.3 FM
Line: Lions by 8 1/2