The Washington Commanders and New York Giants tied 27-27 in overtime on Sunday in Landover, Maryland. With two minutes left in overtime, the Giants had first-and-10 at the Washington 24, and Washington was out of timeouts. Instead of kneeling down, the Giants handed off to running back Cam Skattebo, who fumbled. Washington then drove to the New York 24 with under a minute left. Quarterback Jayden Daniels took the snap with about 12 seconds left. He didn't throw, and the Giants tackled him for no gain. Washington couldn't spike the ball before time ran out, so it never tried the roughly 42-yard winning kick. Washington coach Dan Quinn threw his headset to the ground. Washington is now 1-3-1, and the Giants are 3-1-1.

This One Is on Washington's Coach (Dan Quinn, Magic Johnson)

Washington's own coach and one of its owners say the coaches should have stopped the clock.

Washington's coach says the finish is on him. Dan Quinn is Washington's head coach. He said the only options on that play were "an out-of-bounds throw, or a clock." "The right call is honestly like we can go clock it early and don't put ourselves in that spot," he said. "That is my responsibility." He also said, "We were trying to gain more (yards). We don't need to."

An owner said the team only had to kick. Magic Johnson is a minority owner of the Commanders. He posted that he was "in total disbelief my Commanders had such poor clock management." "All we had to do was kick the field goal and we would have won the game!" he wrote.

A team writer says Quinn could have stopped the play. Scott Bair covers the team for Hogs Haven. He wrote that Quinn "could've heard and killed that final play call" and let kicker Drew Stevens try the field goal.

But Daniels Had to Throw It Away (Connor J. Hughes, Colin Cowherd, Bleacher Report)

Critics say Daniels just had to throw the ball away.

The play call gave him two safe choices. Quinn said the call was a throw to a receiver on the left side or an immediate throwaway. Instead, Daniels turned inside and got tackled. The AP reported that it's "still not clear if he knew Washington was out of timeouts."

Commentators went after the quarterback. SNY reporter Connor J. Hughes posted, "What the heck was Jayden Daniels thinking?!?" Sports host Colin Cowherd blamed both men. "What in the world was Dan Quinn thinking? Or Jayden Daniels? That's a fireable offense," he wrote. Bleacher Report writer Andrew Peters wrote that "everyone involved needed to be better." He said "the offensive line could have prevented the sack, while Daniels could have gotten the ball out quicker."

The quarterback took the blame too. "We have to stop the clock," he said. "… It starts with everyone, top down. Ultimately, it's on me." He had played well before that. Back from a dislocated elbow, he ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns.

The Giants Blew It First (Mike Tomlin, Mac Scarce, Cam Skattebo)

New York only needed to kneel down and kick a field goal.

The Giants could have knelt and kicked. The Giants had the ball at the Washington 24 in sudden death, and Washington had no timeouts left. Gameday New York City writer Mac Scarce wrote, "The Giants did not need more yards to win; they just needed to avoid a turnover."

An NBC analyst was blunt about the fumble. Mike Tomlin is an analyst for NBC Sports. "I was disgusted by the Skattebo fumble," he said on Football Night in America. He also said, "Division wins are too precious in the National Football League."

The running back agrees he shouldn't have fought for more. "At the end of the day, I f---ed up," Skattebo said. He said he should have stopped trying "to get the extra yards, because we're already in a good position." "I've got to make sure I protect the ball for this football team," he said. "We win that game if I do."

Still, the Giants' Plan Made Sense (John Harbaugh)

New York's coach says running the clock down protected against a missed kick, and he'd probably do it again.

The kicker had already missed three times. Giants kicker Dominic Zvada missed from 50, 57 and 46 yards on Sunday. John Harbaugh is the Giants' head coach. He called the kick "very makeable, but it's not a gimme." Harbaugh added, "I've had some experience with that." His Baltimore tenure ended last season on a missed 44-yard field goal.

The coach wanted to leave Washington no time. Harbaugh said the idea was to run twice, then take a knee, "so in case he doesn't make the field goal, there's no time for them to come back and get the field goal." He said the team chose that plan in training camp. "That's the strategy we'll probably do next time, too," he said. He wanted Skattebo running "straight ahead, downhill," and said the back has "to learn from that."

Where This Lands

Quinn says Washington's finish is his responsibility, and Magic Johnson says the team just had to kick. Hughes and Cowherd blame Daniels, at least in part, and Daniels says it's on him too. Tomlin calls the Skattebo fumble disgusting. Scarce says the Giants should have knelt, and Skattebo agrees he chased yards he didn't need. Harbaugh says running the clock down was the right plan and he'll likely use it again. Washington drops to 1-3-1, while the Giants stay alone atop the NFC East.

Sources