The Commanders move onto the divisional round after a thrilling 23-20 upset over the Tampa Buccaneers Sunday night. Going into the game, I asked if Joe Whitt Jr. and his defense could fluster Baker Mayfield to induce turnovers. Technically, Washington did recover one Mayfield fumble deep in Tampa Bay’s territory, but the Commanders won this game with complimentary football all across the board.
Washington dominated the time of possession offensively despite an ineffective rush attack due to Jayden Daniels’s incredible efficiency in the passing game. The offense lived on the plus side of the field, as the Commanders drove deep into the Buccaneers’ territory each possession of the game, not punting the football once on the night. Daniels was incredible in his playoff debut, accounting for 87 percent of the offensive production and leading his fifth game-winning drive of the season following a stiff arm on defender Calijah Kancey to convert a first down, preventing Tampa Bay from getting the football back in regulation.
Defensively, the Commanders answered the call in the run game. Washington held the Buccaneers run game to 3.6 yards per carry. More importantly, Bucky Irving, who had the hot hand for Tampa Bay, was held to 18 yards on six carries. Irving did see some second-half success, but the tone-setter for Washington’s defense was their ability to sometimes force the Buccaneers into being a one-dimensional offense throughout the game. The defense never allowed the Buccaneers to carry momentum into the next drive, and forcing consecutive punts in the first half to help Washington gain and extend the lead was critical. Washington’s defense followed things up in the second half by capitalizing off of Tampa Bay’s mistakes, recovering the Mayfield fumble and holding Tampa to a field goal as they drove down 20-17.
Special teams were also excellent; despite a skim of the goalpost on Zane Gonzalez’s game-winning kick, he finished the game three-for-three on field goal attempts and two-for-two on extra points.
It was a fantastic game, and we recapped it all on the Trap or Dive post-game recap. We discussed:
- Jayden is elite; best quarterback remaining in the NFC
- Commanders defense steps up majorly for their offense
- Dyami Brown's breakout game
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