The Washington Commanders had a chance to beat the New York Giants with a game-winning field goal in overtime on Sunday, but a horrific clock-management sequence left them settling for a 27-27 tie instead. Now, quarterback Jayden Daniels is taking responsibility for the mistake.
Speaking to reporters at his midweek press conference, Daniels said “it’s on me” and vowed that the situation will “never happen again,” adding that he can’t argue with the criticism he’s received since Sunday.
Commanders’ Clock Debacle
Washington reached the Giants’ 24-yard line with 50 seconds left in overtime and the score tied. The offense didn’t snap the ball for the next play until 12 seconds remained on the clock.
With no timeouts left, Daniels faked a handoff, dropped back to pass, and then scrambled before being tackled with eight seconds to play. Commanders players were slow to get back to the line, and Washington ran out of time to spike the ball and set up a field goal attempt.
It was an egregious failure, and Daniels took the blame after the game.
“It starts with everyone, top down. Ultimately, it’s on me,” Daniels said after the game, according to ESPN.
The criticism has been relentless anyway. Green Bay Packers star Micah Parsons, who played under Quinn in Dallas, said on his podcast, “The Edge with Micah Parsons,” that Daniels “probably cost my man Dan Quinn his job” and called the mistake “inexcusable,” per ESPN.
‘It’ll Never Happen Again’
During his midweek press conference, Daniels doubled down on taking responsibility for what happened.
“Ultimately, like, it’s on me,” Daniels told reporters, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “At the end of the day, I know [coach Dan Quinn] is getting a lot of slack for it, whatever, you know, but regardless of what happens, I’m the person on the field that’s supposed to calm everything, control everything, and I failed to the standard I hold myself to and the standard in this organization.”
“So it’s just something for me to move on. I’m not saying I’m proud of it or anything. Obviously, looking back, like, it could have resulted in a loss, we tied, but it was a fail in my in my eyes and, you know, I know I’m better in that,” he continued.
“I hold myself to a higher standard than that. So, moving forward, I’ll grow from and learn from it. And it’ll never happen again.”
Daniels was also asked about the outside criticism, and he admitted that it was fair.
“I’m moving on to San Francisco,” Daniels said. “I can’t say it’s not warranted because of what happened. You know, everybody has opinions to say, opinions to speak, and rightfully so, so I can’t stop nobody for saying their opinion or anything like that. It’s just about my process and moving forward and learning from it, moving on.”
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