By Ben Standig, Josh Kendall, Michael-Shawn Dugar and Tobias Bass
The Washington Commanders clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2020 with a 30-24 win in overtime against the Atlanta Falcons on “Sunday Night Football” as quarterback Jayden Daniels continued to make a case in his Rookie of the Year campaign.
Daniels led a game-winning drive, capped by a 2-yard touchdown pass to Zach Ertz, and finished with 227 passing yards and three touchdowns against one interception. Daniels also rushed for 127 yards, setting a record for the most rushing yards in a season by a rookie quarterback (864).
DANIELS TO ERTZ
THE @COMMANDERS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS! pic.twitter.com/OzzGe0upei
— NFL (@NFL) December 30, 2024
He is expected to become the 20th rookie quarterback to start in a playoff game since 2000 and the 28th in NFL history. The last to do so was C.J. Stroud with the Houston Texans in 2023.
Washington’s star receiver Terry McLaurin had a quiet night with one catch for five yards, but veteran Olamide Zaccheaus stepped up with one of his biggest games of the season with eight grabs for 85 yards and one touchdown.
Falcons rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. made the second start of his career and led a pivotal drive to tie the game with 1:19 left in the fourth quarter. The Falcons got the ball back with 40 seconds left but Riley Patterson missed a 56-yard field goal attempt as time expired to send the game to overtime.
Penix to KP!!!!!! What?!?!
NBC | NFL+ pic.twitter.com/TdAGEbmeUt
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) December 30, 2024
Star running back Bijan Robinson showed up in a major way with 90 yards rushing on 17 carries and two touchdowns, while receiver Drake London caught seven passes for 106 yards.
With the loss, the Falcons aren’t eliminated from the playoffs but need help. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers now lead the NFC South, while the Falcons must defeat the Carolina Panthers in Week 18 and hope Tampa Bay loses to the New Orleans Saints. The Falcons cannot make the playoffs as a wild-card team.
The victory was also significant for another division. It gave the Los Angeles Rams the strength-of-victory tiebreaker they needed over the Seattle Seahawks to clinch the NFC West crown, after earlier wins by the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings. The Seahawks are now eliminated from playoff contention.
GO DEEPER
NFL Week 17 playoff scenarios: Commanders, Falcons eye berths
Daniels shines on ‘Sunday Night Football’
Daniels won’t catch Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson or Saquon Barkley for the league MVP award. He probably won’t crack the top 5 among most voters. Anyone watching this time closely over the years and with insight into this roster and this season has a different view. Sunday night’s win explained the rationale.
The stands at Northwest Stadium were jammed with burgundy and gold fans, many of whom hibernated in recent seasons because of the dreck occurring on and off the field. Rooting for the soon-to-be Offensive Rookie of the Year reunited the locals with long-lost enthusiasm for the franchise.
Washington’s offense lacked playmakers beyond wide receiver McLaurin long before recent injuries removed key pieces for the rookie. Daniels hasn’t blinked. He rolls with whoever is available. Zaccheaus, a journeyman coming off a 10-catch season, has 13 and three touchdowns in the past two games.
QB Jayden Daniels has become the first quarterback in NFL history with 2+ touchdowns, 200+ passing yards, and 65+ rushing yards in three straight games. (H/t @rothenberg_jack)
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) December 30, 2024
Over the last three games, the offensive line labored to keep pass rushers away from their quarterback. Already playing without right tackle Andrew Wylie, Washington lost center Tyler Biadasz and Wylie’s replacement, Cornelius Lucas, with injuries. When the Falcons came rushing, Daniels went running with great success.
Sometimes, he took off anticipating unwanted visitors in the backfield. It’s not like he could rely on the running backs for yards, an unwanted trend without Austin Ekeler offering a change-up style to Robinson’s power. Rushing 16 yards on third-and-2 in overtime moved the chains and earned Daniels the first 100-yard rushing game of his career.
Six plays later, he rushed six yards to Atlanta’s 2-yard line, taking a big hit at the end. Daniels then found Ertz in the end zone, ensuring this improbable season heads to the playoffs. — Ben Standig, Commanders beat writer
Washington’s worrisome defensive gaps
Washington still cannot stop the run. Whether defensive tackle Jonathan Allen plays or not — he returned from a Week 7 pectoral injury to face Atlanta — the Commanders are deficient. Robinson is quite the running back, but the Falcons averaging 5.5 yards per carry wasn’t solely about the dual threat.
The same goes for Washington’s limited pass rush out of its defensive front. In his second career start, Penix rarely faced pressure in the pocket. The lefty stepped into his throw on fourth-and-13 with 1:23 remaining, zipping a strike to Pitts for the tying touchdown and a 26-yarder to Darnell Mooney on the opening play of the final possession. — Standig
Commanders’ banged-up secondary
With Marshon Lattimore sidelined due to a lingering hamstring injury, the Falcons picked on Washington’s cornerbacks. What else would you expect when Michael Davis and Benjamin St-Juste are the replacements? The Commanders survived most of the season without a top-flight corner. Don’t expect that to work whether they face the Rams, Bucs or Eagles in the playoffs. — Standig
What are Atlanta’s playoff chances?
The loss allowed Tampa Bay to take a one-game lead in the NFC South that is going to be hard for the Falcons to overcome. Atlanta (8-8) plays four-win Carolina in Week 18, which could be considered good news except for the fact that the Buccaneers (9-7) play five-win New Orleans. Atlanta can still win the division if it beats the Panthers and Tampa Bay loses to the Saints.
The second half of Sunday’s game likely will haunt Atlanta throughout the offseason. The Falcons were outgained 221 to 138 in the second half thanks to an offense that only possessed the ball for 2:07 of the first 16:57 of the second half and a defense that gave in under the strain. The Commanders had 16 first downs in the second half.
Washington then marched 70 yards for the game-winning touchdown on the first possession of overtime. — Josh Kendall, Falcons beat writer
Commanders slow down Robinson in second half
The biggest difference between the halves was the impact of Robinson. The second-year running back had 13 carries for 82 yards in the first half. He had four carries for 8 yards in the second half. After the Falcons gave up a 15-play touchdown drive to start the second half, they seemed to forget how much success they had had running the ball behind the right side of their offensive line in the first half.
Penix couldn’t follow up his impressive debut with another positive performance. He threw his second interception of the season on Atlanta’s first drive and missed several open receivers throughout the game. The turnover came after Penix and wide receiver Chris Blair miscommunicated on a route. Blair’s presence on the field was a surprise considering he’s a recent practice squad call-up who only had his first professional catch last week.
Penix finished the game 19-of-35 passing for 223 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He did throw his first professional touchdown, finding Kyle Pitts for a game-tying 13-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal with 1:19 remaining in the game. — Kendall
Seattle’s postseason chances slip away
This weekend illustrated why the Seahawks were so disappointed they ended up needing help from other teams to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. Because Seattle couldn’t handle business during the regular season, it needed virtually every field goal attempt, tipped pass, fumbled ball and coin toss to go its way just to stay in the mix for another week.
The good teams avoid needing that sort of luck in Week 17. The Seahawks are not a good team. They replaced Pete Carroll with Mike Macdonald after consecutive 9-8 seasons in hopes of taking that next step, and although they might earn a 10th victory next week, the team is once again on the outside looking in come playoff time. — Michael-Shawn Dugar, Seahawks beat writer
Required reading
(Photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
