NEW ORLEANS — At some point in the fourth quarter Sunday, if you happened to be tuned into NFL Red Zone, the following chyron appeared at the bottom of the screen during the Commanders–Saints game:
COMMANDERS: 98 percent chance of winning
And I’m like, dude/dudette: are you watching this game?
Washington did everything it could not to beat the downtrodden Saints in the Superdome, after dominating the first half. It couldn’t separate from New Orleans throughout the second half, even though the Saints were left with no option but to go to their third-string quarterback, Spencer Rattler, after a wholly ineffective start by Jake Haener in place of the injured Derek Carr. Yet the Commanders somehow let Clint Longley Rattler drive New Orleans for two touchdowns and two field goals in the final 23 minutes, including a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Foster Moreau as time expired, bringing the Saints within 20-19.
The touchdown, uh, was aided immensely by the game’s side judge, who inexplicably stopped the game clock after Rattler’s completion inbounds to Moreau at the 1 with nine seconds left, for something around five seconds, while the Saints scrambled to the line of scrimmage. The ball was finally reset at the 1 with six seconds left, giving Rattler time to down the ball, rather than one or two seconds, as it should have been. I’m not saying the Saints couldn’t have still gotten the ball snapped if the clock hadn’t been stopped. But they certainly wouldn’t have had time to spike the ball, and their margin to get a play off at all would have been plot-of-Beverly Hills Cop III-thin.
A pool report afterward quoted referee Shawn Hochuli as saying the covering official “mistakenly stopped the clock in that situation,” but that the situation couldn’t be reviewed or corrected.
Wait, what?
Just take a potential L because of a mistake we, the officials, made – one that we, and/or video review at league headquarters, can’t fix?
“I’m absolutely taking the high road now with that,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn said. “I saw a quick video of that. And, so, I would wait for the response from New York. But those three seconds were critical, man, let’s just say. And … on to Philadelphia.”
Quick thinking by Quinn and safety Quan Martin saved Washington’s bacon after the touchdown. The Saints, as they absolutely should have, went for the win, with a two-point conversion try. But after seeing New Orleans come out in formation, Quinn called timeout. Instead of playing zone, as Washington was going to do, Quinn switched his defense’s coverage to man-to-man. That left cornerback Noah Igbinoghene one-on-one with Saints tight end Juwan Johnson. And Igbinohene was able to undercut Johnson just enough to force Rattler’s pass wide and incomplete.
“Quan made a great call, which allowed me to get down and play my man good coverage,” Igbinohene said. “Our coaches say it all the time – (the pass is going) flat left, in situations like that. And they did it. I just played the ball.”
So there was loud music and joyousness in the visiting locker room afterward. And, sure, there should have been. With the win, Washington’s postseason chances increased from 79 percent to 88 percent, according to NFL.com, with three weeks remaining. When this season began, no one with a functioning cerebral cortex outside of Commanders Park had Washington posting a winning season. And yet, the Commanders are now 9-5, assured of their first winning campaign since 2016. They’ve managed to win a bunch of games like this – grimy ones, uncomfortable ones. They’re closing in on an improbable end to the first season led by general manager Adam Peters and Quinn and Jayden Daniels, earning a playoff berth.
First winning season since 2016@Ticketmaster | #RaiseHail
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) December 15, 2024
It’ll be a quick postseason for Washington, though, if it kicks away second-half opportunities like it did Sunday, in blowing 16 points of its 17-point lede:
• Two missed, almost certain-to-be touchdowns by Daniels to a wide-open Terry McLaurin – one an overthrow, one an under throw, that allowed Saints cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles to get back to the ball and break up the pass. McLaurin was open all day, catching seven passes for 73 yards and and two touchdowns. He should have had three or four.
• A hands-to-the-face penalty by cornerback Benjamin St.-Juste on third and 10, negating a sack by Dorance Armstrong – a drive that, after being extended, resulted in a 41-yard field goal by New Orleans kicker Blake Grupe that brought New Orleans within 20-10.
• A dropped fourth-quarter interception by Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu, extending a drive that resulted in another Grupe field goal to make it 20-13.
• A holding penalty on guard Nick Allegretti on Washington’s last offensive drive, which negated a huge first down on a great catch by Dyami Brown to the Saints’ 10-yard line with 2:19 left. Three plays later, a low snap doomed kicker Greg Joseph’s 54-yard field goal attempt with 1:55 left.
“In a game of missed opportunities, penalties and missed plays, those can get frustrating,” Quinn said. “And lots to clean up onto those, and we will. But that’s a little bit like December and January football, where it does get hard. So to go all the way to the end, to the last play, you’ve heard me talk about the fight of the group. And that’s one of the things I really admire about our team. We’ve been in a lot of close games, and so, we’re getting battle-hardened. It’s not always comfortable to be in those spots, but being on the sideline, right there at the end, to go for (the two-point conversion), that’s why we do it.”
A loss, coming out of Washington’s bye week, with Daniels and cornerback Marshon Lattimore making their returns to Louisiana, after controlling the ball for almost 41 minutes on offense … well, it would have been tough to take that to next week’s game with the Eagles. There were more than a few nervous players in road white watching the game’s final play on the sideline, as evidenced by the explosion of said players onto the field after Rattler’s incompletion on the two-point try.
“I’m looking at the Jumbotron, just like everyone else,” Commanders offensive tackle Andrew Wylie said. “Everyone’s bellied up to the line, looking at it. I tried to stay calm and just let the game be the game. Shoutout to the defense for getting us the win.”
It is a measure of how far this group has come in less than one season, one supposes, that you can feel so salty about a win that will mean so much in the standings and potential playoff tiebreakers at season’s end. In past years, any road win would have been cause for celebration. This one, Washington’s fourth this season, left you feeling agita rather than exulted. This team isn’t boring you on its way to Christmas any more, put it that way.
(Photo of Brian Robinson Jr.: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
