Wildcard Weekend Game Recap – Washington Commanders at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Wins Another Game in the Final Minutes Defeating Tampa Bay 23-20

January 13, 2025

By Noonefromtampa

First Quarter

Tampa Bay won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. After the touchback, Baker Mayfield threw an 11 yard completion to Mike Evans who was covered by Marshon Lattimore. After Bobby Wagner stopped Bucky Irving for no gain, Mayfield scrambled for a 1 yard gain. On third and nine, Mayfield found Evans again for 23 yards to Washington 35. Irving gained three yards, and Mayfield threw two straight incompletions, including a nice pass breakup by Mike Sainristil.  Chase McLaughlin converted a 50 yard field goal to give the Bucs a 3-0 lead.

Luke McCaffrey returned the kickoff 35 yards to the Washington 32 yard line. Vita Vea pressured Jayden Daniels into throwing the ball away on first down. Brian Robinson rushed for 4 yards to put the Commanders in a third and six. The Bucs blitzed and Daniels hit Terry McLaurin in one-on-one coverage for a 35 yard gain down the Tampa Bay 28 yard line. After stopping Daniels for no gain on a run-option play, Daniels scrambled for 8 yards down the right side. He was unable to scramble for the first down. Dan Quinn elected to try for the first down, but the pass was incomplete, forcing a turnover on downs.

On Tampa’s next possession, Irving ran twice for 13 yards and Mayfield hit Jalen McMillan for 15 yards. The Bucs ran the ball three straight time but only gained 3 yards to the Washington 49 yard line. Jack Browning came on to punt and Jamison Crowder fair caught the ball at the Washington 8 yard line.

Daniels threw two screen passes, one to McLaurin and one to Robinson for a total of 4 yards. Daniels scrambled around on third down and found Zach Ertz for 9 yards and a first down. Daniels then hit McLaurin for 18 yards on a slant. Robinson rushed for 4 yards up the middle and Daniels threw a backwards pass (lateral) to Austin Ekeler who ran up the left side for 12 yards to end the quarter.

Second Quarter

Daniels threw a swing pass to Robinson for 13 yards and then Robinson ran for 5 yards. The Commanders then ran three times in a row, with Robinson, Daniels and Ekeler each picking up 2 yards. With a first down at the Bucs 21 yard line Daniels ran for 7 yards but threw an incompletion on second down. Washington then took a timeout. Daniels threw a dart to Olamide Zaccheaus for 6 yards and the first down. After two run plays that combined for a loss of two yards, Daniels found a wide-open Dyami Brown at the back of the end zone for a 10 yard touchdown.  Yaya Diaby was called for a low hit on Daniels and the roughing the passer call made for a short extra point, which Zane Gonzalez converted to give the Commanders 7-0 lead.

After the touchback, Mayfield scrambled for 1 yard on first down but on second down the Bucs were called a chop block penalty which backed them up 15 yards. The Bucs were able to pick up 15 yards on the next two play were forced to punt it away. Crowder was able to sidestep several Bucs players and return the ball 17 yards.

Starting at their own 30, Daniels threw an out to McLaurin for 7 yards. Ekeler ran for no gain on second down, but Ekeler caught a 4 yard pass for a first down on the next play. Daniels ran for 6 yards on first down and 5 yards on second down. Daniels scrambled up the middle for 5 yards and Jeremy McNichols ran for 1 yard on the next play. Diaby sacked Daniels on third down but that was negated by a defensive holding call on Zyon McCollum giving Washington a first down. Robinson ran for 4 yards but the next two plays were incompletions, including a deep throw to McLaurin in the endzone which was broken up by McCollum. After the two-minute warning, Gonzalez attempted a 52 yard field goal, which was good, pushing the lead to 10-7.

After a 24 yard kickoff return, Washington’s defense was able to put Tampa Bay into a third and nine situation. Mayfield scrambled for 16 yards up the middle and trucked Bobby Wagner in the process. Mayfield then hit three straight completions of 11 yards to Evans, 12 yards to Cade Otton and then 20 yards to Evans. Lattimore complained about Evans pushing off on the last catch. With the ball on the Washington 12 yard line, Lattimore was called for pass interference in the endzone on Evans. Evans scored a 1 yard touchdown on the next play. The extra point was good, tying the game at 10-10.

After a short kickoff return, Washington elected to kneel and end the half.

Third Quarter

After a touchback on the opening second half kickoff, Daniels threw to Zaccheaus for 8 yards and Robinson ran for 1 yard. Marcus Mariota came in to run for 2 yards and the first down. After a two-yard run by Robinson, Brown caught successive passes for 30 yards and 24 yards to put the ball on the Bucs 3 yard line. Washington was unable to punch the ball in and had to settle for a 22 yard Gonzalez field goal, which gave the Commanders a 13-10 lead.

After the 30 yard kickoff return by Rachaad White, Dorance Armstrong was called for a facemask penalty that added 15 yards to a 1 yard catch. Irving ran for 5 yards, but the Bucs were called for a false start. Irving ran for 6 yards and then Mayfield hit Evans for 18 yards. Irving ran for 19 yards over the left side down to the Washington 13 yard line. After another 5 yard penalty on the Bucs, Irving ran for 10 yards and for 6 yards and a first down. Johnny Newton tackled Irving for a 3 yard loss on the next play. Noah Igbinoghene was called for defensive holding in the end zone, giving the Bucs first and goal from the two. Armstrong sacked Mayfield for a 2 yard loss but on the next play the Bucs ran a rub route freeing Irving for a 4 yard touchdown reception. The extra point was good, giving the Bucs a 17-13 lead.

The kickoff resulted in a touchback and on the first play Jamal Dean was called for defensive holding. Daniels then ran a draw for 6 yards and then hit McLaurin on a deep crossing route for 17 yards to the Bucs 42 yard line. Robinson took a short pass for 5 yards. Andrew Wylie was called for ineligible man downfield, which negated a 26 yard completion to McLaurin down to the Bucs 11. Zaccheaus gained 5 yards on a bubble screen but on third down the pass was incomplete to Ertz. Washington elected to go for it on fourth down and Daniels hit Ertz for 14 yards. Ekeler ran for 4 yards on first down, but Ertz was called for a false start on second down. Ekeler gained only one yard on the repeat of second down putting the Commanders at third and 10 from the Bucs’ 23 yard line to end the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Brown drew a pass interference call in the end zone to give Washington a first goal on the one. Washington again was unable to put the ball into the end zone and turned the ball over on downs. The game announcers pointed out that Ertz was interfered with on fourth down, but the penalty was not called.

Irving ran for 4 yards on first down bit was tackled for a 1 yard loss by Jayln Holmes on second down. Evans made a great play to extend the ball to pick up the first down on the next play. Then, Washington’s defense got the first turnover of the game when Wagner recovered the Mayfield fumbled snap at the Bucs 13 yard line.

After Daniels was held to no gain on first down, he threw to Brown for 4 yards and hit Ekeler for 4 yards leaving Washington two yards short of a first down at the Bucs’ 5 yard line. Daniels hung tough in the pocket and threaded the ball into McLaurin for the touchdown. The extra point good, giving the Commanders a 20-17 lead.

After 25 yard return on the kickoff, Mayfield hit a wide-open McMillian for 26 yards. Irving ran for 6 yards and Mayfield ran for two, being tackled by Frankie Luvu short of the first down. On third and 2, Mayfield found an open Otton and the tackle was missed by Sainristil allowing a 20 yard gain. Irving ran for 9 yards on first down, but Mayfield was stopped for no gain on second down and Irving was tackled for a loss on third down. McLaughlin converted a 32 yard field goal, tying the game at 20-20.

After the touchback with 4:41 left to play, Daniels hit McLaurin for 5 yards on the left side. Robinson was tackled for a 1 yard loss on second down. On third down, Daniels hit Brown in stride for a 21 yard gain to the Bucs 45-yard line. Ekeler was held to no gain, which took the clock down to the two-minute warning. Ekeler caught a pass just over the arms of Diaby and ran for 18 yards down to the Bucs’ 27 yard line. Ekeler ran for 8 yards up the middle to the 19 yard line. He was stopped for no gain on second down. Daniels ran for the first down by diving ahead for 4 yards. Washington then took a knee in order to attempt the game winning field goal on the final play of the game. Gonzalez hit the right upright, but the ball bounced through the goal post for the victory.

Thoughts

Sometime it helps to be lucky – this team has had a great run of luck, winning seven games in the final minutes. Why should this game be any different?

In a playoff game, I thought you would take the field goal and tie the game in the first quarter being so early in the game.

The defense had its moments with some tackles for losses and the Wagner fumble recovery, but it still was gashed for a number of big plays and committed inopportune penalties that extended drives for Tampa Bay.

The season continues for at least another week and the euphoria is real.