By Jayden Daniels is done relitigating the disaster — but he is not dodging it. The Washington Commanders quarterback stood in front of his teammates this week, took full responsibility for the overtime clock blunder that turned a would-be win into a 27-27 tie with the New York Giants, and vowed it will never happen again.
Jayden Daniels (Credits: ESPN)
The Overtime Disaster
Sunday’s Week 5 meltdown at Northwest Stadium was as ugly as it gets. Washington drove to the Giants’ 24-yard line with 50 seconds left in overtime, needing only a field goal to win. But the offense didn’t snap the ball until 12 seconds remained — and with no timeouts left, Daniels faked a handoff, scrambled, and was tackled in bounds with eight seconds on the clock. The Commanders never got lined up to spike the ball. Time expired. Tie game.
The criticism has been relentless, with plenty of it landing on head coach Dan Quinn. Daniels wants none of that.
‘Ultimately, It’s On Me’
Speaking at his first news conference since the game on Thursday, Daniels refused to hide behind his coaches. He said first-year offensive coordinator David Blough communicated the situation — including the lack of timeouts — to him before the fateful snap, and that managing the moment was his job.
“Ultimately, it’s on me,” Daniels said. “Regardless of what happens, I’m the person on the field that’s supposed to calm everything, control everything. I fell short of the standard I hold myself to and the standard in this organization.”
He also defended Quinn, who took his own share of the blame earlier in the week: “I know (coach Quinn) was getting a lot of slack for it. But don’t even put it on the coaches.”
Moving On To San Francisco
The 1-3-1 Commanders now face the toughest test imaginable: a Monday night trip to face the unbeaten 5-0 San Francisco 49ers. Daniels, back healthy after missing time with an elbow injury, says he cannot argue with the outside criticism — “it’s warranted” — but his focus is forward. “Moving forward, I’ll grow from it and learn from it. It’ll never happen again.”
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Source: ESPN — read the full story there.
