TAMPA — The Washington Commanders picked a good time to have their longest drive of the season, and it culminated in quarterback Jayden Daniels‘ first career playoff touchdown pass.
Daniels’ 10-yard pass to receiver Dyami Brown capped a 17-play, 92-yard drive that took nine minutes, eight seconds to give Washington a 7-3 lead over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was Washington’s longest drive of the season.
.@deuce2_ GETS US ON THE BOARD
đź“ş #WASvsTB @SNFonNBC pic.twitter.com/4XqCkEqnzn
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) January 13, 2025
On the third-and-goal play, Brown was able to sneak behind the Tampa secondary thanks to the attention paid to receiver Terry McLaurin. He ran a crossing pattern to the left front side of the end zone — drawing the attention of the safety and the corner to that side.
Brown, aligned on the left side, snuck to the back of the end zone where he was wide open.
It helped that Daniels had plenty of time to throw against Tampa’s four-man rush: 3.94 seconds.
Washington converted 3 of 4 third downs on the drive as well as a fourth-and-1 at the Bucs’ 23-yard line. On a third down from his own 12, Daniels was forced to scramble to his right, but he found tight end Zach Ertz in the middle for 9 yards to kickstart the drive.
The Commanders had failed to convert a fourth-and-2 from the Tampa 20 on its first possession.
Daniels completed 9-of-12 passes for 97 yards on his first two possessions and ran five times for 15 yards.
