Washington Commanders fans faced disappointment on Monday morning after their team tied with the New York Giants. The tie resulted from a clock management blunder in overtime by Jayden Daniels. Daniels ran out of time, forgetting he had no timeouts, which thwarted efforts for a potential game-winning field goal.
The situation drew significant attention from Washington’s ownership. Magic Johnson, the former Los Angeles Lakers star, who invested roughly 4% into Josh Harris’ $6.05 billion purchase of the team, voiced his frustration on social media. Johnson’s critique was a rare occurrence, indicating his dissatisfaction with the outcome of the game in Landover, Maryland.
“I’m in total disbelief my Commanders had such poor clock management in today’s overtime game against the Giants,” Johnson wrote. “All we had to do was kick the field goal, and we would have won the game!”
Initially, the Commanders led 27-13 after Daniels scored on a 26-yard run with just over 11 minutes left. However, Giants quarterback Jameis Winston orchestrated two touchdowns, leveling the score at 27-27.
Commanders head coach Dan Quinn accepted responsibility for the miscalculation. He clarified that the onus of decision-making fell on him and not on Daniels. Quinn emphasized the need for better play sequencing to avoid such errors in the future, suggesting that the responsibility for the critical decision-making lay with him.
“The sequencing of that does not fall on Daniels,” Quinn stated. “I have to put him in that spot. We can finish the kick earlier. We don’t need to gain more yards,” he elaborated.
The Commanders’ season record fell to 1-3-1 following this game.
Magic Johnson, a new owner of the Washington Commanders, delivers remarks during a press conference introducing the team’s new ownership in Landover, Md.