Commanders' improved poise shines through in Week 9 win at NY Giants

There is an old adage in the NFL. The team that controls the line of scrimmage wins the game.

That usually proves true. But as with all things, blind adherence to “old adages” is overly simplistic. Take the Washington Commanders' victory over the New York Giants, for example. If either team controlled the line of scrimmage, it was the G-Men. However, head coach Dan Quinn's men won the game.

To be clear, the Giants did not dominate the trenches. Washington had several good plays on both offense and defense. But overall, New York ran the ball better and stopped the Commanders' rushing attack for most of the game.

The Giants outgained the Commanders on the ground despite running the ball on seven fewer plays. For the game, they averaged 5.2 yards per attempt. They came in averaging a full yard less than that.

Washington, who entered the game with the second-best yards-per-rush in the league at 5.2, managed just 3.9 yards each time they ran. That number was reduced by the kneel-downs at the end, but only by a few tenths of a yard. Any way you slice it, the Giants controlled the line, at least when it came to the ground game.

The Commanders were the better team. Washington won because they made big plays when it mattered most. They won because they remained poised.

Jayden Daniels and Bobby Wagner spearheaded Commanders' win in Week 9

That is the one-word explanation. The Commanders remained poised. A large part of the credit goes once again to Jayden Daniels, who has already become the poster child for staying composed and coming through in clutch situations. His crucial completion to Olamide Zaccheaus late in proceedings wasn't quite as dramatic as last week’s Hail Mary, but it proved equally effective. It secured another victory.

That poise may be most evident in Daniels, but it runs throughout the entire roster. On Sunday, it first came from Washington’s smartest player - Bobby Wagner.

The biggest play in the game came less than 10 minutes in.

After exchanging punts, the Giants were beginning to impose their will on the Commanders defense. They were running the ball effectively. Tyrone Tracy Jr., Devin Singletary, and Daniel Jones all had runs of 10 yards or more. New York had a 1st-and-10 from inside the Washington 30-yard line. They tried a pass.

It looked like Jones was hit by Dante Fowler Jr., causing an errant throw which was ruled as an incomplete pass. That’s how it was called on the field. The whistle even blew while the ball was still rolling around.

But Wagner has played a lot of football and he knows. He knows you do not give up on a play like that. He knows that call could be changed and there is no harm in picking up the ball.

Nine times out of 10 - maybe 99 times out of 100 - that play will be ruled an incomplete pass. But it only takes one time for it to be ruled a fumble to turn the tide of a game.

That's exactly what happened. The replay revealed a clear fumble. Wagner made a recovery. The Commanders not only stopped New York’s momentum cold, but they scored the game’s first touchdown a few plays later.

It seems like such a small thing - just pick up the ball when it is on the ground. Wagner knows how much it can matter. Winning teams take advantage when they can get it. That kind of savvy hustle play, coming from one of Washington's most respected players, infiltrates the entire team.

Ron Rivera tried to bring in a couple of players like that when he took over as Commanders' head coach in 2020. He brought linebacker Thomas Davis Sr., who he had coached to great success with the Carolina Panthers. When the team needed some help at receiver, he signed Dontrelle Inman. The hope was these players would become leaders.

Neither Davis nor Inman could produce on the field by that point. The one savvy veteran who did play a lot back in 2020 was Logan Thomas, and it is not a mere coincidence that Washington’s only playoff year under Rivera was that first season when the tight end was healthy.

Washington has poise - in spades. Players are getting better and better. Jeremy Chinn, Dyami Brown, and Chris Rodriguez Jr. - players who hadn’t contributed much this season - all came up large against the Giants.

And - permit me this one aside. Washington did not win this game because of a few lucky bounces as one of the television announcers said several times. They may have gotten fortunate at the end of the Bears game, but to hear this particular announcer attempt to equate that with the long pass to Zaccheaus as simply a matter of the ball bouncing favorably is ludicrous.

Washington won because when the game mattered, they played better than the Giants. They won because they were more poised. No one epitomizes that better than Wagner.

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