Commanders key numbers, Week 17: Playoff berth secured in dramatic style

Jayden Daniels delivered once again, adding to his rookie season of greatness.

The Hail Mary victory against the Chicago Bears was sweet. The game-winning pass to Jamison Crowder against the Philadelphia Eagles was sweeter.

Nothing compares to what Daniels did on the final drive in overtime versus the Atlanta Falcons to clinch the Washington Commanders' first playoff berth since 2020. The rookie quarterback led a 12-play 70-yard drive, encapsulated by a beautifully thrown ball to Zach Ertz on 3rd-and-goal to end the game.

After facing their biggest first-half deficit all season, head coach Dan Quinn must have given one of the most resonating halftime speeches of his career. It had the desired effect as the Commanders came out firing in the second half.

With back-to-back touchdown drives that used almost one-quarter of game time, the Commanders were able to swing back momentum to their side. Once again, penalties plagued the team. A big pass interference call on Michael Davis with seven seconds left gave the Falcons a shot to win the clash.

The kick was down the center but didn't have the distance, and Washington caught a lucky break. But as they say, luck is when preparation meets opportunity. After winning the coin toss in overtime, the Commanders put the game away.

Daniels was 5-for-5 for 32 passing yards while adding 42 rushing yards on the game-winning drive. Before the touchdown throw to Ertz, fans were chanting MVP for their signal-caller. Once again, he delivered.

The Heisman Trophy winner finished with 227 passing yards and three touchdowns along with 127 rushing yards, breaking the NFL record for most rushing yards in a season by a rookie quarterback that was previously held by Robert Griffin III.

Let's get into the key numbers from Washington's 30-24 playoff-clinching win against the Falcons in what was a revenge game for Quinn.

Commanders key numbers from playoff-sealing win over the Falcons

11: The Commanders accomplished something that had never been done throughout Dan Snyder's tenure, an 11-win season, with a chance to increase the number next week. The last time Washington had 11 or more wins was in 1991 — the season that ended with their last Super Bowl. This is also the first time since 1991 that Washington has had seven home successes.

8: Similar to what the Commanders' defense did to Saquon Barkley last week, Bijan Robinson was mostly shut out in the second half. The former first-round pick had 13 rushes for 82 yards and touchdowns in the first half, forcing 8 missed tackles on the Commanders defense. In the second half, Robinson only had 8 rushing yards total on four carries. The Texas product finished with his fifth straight game with 90+ rushing yards.

19: The Commanders came into the game with the second-best fourth-down conversion percentage at 84.21. They went 3-for-3 on fourth downs against the Falcons, getting to 19 conversions on the season, setting a single-season franchise record.

The first conversion was a seven-yard touchdown on 4th-and-2 to Olamide Zaccheaus on Washington's first drive. The second conversion was a four-yard run by Daniels on 4th-and-1 on the Commanders' opening drive of the second half, which ended in a touchdown.

The last conversion was on Washington's next drive, which also ended in a touchdown. Daniels found Jeremy McNichols on 4th-and-5, with the running back fighting for the first down.

28:17: After letting the Falcons win the time of possession battle in the first half, Washington kept the ball for 28 minutes and 17 seconds of game time in the second half and overtime. Atlanta only had the ball for a hair over nine minutes the entire second half.

Kliff Kingsbury called a masterpiece of a game with Washington scoring on back-to-back drives of 15 plays for 69 yards and 14 plays for 70 yards, respectively. Those two drives took nearly an entire quarter of game time.

108: In what has been a recurring theme for the Commanders, the team once again struggled with penalties, accumulating 13 for 108 yards. Over the last three weeks, Washington has been dead last in penalty yards. That's not a recipe for success.

On the Falcons' first touchdown drive, Washington had an offsides penalty on the field goal attempt and defensive pass interference on 3rd-and-goal, which led to an Atlanta touchdown. A roughing the passer penalty extended the opposition's second drive, which ended in a score.

An offensive holding penalty on Sam Cosmi late in the fourth quarter wiped out a touchdown that would have given the Commanders a two-possession lead. Finally, an offsides and defensive pass interference penalty on the final drive of regulation gave Atlanta a chance at the win.

20: The Commanders came into the game with the second-best third-down defense over the last three games, and kept that trend going. The Falcons were only able to convert 2-of-10 (20%) of their third downs, although the two they converted were crucial late in regulation.

The Falcons did however complete both of their 4th-down conversions, with a 31-yard catch on 4th-and-11 and a 13-yard touchdown on 4th-and-goal.

5: After four consecutive games with 5+ catches and 1+ touchdown receptions, Terry McLaurin was blanketed on Sunday night, with his second one-reception game of the season.

McLaurin finished with 5 receiving yards, despite being targeted seven times. Zaccheaus filled in the gap, in what was a bit of a revenge game against his former team, finishing with eight receptions for 85 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Despite already clinching the playoffs, next week's game against the Dallas Cowboys still holds major importance. With a win, the Commanders would lock the sixth seed in the NFC, which would help avoid a first-round match-up against the Philadelphia Eagles.

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