With the Commanders getting the ball to start overtime, the stage was set for Daniels to have another defining moment. As has been the case on so many other occasions this season, the rookie seized the moment. He converted a third-and-2 with a 16-yard run and had a six-yard scramble to the 2-yard line. On the touchdown pass that ended the game, Daniels knew the Falcons were going to lock down Terry McLaurin, so he targeted Ertz in man coverage near the middle of the field.
The veteran tight end made him right.
“We repped that so many times, I knew he was going to win on that,” Daniels said. “He was going to make the catch, and it was going to be game over.”
There was “a lot of joy” in the locker room after the win, head coach Dan Quinn said at his press conference. “They’re never out of the fight,” he later added, and while it isn’t always pretty, their determination gives them a chance to win.
“We felt every bit of it, and they really deserve a cool win like that,” Quinn said.
It also helps to have a quarterback who can deliver those wins.
“There’s some things that five [Daniels] does that you can’t put on a card,” Quinn said.