The Washington Commanders offense didn’t appear to know what they were doing on the final play of Week 5 versus the New York Giants. Washington allowed the clock to tick in the last minute of overtime before running another play after Rachaad White gained two yards to the Giants 24-yard line.
Then on the final play, quarterback Jayden Daniels took a sack with 12 seconds to go. The Commanders didn’t have enough time to get their entire offense lined up again for another play and didn’t have a timeout. Time expired, which resulted in a tie.
It sure seemed as though the Commanders players were unaware they didn’t have a timeout before the final play. Daniels and most of the Commanders players, though, wouldn’t answer whether that was the case.
But veteran offensive lineman Chris Paul did provide an answer to that question. According to Paul, the Commanders knew their timeout situation.
“Yes, that was talked about in the huddle,” Paul told 7 News DC’s Scott Abraham.
Based on Paul’s answer, Daniels could be more at fault for the late Week 5 disaster. Knowing the team didn’t have a timeout and taking a sack on that play would be a colossal mistake.
But not everyone’s story for the Commanders aligned with Paul’s.
Did the Commanders Realize They Didn’t Have Any Timeouts at the End of Overtime?
Daniels and head coach Dan Quinn each took ownership of the mistake made at the end of overtime. But neither person explained fully what was or wasn’t said about the team’s lack of timeouts before the final snap.
That gave Abraham a mission Sunday evening to go into the Commanders locker room to discover who knew what. Paul’s answer painted Daniels in a worse light than Quinn because the lineman was rather clear the players knew the timeout situation. No other player, though, confirmed that.
Tight end Ben Sinnott was mum on the idea the Commanders discussed their lack of timeouts in the huddle.
“We get the personnel from our coach. We’re going 13 personnel. I run onto the field. I get the play call, and we execute the play,” said Sinnott.
The next question the tight end received was whether the coaches also mentioned the number of timeouts remaining.
“I just, exactly how it went, right as I said,” Sinnot responded. “No comment.”
Sinnott clearly felt uncomfortable answering the timeouts question. But his answer doesn’t really indicate whether the team did or didn’t know about the lack of timeouts.
Veteran wide receiver Terry McLaurin admitted things went haywire for the Commanders on the final play. But he fell back on the fact that he wasn’t on the field for the play, so he wasn’t sure about who knew what in terms of the timeouts remaining.
Commanders Reporter Places Crucial Error on Dan Quinn
NBC analyst Mike Tomlin put it best when he said during Sunday Night Football that fans will never know what really happened on the disastrous final play of Week 5 for Washington. After asking around the locker room, though, Abraham came to his own conclusions.
“This is all on Dan Quinn and the offensive coaches,” concluded Abraham. “They over complicated all of it. No play should have been called. It should have been a spike. Field goal. Game over.
“I’m also not convinced everyone in that Commanders huddle knew there were no timeouts left.
“Sure, Chris Paul told me it was discussed in the huddle, but the tape doesn’t lie. There was no urgency from most of the players after Jayden was tackled on the final play.
“That’s on QB again.”
It’s not clear why Paul might mislead the media into believing the team did discuss its lack of timeouts. Sharing what he said defended his head coach but threw his quarterback under the bus.
It will be interesting to see if anybody adds anything else on the final play over the next few days, as major questions linger.
Commanders Veteran Spills the Beans on Timeouts Question on Final Play vs. Giants