Commanders keep Cinderella season alive by stomping Lions in their own backyard
The Washington Commanders were nine-point underdogs heading into the Divisional Round matchup against the Detroit Lions, but it didn't matter, as Jayden Daniels and Co. rolled to their biggest win of the season on Saturday night.Daniels certainly did his part with 350 total yards and two total touchdowns that included 299 passing yards, 51 rushing […]
The Washington Commanders were nine-point underdogs heading into the Divisional Round matchup against the Detroit Lions, but it didn't matter, as Jayden Daniels and Co. rolled to their biggest win of the season on Saturday night.
Daniels certainly did his part with 350 total yards and two total touchdowns that included 299 passing yards, 51 rushing yards, and two passing touchdowns. It was the Commanders defense, however, that forced three takeaways in the first half and said takeaways were the catalysts behind Washington's 10-point lead at halftime.
From that point on, Detroit simply couldn't overcome the deficit. The Commanders offense had to punt its first possession of the second half away and then proceeded to watch Jared Goff and the Lions offense put together an 11-play touchdown drive that cut the Commanders' lead to three points.
Daniels responded with a 15-yard touchdown drive on the subsequent possession, though, pushing the lead back to 10. Commanders rookie cornerback Mike Sainristil intercepted his second pass of the game on the Lions' next possession and then Daniels helped wrap things up with a touchdown drive that gave the Commanders a 17-point lead. Dan Quinn's defense eventually forced five takeaways on the night and Washington eventually won the game by a score of 45-31.
Make no mistake about it: The Commanders didn't just come in and win by happenstance. The ball didn't bounce their way a couple of times, leaving the game in the hands of a few plays and some luck.
No, the Commanders beat the Lions, through and through. In fact, they stomped them in their own backyard. I mean, the Commanders hung 45 points on the Super Bowl favorites and had fans leaving Ford Field with over seven minutes left in the game.
The Commanders didn't have a single game where they recorded three or more takeaways during both the regular season and the Wild Card win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, much less a five-takeaway game. The defense recorded two takeaways in a single game just four times before Saturday night.
Washington was better in other areas, as well, including penalties and red zone conversions. The Commanders finished with four penalties for 25-yards, compared to the Lions' five-for-30 mark. Daniels also led the offense to a perfect 4-of-4 mark in the red zone that included another perfect 4-of-4 in goal-to-go-situations. The Lions went 3-of-6 in the red zone and 3-of-3 in goal-to-go situations.
Just about everywhere you look, the Commanders checked the boxes they needed to check in order to win this game and now they're on the way to the first NFC Championship game in over 30 years.
