LANDOVER, Md. – Jayden Daniels connected with Zach Ertz in overtime for his third touchdown pass of the game to lead the Washington Commanders into the playoffs by defeating the Atlanta Falcons 30-24 on Sunday night in a back-and-forth primetime showdown between highly-drafted rookie quarterbacks.
Daniels ran for a season-high 127 yards and completed 24 of 36 passes for 227 yards and caught two TD passes to Ertz and another to Olamide Zaccheaus to make the playoffs in his rookie year.
In his final comeback performance in a season full of them, the No. 2 overall pick in the draft in April shook off an interception, a 10-point first-half deficit and led the winning drive in overtime that was capped by a 2-yard pass to Ertz.
The Commanders (11-5) could move up to the sixth seed in the NFC and set up a round-robin matchup at Tampa Bay or the Los Angeles Rams if they win the regular-season finale in Dallas next weekend. Otherwise, they would have finished seventh and visited rival Philadelphia unless Green Bay lost to Chicago.
The Falcons (8-8) have lost control of their chances of winning the NFC South and ensuring a home playoff berth. They now need to beat Carolina and the Buccaneers lose to New Orleans to fully qualify.
Atlanta controlled the first half of the match, and attacked Washington's defense with the ongoing game until it abandoned it. Bijan Robinson had 82 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries until a minute remaining in the second quarter — but had just 8 receiving yards the rest of the way.
Penix did his best to try to bring the Falcons back after they trailed 24-17. The eighth pick in the draft made his second professional start and finished a 12-play, 68-yard drive with a touchdown pass to Kyle Pitts to tie it with 1:19 remaining.
Penix's throw to Drake London led to a pass interference penalty with two seconds left in regulation and gave Riley Patterson a chance to score a go-ahead field goal. But Patterson's 56-yard attempt was unsuccessful as time expired and Atlanta never got the ball back.
Penix finished 19 of 35 for 223 yards.
