Jayden Daniels takes blame for Commanders' embarrassing gaffe vs. Giants: 'It was a failure'

Daniels defended Dan Quinn on Thursday and shouldered full responsibility for Washington letting the clock run out in field goal range Oct 15, 2026 at 4:31 pm ET • 3 min read The Washington Commanders had what will likely go down as the most embarrassing moment of the 2026 NFL season, as they ran the clock out on themselves in field goal range in overtime vs. the New York Giants, leading to a 27-27 tie.Following a wild game that led directly into a bonkers overtime, the Commanders took over possession at their own 23-yard line with 1:55 remaining in overtime and zero timeouts. A 16-yard gain from Terry McLaurin, followed by a Jayden Daniels scramble of 16 yards and a Treylon Burks reception of 13 yards, got Washington into field goal territory with 55 seconds remaining.On what ended up being the final play of the game, Daniels took a dive at the Giants' 24-yard line with eight seconds remaining on the clock. His offense couldn't get back to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball before it hit triple zeros. There's a lot of blame to go around for this catastrophe, including head coach Dan Quinn. However, in speaking to reporters on Thursday, Daniels made sure to declare himself the main reason Washington left Week 5 with a tie rather than a win. "Ultimately, it's on me at the end of the day," Daniels told reporters. "I know DQ is getting a lot of slack for it or whatever, but regardless of what happens, I'm the person on the field that's supposed to calm everything, control everything and I failed to the standard that I hold myself to and the standard in this organization. "This is something for me to move on, not saying I'm proud of it or anything. Obviously, looking back, it could have resulted in a loss. We tied, but it was a failure in my eyes, and I know I'm better than that. I hold myself to a higher standard than that. So moving forward, I'll grow from it, learn from it, and it'll never happen again." Daniels isn't wrong. Whether your head coach is Bill Belichick or a first-year guy, the quarterback is responsible for the operation of the offense. Daniels saw the running clock at 13 seconds when he snapped the ball on that final play. At that point, you're throwing it away to the sideline or throwing it in the dirt. You're not taking a sack or going down inbounds. No starting quarterback should have to be told that. While Quinn has taken much of the blame from the media after the gaffe, Daniels hasn't been without criticism, too. Packers' edge rusher Micah Parsons ripped into the quarterback on his podcast, saying he "probably cost Dan Quinn his job.""All respectfully, we get coached so much on these situations that, like, I'm a defensive player, and this shit's programmed to me," Parsons said. "I even know what to do in those situations. There's no way I'm taking a sack with 14 seconds left and no timeouts...And, mind you, it'd be different if Jayden Daniels was a rookie. This is your third year. This is your third year. You've been to the NFC Championship game. You've been in big moments before. And to me, like even after a sack, you're casually getting up. ... He's not even urgently getting up. ... That is disgusting, bro."It was a bizarre sequence. Why did the Commanders' players on the field not show any urgency to get back to the line of scrimmage when Daniels went down? Why did David Blough call for a play with motion as the clock continued to tick? What was Daniels trying to do on that final play? The football world may never know.