There are unfortunate consequences to the NFL game.
And that’s what happened at the end of Sunday’s contest between the Washington Chiefs and New York Giants, as the NFC East rivals combined for their fans’ first matchup of the 2026 season, with the game tied 27-27 in overtime.
But how we got there, the journey is very simple.
On a wet and foggy day at Northwest Stadium, the Chiefs built a 27-13 lead early in the fourth quarter when Jayden Daniels signaled Washington’s return to the starting lineup, as he took off for a 26-yard touchdown run:
It was Daniels’ second touchdown run earlier in the game when he ripped off a 38-yard TD.
But then Jameis Winston and the Giants came roaring. Winston connected with Isaiah minutes later for a touchdown, and with two minutes left, Winston threw his third touchdown of the afternoon, connecting with Malik Nabers to tie the game at 27-27.
Washington was forced to punt on the ensuing possession and the game went to overtime.
That’s when chaos peaked.
New York had a chance to take the lead on the first drive of overtime, which stalled outside the red zone. Rookie kicker Dominik Zvada entered the game to attempt a 46-yard field goal, but the ball was missed for the third time on the day.
This gave Washington a chance to win the game on the next ball. But the Chiefs were finally forced to punt — and only managed to do so after Diami Brown recovered his own fumble and extended his drive — but now the Giants had their own chance to win the game.
It wasn’t until running back Cam Skatebo gave the Chiefs another chance to win:
New York was closing in on the field-goal zone — though Zvada’s fightback would have been tough — but Skatebo put the ball in the field, giving Washington a chance.
Daniels moved Washington to New York State with just over a minute left in the fight.
Daniels then connected with Traylon Burks to try and get into field goal range for the ball to Drew Stevens, who was perfect two for two on the day.
But then, offense, and the first tie of the 2026 NFL season.
After a run play gained two yards, the Chiefs ran out of time, requiring Daniels and the Washington offense to fumble the football to stop the clock. But for some reason, Daniel did:
He could not stop the clock in time, and the game is over.
Here’s another look at how this game ended.
That Washington handled the last play of the game like this is inexplicable. The running play before the final stop came with over 50 seconds left in the game. There was more than enough time to run another play, if Washington wanted to, and then punt the football.
Instead, the final play came with just over ten seconds left on the clock, and Daniels ran instead of snapping immediately, taking too much time out of the clock and denying Washington a field goal chance.
With time running out, you can understand why Dan Quinn did this:
Some Commanders fans may do the same.
Update Here’s what Quinn had to say after the game.
