Bucs bounced from playoffs by Commanders on last-second field goal, 23-20

With the game on the line, the score tied and seconds ticking away, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were unable to do what most teams couldn't do this season: stop rookie superstar quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Daniels ran for a critical first down to set up a last-second 37-yard field goal to give the Washington Commanders a 23-20 victory over the Bucs in an NFL wild-card game Sunday night at Raymond James Stadium.

Zane Gonzalez's winning kick bounced off the right upright and went through the goal post as time expired.

Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers missed several opportunities, and the veteran quarterback committed a costly turnover in the fourth quarter that allowed Washingon take a late three-point lead.

After that, the Bucs couldn’t gain 1 yard on two tries from the Commanders' 12-yard line and settled for a field goal to tie the game at 20-all before Washington’s winning drive.

“Obviously, it’s disappointing. You don’t want the season to end like this. But we don’t point fingers,” Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles said. “We had our chances to win, but obviously, it wasn’t good enough."

The fumble occurred after Tampa Bay’s defense held Washington inside the 5 on fourth down in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to preserve a 17-13 lead.

But Mayfield gave the Commanders the ball right back when he fumbled an exchange on a handoff to Jalen McMillan. Washington recovered at the Bucs' 13.

"It comes back to me, just timing it up correctly," Mayfield said of the fumble. "The defense had just did a hell of job getting us the ball. Another fourth-down stop. Unfortunately, that falls on me."

The Commanders scored shortly after. On fourth-and-2 from the 5, Daniels connected with Terry McLaurin in the back of the end zone for a 20-17 lead.

After the ensuing kickoff, Mayfield drove the Bucs to a second-and-1 at the Commanders' 12, but they settled for a 32-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin that tied it with 4:41 left.

The Bucs never got the ball back as Daniels calmly led his team downfield. With less than a minute left, he was hit behind the line of scrimmage but scrambled for 4 yards on third-and-2, allowing him to take a knee to set up Gonzalez's winning kick.

“It's disappointing because I believe in this team because we have the talent and the coaching staff to go far,” Mayfield said. “There’s a lot to be proud of. But in this moment, that’s hard to see.”

Daniels, the No. 2 overall draft pick out of LSU, has made a habit of leading Washington to victory in the final minutes this season. That included four game-winning drives and four fourth-quarter comebacks.

“We're not going to give up until the clock hits zero,” Daniels said. “We're going to keep fighting until the end.”

Daniels threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns, joining C.J. Stroud and Brock Purdy as rookie QBs to win playoff games in the past three seasons.

"He was making some plays with his feet," Bowles said of Daniels. "We'd be in position, (and) he out-athleted us."

Washington coach Dan Quinn passed up short field goals on fourth down twice and the offense failed to convert before McLaurin’s TD catch.

On fourth down from the Bucs' 4 less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Daniels threw incomplete. He was pressured and threw incomplete on fourth-and-2 from Tampa Bay’s 20 on Washington’s first possession of the game.

“We were going to be bold but not reckless,” Quinn said.

Mayfield tossed a 4-yard TD pass to Bucky Irving to give the Bucs a 17-13 lead in the third quarter. Mayfield also fired a 1-yard TD pass to Mike Evans to tie it at 10 late in the first half.

Gonzalez kicked a 22-yard field goal to give Washington a 13-10 lead on the opening drive of the second half. The Commanders had a first down at the 3, but Tampa Bay’s defense held.

After Austin Ekeler ran 2 yards on fourth-and-1 from the Bucs' 23 late in the first quarter, the Commanders went ahead a few plays later to complete a 92-yard drive. Daniels, with his face bloodied from a cut, tossed a 10-yard TD pass to Dyami Brown for a 7-3 lead.

A holding call on cornerback Zyon McCollum negated a third-down sack by Yaya Diaby and allowed Washington to extend its next drive that ended with Gonzalez nailing a 50-yard field goal for a 10-3 lead.

McLaughlin kicked a 50-yard field goal on the Bucs' opening drive. The Bucs were 9-1 when they scored first in the regular season.

The Bucs, who won the NFC South Division for the fourth straight season and reached the postseason five straight times, end with a 10-8 record.

“We think we have a very good football team when everybody’s clicking on all cylinders,” Bowles said. “The effort was outstanding. We hung together all year. We’ve been through some things. We’ve got to eat it, take it on the chin and get better in the future.”

It was Washington's first playoff victory in 6,945 days. The franchise hadn’t won in the postseason since beating the Bucs in Tampa Bay 17-10 in a wild-card game on Jan. 7, 2006.

Now, the No. 6 seed Commanders (13-5) move on to a divisional round game at the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions (15-2) this Saturday night.

The Buccaneers began this season with a 37-20 victory at home against the Commanders in Daniels’ first game. Daniels went on to have an outstanding season, was selected to the Pro Bowl and helped Washington improve from 4-13 last season.

The Commanders' turnaround began when Daniel Snyder sold the team in 2023 to a group led by Josh Harris that includes NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. They hired general manager Adam Peters and Quinn after their first season in control.

“You gotta give Josh a lot of credit because we picked the right people,” said Johnson, who was in Tampa for the game. “When you pick Adam Peters and you pick coach Quinn and they picked the right players, the culture changed. You went from a losing culture to a winning culture."

An announced crowd of 64,614 attended the game at Raymond James Stadium.