Commanders’ bungled clock management lets grateful Giants escape with tie
· Yahoo Sports
The New York Giants and Washington Commanders are both shaking their collective heads after a 27-27 tie in Week 5 at Northwest Stadium.
In the final 30 seconds of overtime, the Commanders were in field goal range and had a chance to stop the clock and kick a field goal from a reasonable range to win the game. Washington’s poor clock management, however, led to the game ending in a tie as they never even got the field-goal unit on to the field as time expired.
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“Was it a win? No. Was it a loss? No, it was a tie. How does that make you feel? I’m happy it wasn’t a loss, and I’m sad it wasn’t a win. That’s how I feel,” Giants head coach John Harbaugh said postgame.
“It’s a tie. It’s a heck of a lot better than a loss, but it’s not as good as a win. I know it sounds obvious, but that’s how you feel. We’ve had a lot of these conversations over the years, and we’ll take it. We’ll take it right now.”
Giants running back Cam Skattebo, who fumbled on the team’s final offensive drive that could have led to a New York victory, was visibly relieved on the sidelines following the end of the game. He went into further detail during his post-game press conference.
“Skattebo says I’ll take the tie and get out of town.”@The_ChrisMyers sums it up. pic.twitter.com/Al69bQjTks
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 11, 2026
“It was a sigh of relief. I probably won’t get reamed as much, but I’m still going to get reamed. At the end of the day, like I said, my number was called, and I gave the ball up. If that happens again this year, I promise you it won’t happen,” Skattebo said postgame.
A tie is the same result for both teams, but it definitely stings a little more for the Commanders, who had a win in their grasp in the final moments and couldn’t bring it home. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn took full responsibility for the clock mismanagement.
With the team, I thought this was a hard-fought game that went to the wire. Leaving tonight with a tie feels like a loss.
“In the last sequence, we threw it out of bounds, and we clocked it. That gave us a chance to kick it, and we pride ourselves on those moments at the end of the game. After the first-down run, we were still trying to gain more for the kick. Honestly, the right call is to clock it early and not put ourselves in that spot. That’s my responsibility, not anybody else’s,” Quinn said.
There probably isn’t anyone in the Commanders’ locker room who feels worse about the loss than Jayden Daniels himself. Daniels returned to the field after two weeks away with an elbow injury, but he ran for two touchdowns during the game and showcased some growth that hadn’t been seen in his sixth season as of yet. However, that growth will be overshadowed by his late-game antics.
“We have to stop the clock,” Daniels said. “It starts with everybody from top to bottom, but ultimately, it’s on me.”
Big Blue View community, what are your thoughts on the end of that game? Let us know in the comments section below.