Well, That’s The Dumbest Thing I’ve Seen In Some Time

We’re in Landover, Maryland. It’s the New York Giants taking on the Washington Commanders: a divisional rivalry game on a rainy Sunday afternoon with two teams desperate to win the NFC East, but in bad shape thanks to injuries and general haplessness. The Commanders got their quarterback back just in time for this matchup, with Jayden Daniels returning from injuring his arm a couple weeks ago. The Giants are still led by Jameis Winston and the natural chicanery he brings. Together these two teams accounted for some of the worst football of the afternoon. Winston threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns, but lost a fumble—at least he didn’t throw multiple interceptions in this one. Daniels threw for 199 yards but rushed for another 103 yards and two TDs.

But that’s not why you’re here. That’s not enough to compel you to read a blog about the Giants and Commanders. In their overtime period, with under two minutes left of a game that neither side seemed particularly interested in winning, the Commanders defense caused a fumble by Cam Skattebo. The plays that followed included a reception by Terry McLaurin for 16 yards, a run by Daniels for another 16 yards, and a pass to Treylon Burks for 13 yards, putting the Commanders firmly in field goal range. With under a minute left, Rachaad White ran the ball for a couple of yards, which kept the clock moving.

Makes sense, right? Run the clock down so you can kick it with as little time available as possible. The offense seemed to run a lot of clock off before their next play, but no matter. These are professionals; they know what they’re doing. Daniels knows there’s no timeouts left. He’s the reason for that, as he called the last timeout earlier in overtime. It’ll be fine.

The next play resulted in a bad sack, taken with only eight seconds left. But maybe, if the team moved fast enough, they could get set and spike the football. Of course, that did not happen, as the offense seemed to move lackadaisically before finally noticing that no timeout was coming because they didn’t freakin’ have any. Maybe it was the Giants gleefully stomping about as the clock ticked down that tipped them off. Just like that, the game ended in a 27-27 tie, because Daniels and the rest of the Commanders offense did not realize they were out of TOs.

This truly might be the dumbest thing that has ever happened in a professional football setting. I mean, this might be a typical Saturday in college, but I would think a “professional” team—even one coached by Dan Quinn, or one featuring Winston and Skattebo—should be better than this. That should piss you off, even if it happened in a youth football game. The idea that not only the quarterback but the entire offense did not seem to be aware of the situation is genuinely shocking. With Daniels, I figure he doesn’t know anything unless his mom tells him first, but what’s everyone else’s excuse? What else do they gotta talk about in those headsets? Definitely not plays, because I didn’t see much of that going on. The Giants, despite having Winston’s best game, were ready to quit all afternoon, and the Commanders said not on my watch. The only comfort I can give to a fan in Washington is at least you’re not the only NFC East team to embarrass itself today on a football field.