Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders failed to spike the football and stop the clock on the final play against the New York Giants. As a result, the first overtime game of the 2026 NFL season ended in a tie.
It was a catastrophic clock management disaster.
Although the Commanders were likely going to bungle the clock stoppage attempt anyway, a Giants defensive lineman used a morally questionable tactic to rattle the NFL referee while he tried to spot the ball. His (not so) subtle shenanigans played a small role in the bizarre sequence of events that prevented a game-winning field goal.
Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders did not stop the clock in overtime, which resulted in a tie.
Unless you spent all of Sunday at a pumpkin patch with your significant other, you probably saw the final play of overtime already. And even if you were required to leave your couch rot session, it was all over social media and practically unavoidable.
Jayden Daniels and the Commanders were in field goal range with less than 20 seconds remaining in overtime. The score was tied at 27. They had the ball at the opposing ~24-yard-line. They did NOT have a timeout.
Daniels took the snap, rolled out to his left, danced around in the pocket, and dove back just short of the original line of scrimmage. He and his teammates paused for a moment as if there was no reason to hurry before they realized the situation.
Washington needed to stop the clock to run out the field goal team and kick a game-winner. It failed to do so. All of the receivers were too far down field to get back to the line of scrimmage. The offensive line was not in a rush. Daniels was confused.
The kick never happened. New York somehow escaped with a tie on one of the worst displays of clock management you will ever see. It was truly baffling. We still don’t know exactly what happened.
Daniels indirectly threw the coaching staff under the bus while trying to delineate responsibility for the blunder. Head coach Dan Quinn absolved his quarterback of blame and fell on the sword.
New York Giants defensive lineman Darius Alexander disrupted the referee.
One part of the play is going unnoticed. Even if the Commanders were not aware of the clock, the Giants obviously were.
6-foot-4, 310-pound defensive tackle Darius Alexander ended up on the other side of the line of scrimmage on the penultimate play of overtime. He was not in a hurry to get back on defense. He patiently waited for Daniels and the offense to get out of his way and kept his eye on the football while he stumbled back across the line. It was like a hawk stalking its prey.
The official who ran in from the side to spot the ball was trying to get possession to do his job. As he fumbled with the football on the ground, Alexander walked right through his path and just so happened to step on the ball and knock it out of the way.
If it was an accident, it was a very helpful accident. I don’t think so. Alexander seemed intent on chaos. It was a high-IQ step.
Alexander’s convenient ball stomp added an extra second to the ball-spotting process. The official couldn’t get the ball down.
Watch #91 Darius Alexander conveniently, and accidentally stepped on the ball as it’s trying to be set. His best play as a Giant!!! pic.twitter.com/pYfzBXuSUK
— Justin Penik (@JustinPenik) October 11, 2026
The extra second proved costly for the Commanders. They were probably too late to the line to spike the ball anyway, but they might’ve had a better chance of stopping the clock if Alexander had not slumbered his way back on defense.