The Washington Commanders are heading to the NFC divisional round after defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-20 on "Sunday Night Football."
With the score tied at 20, the Commanders regained possession with 4:41 remaining in the game and a chance to win. Quarterback Jayden Daniels led Washington on a 10-play, 51-yard drive that concluded with a game-winning 37-yard field goal from Zane Gonzalez as time expired.
The Commanders' victory marks the franchise's first playoff win since the 2005 NFC wild-card game. It snaps the NFL's third-longest active playoff-win drought, according to ESPN Research.
Washington celebrated the occasion with a troll aimed at Tampa Bay's namesake. The Commanders posted a clip from the 2004 film "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," of Vince Vaughn's character, Peter La Fleur, confronting Steve "the Pirate" Cowan, a member of the Average Joe's.
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) January 13, 2025
Vaughn pushes Cowan against the wall and tells him: "You are not a pirate." Washington posted its logo on Vaughn, while Tampa Bay's logo was on Cowan.
The Commanders will face the NFC's No. 1 seed, the Detroit Lions next Saturday.