Thanks to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning their Week 17 matchup, the Washington Commanders entered their own contest against the Atlanta Falcons, which had a playoff spot on the line.
The scenario is simple: Win and the Commanders are in the playoffs. Lose, and it all comes down to what happens in Week 18 against the Dallas Cowboys.
Washington sent its defense onto the field to set the tone after the Falcons won the coin toss and chose to receive.
Set the tone is exactly what the defense did when safety Quan Martin intercepted an errant pass by Atlanta quarterback Michael Penix Jr. intended for receiver Chris Blair and returned it 29 yards to the 38 yard line putting the Commanders' offense on the field for the first time in plus territory.
From there, quarterback Jayden Daniels and the offense made good on the great field position and receiver Olamide Zaccheaus hauled in three passes for 28 yards and the first touchdown of the game giving Washington an early 7-0 lead.
The Falcons bounced back quickly and were aided by two Commanders penalties along the way to tying the game. The first flag was on rookie cornerback Mike Sainristil who was lined up offsides on a field goal try that gave Atlanta a new set of downs. That was followed by cornerback Michael Davis who interfered with a receiver in the back of the end zone on 3rd-and-Goal setting up a new 1st-and-Goal play which running back Bijan Robinson took in for an easy score.
It looked like Daniels and the Washington offense was going to change that score with the ball at the Falcons' 22-yard line, but after having success finding slant routes behind blitzing linebackers the defense adjusted and rolled linebacker Kaden Elliss behind one where he found himself perfectly positioned to pick off a pass that erased the scoring opportunity. The interception was Daniels' ninth of the season and erased an important scoring opportunity for the Commanders.
Where Daniels messed up Penix capitalized and 11 plays later the Falcons took a one-score lead after Robinson ran it in from one-yard out for his second score of the night. With about four minutes left in the game, Washington trailed by seven and had no answers yet to stop the Atlanta rushing attack.
Those defensive issues showed up again as the Falcons turned a two-minute offensive drive into a field goal, extending their lead to 17-7, which is where we stand at halftime in a crucial game for the Commanders as they try to secure a spot in the NFL Playoffs.
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