The Commanders have finally won a playoff game, and they did so in the most vintage Seahawks way possible.
The Washington Commanders are in the NFC Divisional Round after an incredible 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and a Seattle Seahawks legend had one of the biggest plays of the night for the Commanders.
Having had the misfortune of getting trucked by Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield in the first half, Wagner had the last laugh and the game’s only turnover. After the Buccaneers made a critical goal line stand in the 4th quarter, Wagner got the ball back by pouncing on Mayfield’s botched exchange. Unfortunately for Mayfield, he doesn’t realize that Wagner was trained to be “all about the ball” under Pete Carroll.
CHAOS! Baker loses the ball and it’s @Commanders ball in the red zone
: #WASvsTB on NBC
: Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/0Oq5lmBhsF— NFL (@NFL) January 13, 2025
Dan Quinn, who was extremely aggressive on 4th downs all night, went for it on 4th and 2 and Jayden Daniels threw the go-ahead touchdown to Terry McLaurin.
Wagner later made a critical 2nd and 1 stop for no gain on a Mayfield run with the Buccaneers threatening to take the lead down 20-17. A snap miscommunication between Mayfield and rookie center Graham Barton led to the Bucs kicking a tying field goal instead of going for a go-ahead touchdown.
Tampa Bay never saw the ball on offense again and Zane Gonzalez doinked the Commanders into the NFC Divisional Round. It was a Commanders win with a lot of Seahawks-esque zaniness.
The Commanders’ 19-year postseason win drought is over, and you might recall that their last playoff win was against the Buccaneers on the road… only to lose to the Seahawks the following week, ending Seattle’s 21-year playoff win drought in the process.
Jayden Daniels has also become only the fourth rookie quarterback to win a road playoff start, joining Russell Wilson (who beat Washington in 2012), Joe Flacco, and Mark Sanchez are the only QBs to pull off such a rare feat. Flacco and Sanchez even made it to the Conference
This is an awesome moment for the Commanders, but from a Seahawks perspective, it’s awesome to see this result for former Seahawks DC Dan Quinn, ex-linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr, and Wagner, all of whom were important figures from the Super Bowl season and the height of this franchise’s history. Other notable ex-Seahawks on the Commanders include special teams ace Nick Bellore (despite the trolling), long snapper Tyler Ott, former Seahawks Darryl Tapp and Bobby Engram (who are assistant coaches on Quinn’s staff), and even Paul Skansi, who’s a Commanders scout!
The Commanders are at the Detroit Lions next Saturday night in what could be another thriller.