The New York Giants and Washington Commanders each had an opportunity to end Sunday’s game with a routine field goal in overtime. Neither team managed to take it.
The missed chances left Mike Tomlin with a particularly sour reaction—possibly in the most literal sense.
“I threw up in my mouth a little bit at the end of the game,” the former Pittsburgh Steelers coach told NBC’s Sunday Night Football panel when asked about the 27-27 draw in Landover, Maryland.
Whether Tomlin meant that literally or not, his assessment of both teams was unmistakable: the Giants and Commanders squandered their chances to win.
The Giants had first-and-10 at Washington’s 24-yard line during the third overtime possession. Although that spot would normally offer a manageable field-goal attempt, Giants kicker Dominic Zvada had already missed from 50, 57 and 46 yards earlier in the game. Head coach John Harbaugh therefore chose to move the ball closer before trying the kick.
Instead of attempting the potential game-winning field goal, Harbaugh gave the ball to running back Cam Skattebo. Skattebo fumbled, and Washington’s Shy Tuttle recovered.
Tomlin may not have been speaking literally, but he said the game made him feel sick
Quinn defended his quarterback after the game, while Daniels accepted responsibility for the mistake
Washington then produced its own costly sequence of poor game management during the sudden-death period.
After the Commanders moved into Giants territory, Dan Quinn could have instructed quarterback Jayden Daniels to take a knee, allowing Washington to spike the ball and set up a last-second winning field goal. Instead, as Harbaugh had done on New York’s previous possession, Quinn elected to keep pushing for additional yards.
The decision backfired. An unusually long huddle, unnecessary-looking pre-snap motion and an ill-advised scramble by Daniels gave New York enough time to make a game-saving tackle with three seconds left.
Washington still had an opportunity to spike the ball and prepare for a field goal on fourth down, but the Commanders failed to get set in time. The clock expired before they could run another play.
READ MORE: Trump Says Katie Zacharia Will Become Press Secretary on Columbus Day
Commanders head coach Dan Quinn was visibly furious after Washington’s late-game error
“I’d describe it as disgusting,” Tomlin said on NBC when asked about the result. “Division wins are too precious in the National Football League. I was disgusted by the Skattebo fumble.”
Quinn declined to blame Daniels, but the Washington quarterback took responsibility for the failure to stop the clock.
“We have to stop the clock. We have to know the situation,” Daniels said. “We have to relay that as an offense. It starts with everyone, top down. Ultimately, it’s on me.”
“The sequencing of that does not fall on [Daniels],” Quinn said. “It’s an outside throw or a clock [spike]—an out-of-bounds throw, or a clock. That has to come from me. I have to put him in that spot. I can do that earlier and we can finish the kick earlier. We don’t need to gain more yards.”
Dominic Zvada endured a nightmare afternoon in Landover after missing three field-goal attempts
Tomlin stopped short of assigning direct blame to Quinn, Daniels or Commanders offensive coordinator David Blough.
Instead, the Super Bowl emphasized the missed opportunity for both the Giants (3-1-1) and Commanders (1-3-1).
‘It’s just tough,’ Tomlin said. ‘We’ll never know what happened. The head coach said what he’s supposed to say. The quarterback said what he’s supposed to say. But it’s just tough. Division wins are very precious. And they had one in their hand and they let it slip away.’
There was at least one person who was happy to see Sunday’s game end in a tie: Skattebo.
Asked for his reaction to the Commanders’ mishap, the former Arizona State running back admitted it probably saved him a tongue lashing from Harbaugh.
‘It was a sigh of relief,’ Skattebo said. ‘I probably won’t get reamed as much but I’m still gonna get reamed.’