Taylor Heinicke threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson with 1:45 left in regulation and neither squad scored in overtime as the Washington Commanders played to a 20-20 tie with the New York Giants on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.
In the 10-minute overtime session, both teams punted twice. The Giants had a chance to win on the final play but Graham Gano’s 58-yard field goal attempt came up short.
In a game that was evenly-played throughout, Washington (7-5-1) kept pace with New York (7-4-1) in their battle to reach the playoffs.
The Giants were up 20-13 in the closing minutes of regulation before Heinicke directed a 90-yard drive, which included a conversion of a fourth-and-4 play as he scrambled away from pressure and threw on the run, completing a 20-yard pass to Curtis Samuel.
Heinicke completed 27 of 41 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns. Brian Robinson ran 21 times for 96 yards and Terry McLaurin caught eight passes for 105 yards and a touchdown.
Daniel Jones, who entered the game 4-1 against Washington, completed 25 of 31 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown. He also ran 12 times for 71 yards.
Saquon Barkley rushed 18 times for 63 yards and a touchdown but Washington stuffed him in the second half.
New York welcomed six starters back to the lineup and one of them, linebacker Azeez Ojulari, made a critical play when he forced and recovered a fumble by Heinicke at the Commanders 20-yard line early in the second half.
The play set up a 6-yard touchdown pass, Jones to Isaiah Hodgins, which put New York up for the first time, 20-13. It remained that way until Heinicke’s heroics.
The teams played to a 13-13 standoff in the first half.
The Commanders took an early 10-0 lead as Heinicke avoided a heavy rush and flipped a sidearm pass to McLaurin, who made a one-handed catch behind his back, shed a tackler and jogged into the end zone on a 19-yard touchdown play.
But Jones rallied the Giants with a 21-yard scramble which set up a 48-yard Gano field goal. Then Jones hooked up with Darius Slayton on a 55-yard bomb, leading to a 13-yard touchdown burst by Barkley.
— Field Level Media