Giants escape Washington with tie after Jayden Daniels, Commanders botch final play of overtime

LANDOVER, Md. — The Giants were driving for a winning field goal in overtime when Cam Skattebo fumbled. The Commanders were driving for a winning field goal in overtime when . . . they ran out of time!

A wild finish resulted in a 27-27 tie, and the Giants (3-1-1) remain alone atop the NFC East.

“It’s a heck of a lot better than a loss, but it’s not as good as a win,” John Harbaugh said. “I know that just sounds so obvious, but that’s kind of how you feel. We’ll take it, we’ll take it right now.”

Jayden Daniels’ strong return to the lineup was overshadowed by his last-second gaffe that cost Washington (1-3-1) a possible win.

With 12 seconds left and the ball at the Giants’ 24, a pass play was called, but Daniels held on to the ball and went down for no gain. Washington had no timeouts left and couldn’t spike the ball before the clock hit zero, ending a mistake-filled OT with zero points by either team.

“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.”

Coach Dan Quinn, who threw down his headset when time expired, took the blame. “The sequencing of that does not fall on [Daniels],” he said. “It’s an outside throw or a [spike] — an out-of-bounds throw or a [spike]. 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.”

Skattebo also was accountable. “I’ve got to hold on to the ball,” he said, “and make sure that these guys know that when my name is called, that we’re going to be OK.”

Jameis Winston, who was 33-for-54 for 326 yards and three touchdowns, rallied the Giants from a 27-13 deficit in the fourth quarter. His two 17-yard TD passes — to Isaiah Likely with 7:20 left and to Malik Nabers with 1:43 left — tied it at 27. Nabers had 11 catches (on 20 targets) for 121 yards. Likely had a career-high 11 catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns.

Daniels, who returned after dislocating his left elbow in Week 2, threw for 193 yards and ran for 103. He had TD runs of 38 and 26 yards.

Even if Skattebo hadn’t fumbled, a kick by the Giants wouldn’t have been a sure thing, given the struggles of rookie Dominic Zvada. He had a chance to put the Giants ahead on the first possession of OT but missed for the third time in the game (and the season).

“He’ll learn from that,” Harbaugh said. “He was going to miss at some point, now he’s got his first miss — he’s got his first three misses.”