Both the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders had chances to avoid Sunday’s 27-27 tie by kicking routine field goals in overtime.
Alas, those game-winning kicks never came to fruition, and that left a bad taste in Mike Tomlin’s mouth… perhaps literally.
‘I threw up in my mouth a little bit at the end of the game,’ the former Pittsburgh Steelers coach told the NBC Sunday Night Football panel when asked about the Giants and Commanders’ failures on Sunday in Landover, Maryland.
It’s unclear if Tomlin was speaking literally, but in any case, his message for both team’s was fairly evident: They blew it.
The Giants had a first-and-10 from the Washington 24-yard line on the third possession of overtime, and while that’s certainly a makeable kick, the Giants’ Dominic Zvada had already missed from 50, 57 and 46 yards away on Sunday. As a result, head coach John Harbaugh wanted to get a bit closer to improve Zvada’s chances.
Rather than attempting a game-wining field goal, Harbaugh handed the ball to running back Cam Skattebo, who coughed up a fumble that was ultimately recovered by Washington’s Shy Tuttle.
It’s unclear if Tomlin was being literal, but he said he vomited a bit while watching the game
Quinn absolved his quarterback of blame following the loss, but Daniels insisted it was his fault
Then it was Washington’s turn to botch some simple game management in the sudden-death portion of overtime.
With the ball in Giants territory, Commanders coach Dan Quinn could have called for quarterback Jayden Daniels to take a knee to set up a spike and a last-second field goal to win the game. But as Harbaugh did on the Giants’ final possession, Quinn tried to advance the football instead.
Unfortunately for Washington, an egregiously long huddle, some seemingly unnecessary pre-snap motion and Daniels’ ill-advised decision to scramble allowed New York to make a game-saving tackle with three seconds remaining.
Washington still could have spiked the ball to set up a game-winning field goal on fourth down, but the Commanders couldn’t get lined up properly and instead the clock struck zero.
Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn was left livid after his team’s error
‘I’d describe it as disgusting,’ Tomlin said when asked about the outcome on NBC. ‘Division wins are too precious in the National Football League. I was disgusted by the Skattebo fumble.’
Quinn absolved his quarterback of blame following the loss, but Daniels insisted it was his fault.
‘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 had a nightmare day in Landover on Sunday as he missed three kicks
Tomlin did not point the finger directly at 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.’
