Mariota leads playoff-bound Commanders to 23-19 win over Cowboys after replacing Daniels

ARLINGTON, Texas — Jayden Daniels sitting in the second half wasn't the plan when the playoff-bound Washington Commanders visited the Dallas Cowboys with only seeding at stake.

Leg soreness led coach Dan Quinn to make the move, and Marcus Mariota turned it into a winning one.

Mariota threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin with 3 seconds left, lifting Washington to a 23-19 victory over Dallas on Sunday and clinching the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs for the Commanders.

Mariota threw for two scores and ran for a TD after replacing Daniels, who said he was fine with his coach's decision but later was adamant that they would have had ''to drag me off the field,'' if his team had been in a win-or-go-home situation.

Instead, the Commanders (12-5) only had playoff seeding on the line, but Quinn's move ended up sparking an offense that produced just 64 yards before the break.

''We were going to have to use the quarterback's legs more, so it was really my decision to say, ‘Hey let's go this route,''' Quinn said. ''It wasn't a pre-determined one.''

It turned out Washington didn't need the rally to keep the sixth seed because Green Bay lost to Chicago on a late field goal. But the victory meant the Commanders finished the regular season on a four-game win streak that answered a three-game skid capped by a loss at home to Dallas.

The Commanders will play in the wild-card round next Sunday night at NFC South champion Tampa Bay (10-7), which clinched the No. 3 seed after a 27-19 win over New Orleans. It's a rematch of the Buccaneers' 37-20 victory over Washington in Week 1 in rookie quarterback Daniels' first game.

The Packers will visit NFC East champion Philadelphia, the No. 2 seed.

Brandon Aubrey kicked four field goals for the Cowboys in the first regular-season start for quarterback Trey Lance since Week 2 of 2022, when he was still with San Francisco a year after the 49ers traded up to get him third overall in the draft.

Rico Dowdle's 2-yard TD run lifted the Cowboys to a 19-16 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Quinn already had his team in the playoffs in his return to Dallas, where he was the defensive coordinator the past three seasons, which also ended with 12-5 playoff teams.

The last of those came crashing down with a blowout wild-card loss at home to Green Bay, and the coaches and players Quinn left behind never had a chance to escape the malaise in a 2024 season that was troublesome from the early days.

Now, the Cowboys (7-10) await the fate of coach Mike McCarthy, who is on an expiring contract after three winning seasons and two losing records, unable to get the club past the divisional round of the playoffs for the first time since the mid-1990s.

''For us to go out there and compete and finish our commitment, that to me was a given,'' McCarthy said. ''I thought in some ways, the game was a little bit of a microcosm of our season, just going down to the last play. The little things that we didn't do, was part of the reason why we didn't win the game.''

Daniels was 6 of 12 for 38 yards when he went to the bench after the break, while Mariota finished 15 of 18 for 161 yards and had a 33-yard run that helped set up the winning score, which capped a 91-yard drive.

''He's such a cool teammate,'' Quinn said. ''It was fun to be able to celebrate him today because of the work that he does behind the scenes. It takes a lot to be ready like that.''

Lance was 20 of 34 for 244 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in his first extensive action since the preseason. He threw five interceptions in the preseason finale.

The Cowboys traded a fourth-round pick for Lance last year after Lance lost the battle for the backup job with the Niners. Cooper Rush started the first eight games after Dak Prescott's season-ending hamstring injury this season.

Double digits again

It didn't take Micah Parsons long to make good on his promise that he would get to 10 sacks for the fourth time in his four seasons with Dallas despite missing four games with a high ankle sprain.

Parsons dropped Daniels for a 4-yard loss on the first play of the game and got him again on a 9-yarder two plays later. He had 2 1/2 sacks to finish the season with 12. He is the fourth player with double-digit sacks in his first four seasons, and the other three are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Still grounded

Washington's running game struggled despite the return of running back Austin Ekeler, who left the Nov. 24 loss to the Cowboys with a concussion. While Mariota and Daniels did some damage with their legs, Ekeler and Brian Robinson Jr. combined for 22 yards on eight carries.

Aubrey's record

None of Aubrey's kicks were from 50 yards, but he held on to what is now an NFL record for the most from at least that distance in a season at 14. Houston's Ka'imi Fairbairn started and ended the day at 13, and Pittsburgh's Chris Boswell had a 54-yarder Saturday to finish at 13 as well.

Up next

The Commanders are in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, and in the postseason with a winning record for the first time since 2015.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl