3 Stars from Commanders Wild Card Win Over the Buccaneers

It was a team victory, but these three stars shined brightest when the Washington Commanders defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Jan 12, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) celebrates with wide receiver Terry McLaurin (17) after winning a NFC wild card playoff against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

TAMPA -- Make no mistake about it: the Washington Commanders' Wild Card Round win was a team win in every way.

Whether it was the game-winning field goal–just the latest way the Commanders have pulled off a magical last-game victory–or the defense holding one of the most potent offenses out of the end zone, or their own offense finding the points they needed at the right time; every phase has a piece of this latest win.

Still, as there is with any win, there are guys who did a little more that put their team over the top and this weekend is no different. Here are our three stars from the first Washington playoff win since the 2005 NFL season.

Jan 12, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) celebrates with wide receiver Terry McLaurin (17) after winning a NFC wild card playoff against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

QB JAYDEN DANIELS

There aren't going to be many Commanders wins in the upcoming years where Daniels isn't a major part of it, we suspect. In this game, however, he truly showed just how far he's come in his rookie season.

In his first outing against the Buccaneers, Daniels completed 17 passes for 184 yards and carried the ball 16 times for 88 more. He also had two touchdown runs. Not exactly a terrible statistical outing, but he surely had a personal goal of having a better performance as a passer this time around.

In the first half alone Daniels completed 11 of 16 pass attempts for 108 yards and a touchdown, close to the passing line he had the first time.

When it was all said and done, the rookie surpassed his previous performance against the Bucs by a large amount, including tossing two touchdowns and recording a passer rating over 110.

LB BOBBY WAGNER

The stat box will show you that Wagner led his team in tackles, recorded half a sack, and recovered a crucial fumble that ultimately led to a late Washington lead that directly contributed to the win.

However, going beyond that, the leadership that Wagner showed in presence and performance was on full display Sunday night.

Even when his unit as a whole was struggling to get off the field, Wagner seemed to consistently be in the right place and never stopped communicating to get his guys flowing in the right direction.

Influence is hard to measure and doesn't show up in the stat box, but sometimes it's easily identifiable, and it was fully in the Wild Card win over the Bucs.

WR TERRY MCLAURIN AND DYAMI BROWN

Maybe we're cheating a bit here, but its our column so we'll do what we want.

McLaurin and Brown had near identical stat lines as both men produced 89 yards and scored a touchdown catching passes from Daniels.

Brown did it in five catches on five targets while McLaurin brought in seven passes on 10 targets.

Given the three-point margin of victory, it's safe to say that without either man's performance on Sunday, we'd likely be writing about offseason plans instead of Divisional Round ones.

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