Stefon Diggs caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Jayden Daniels with 57 seconds left as the Washington Commanders beat the New York Giants 24-21 on Thursday night. The late score rescued Washington after Daniels had thrown interceptions on consecutive fourth-quarter possessions.
The result at MetLife Stadium keeps the NFC East race open. Washington improved to 3-5-1, while New York remained the division leader at 5-3-1. As ESPN reports, the Commanders are now two games behind the Giants and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
How Washington got one more chance
New York led 21-17 after J.J. McCarthy found tight end Isaiah Likely for a 66-yard touchdown with 8:13 remaining. The Giants then appeared to have the stops they needed: Jevon Holland intercepted Daniels, and Ar’Darius Washington picked him off on the following Washington possession.
But the Giants’ official game analysis identifies the problem between those defensive plays. New York went three-and-out after each interception. Neither takeaway became a scoring drive, leaving Daniels another opportunity to put Washington ahead.
The decisive possession covered 71 yards in 49 seconds, according to ESPN. Diggs supplied the finish, turning a night that could have been remembered for Daniels’ late mistakes into a Washington comeback.
The Giants’ missed opportunity
McCarthy completed 23 of 36 passes for a career-high 293 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Likely caught nine passes for a career-best 127 yards, while Cam Skattebo returned from a hamstring-related absence to run for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
Those performances were not enough to protect the lead. After Diggs’ touchdown, Washington cornerback Rasul Douglas intercepted McCarthy to end the Giants’ final possession. New York’s last chance was gone with 25 seconds remaining.
For the Giants, the difference was their inability to turn two late defensive takeaways into control of the game. Their defense created chances to close it out; the offense returned the ball, and Washington eventually used the opening.
What the result means for the NFC East
This was a reprieve for Washington, not a move into first place. The Commanders still have a losing record and ground to make up. Their win matters because it narrows the gap and preserves a route back into the division race.
New York still leads the NFC East, but lost a chance to build a larger cushion against a divisional opponent. A game that looked manageable after two late interceptions instead ended with the Giants defending a much smaller advantage in the standings.
Archive photo: Stefon Diggs in a Minnesota Vikings uniform before a game on October 4, 2015, not Thursday’s Commanders-Giants game. Photo: Jeffrey Beall, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. Cropped, resized and compressed to WebP.
