- WHERE: Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, Fla.)
- WHEN: 8 p.m. ET | NBC, Peacock, Universo, TeleXitos, NFL+
After facing each other to open the season, the Commanders and Buccaneers meet again on Wild Card Weekend with a full season behind them and a chance at a Divisional Round appearance in their sights.
No. 6 seed Washington (12-5) will visit No. 3 seed Tampa Bay (10-7) on Sunday night in a rematch of the teams' season opener, which the Buccaneers won, 37-20, behind Baker Mayfield’s four touchdowns. But a lot has happened since September, as both teams came into their own on their journeys to the postseason.
For the Commanders, the first season under head coach Dan Quinn and with rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels at the helm couldn’t have gone much better, as the pair produced an eight-win improvement over last year’s finish (the largest win improvement in a year in franchise history) and led the team to its first postseason berth since 2020.
Now, they’ll be looking to snap a five-game streak of playoff defeats for the franchise. The last time Washington won a postseason contest? The 2005 season at Tampa Bay.
As for the Buccaneers, they won the NFC South for the fourth season in a row, though it took all 18 weeks and a second-half comeback against the Saints to dig out that title. After a four-game losing streak in the middle of the year, Tampa Bay needed to win six of its final seven games to overtake Atlanta’s and make it into the playoffs, a feat it ultimately accomplished and even capped with Mike Evans’ 11th consecutive 1,000-yard season.
Though the Buccaneers have the higher seed, Washington has the better record, presenting an intriguing matchup in Sunday’s final game of the day.
Here are three things to watch for when the Commanders visit the Buccaneers in Sunday's wild-card game:
1) Can the rookie QB add to his accolades with a playoff win? The first time these teams played was rookie Jayden Daniels’ ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷Íødebut. He went 17-of-24 passing for 184 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, and added 16 rushes for 88 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a pretty good debut. And he’s only continued to grow and gain experience since then, becoming one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the league this year. Daniels set new rookie records for completion percentage (69.0) and rushing yards by a quarterback (891), finishing fourth all time in total offensive yards by a player in their first year (4,459). His success in the air and on the ground also led to him finishing with the third-most rushing yards by a quarterback who also had a 100-plus passer rating in a season. The other three spots in the top four are all Lamar Jackson, in both of his MVP campaigns and in 2024, when he’s vying for another, putting Daniels’ season in the company of arguably the best dual-threat QB ever. He’s also one of only three rookies since 1935 to lead his team to at least 12 wins, with the previous two -- Dak Prescott and Ben Roethlisberger -- winning Offensive Rookie of the Year. In facing off against the Buccaneers defense, Daniels could have a chance to add to his résumé in a generally favorable matchup. Tampa Bay has the 29th-ranked passing defense, and while its rushing D ranks fourth, 61.7% of the rushing yards the Bucs have allowed since their Week 14 bye have been to QBs, the most in the ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷Íøin that span. However, there could be one small snag in this plan, which is Daniels’ health. The rookie was removed from the Commanders’ Week 18 win after a middling first half, which was later attributed to leg soreness negating his usual mobile tactics. Dan Quinn didn’t seem worried about Daniels’ ability to get back to normal for Sunday's game, but it will nevertheless be something to keep an eye on as such a big part of Washington’s success this season.
2) Bucs' newly dominant run game could lead the way. A surprising strength of the Buccaneers offense this season has been its run game, the league’s fourth-ranked unit that’s spearheaded by rookie Bucky Irving. After the Bucs finished last in the league in rushing yards in 2022 and 2023, Irving burst onto the scene this fall. He elevated the rushing attack as a complement to Rachaad White and eventually surpassed his teammate to finish with 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns, as many rushing scores as the whole Tampa Bay roster had last year. Irving averaged 6.0 yards per touch, fourth in the league, and also had the highest missed-tackle-forced rate of any player. And he’s only gotten stronger down the stretch, racking up the third-most scrimmage yards (834) in the ¹ú²úÍâÁ÷Íøfrom Weeks 12-18. His talent will provide a serious challenge for the Commanders’ often-porous run defense. Washington allowed the third-most rushing yards per game (137.5) this season, and on seven occasions has allowed at least 150 yards to opponents. This will be a matchup the Buccaneers will want to exploit, especially with the comparatively more even matchup between Tampa Bay’s passing offense and Washington’s pass defense, which each rank third in yards per game.
3) An old rivalry reborn? This matchup provides a solid level of intrigue just based on the similarities between the squads, from their offensive prowess and their dynamic quarterbacks to their tendencies to win games late. But there could also be an extra layer of drama on Sunday in the form of one possible head-to-head matchup. Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans and Washington’s Marshon Lattimore have a documented history when taking the field together over the past few years while Lattimore was with New Orleans. The pair has had multiple on-field skirmishes, with one in 2022 resulting in ejections. When playing each other earlier this year before Lattimore’s trade out of New Orleans, however, it was much calmer, with no targets for Evans while lined up against him. Whether they can keep things in check again or the emotions of a playoff game take over will be the question in this rematch. This is all, however, under the assumption that Lattimore plays, which is not a guarantee as he’s missed multiple games since being traded to Washington midseason. But he was listed as a full participant on Wednesday, a promising sign for his usage.
