Commanders kick winless Giants into East cellar with record seven field goals

He was thinking about the pine tree in a lot next to his home.

During the offseason, the 27-year-old goes to the lot three times a week with his wife and daughter, kicking footballs into that pine tree 25 or 30 times. 

“I just tell myself, ‘Hit the tree,’” Seibert said of his thought process before the final kick. “Go out there and trust my technique.”

The technique worked in the Oklahoma product’s first game as a Commander. He converted seven field goals, including a 30-yarder to seal the victory. 

Washington methodically marched down the field throughout the game, stringing together long drives that would ultimately stall in the red zone. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels finished 23-of-29 passing with 226 yards and another 44 yards on the ground. But he couldn’t find his way into the endzone.

The Commanders’ offense recorded five different penalties — false starts and holding infractions — during their trips to the red zone. But where Daniels and the offense faltered, Seibert delivered. 

“He got respect from everybody in that locker room,” said running back Brian Robinson Jr., who finished with a career-high 133 yards rushing. “What better way to come and show that you’re capable and we can depend on you to win the game for us? That’s exactly what he did.”

Seibert said he knew he had to perform — he’s played for six different teams since the Cleveland Browns selected him in the fifth round of the 2019 draft. Kicking is a fickle business.  

“That’s the nature of the beast right now in the kicking world. It’s just so competitive, and you have to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves,” said Seibert, who was cut by the New York Jets on Aug. 27. “That’s why you stay ready at all times because you never know when you’re going to get that call.”

Seibert’s leg gave the Commanders (1-1) a much-needed divisional win and the first victory for Daniels and coach Dan Quinn in the Burgundy and Gold.

“To get a division win, we talked about the importance of that and what that means,” he said, noting that he showed his players historic NFC East rivalries before the game. “But we also get to write our own story about this division and what it can be.” 

While Washington’s hopes of victory rested on the relatively slim shoulders of their kicker, New York’s dreams died on theirs. 

The Giants lost their kicker — former Commander Graham Gano — on the first play of the game.  

Commanders running back Austin Ekeler took the opening kickoff 98 yards to the paydirt, giving his team its only opportunity to celebrate a touchdown on Sunday. But a holding penalty by practice squad call-up Nick Bellore negated the explosive play.

But the ramifications of the opening play would be felt throughout the game. Gano entered the game with a groin injury, but a hamstring pull on the opening kickoff sidelined him for the rest of the afternoon. 

The loss of Gano forced the Giants to reconsider their scoring strategies. Coach Brian Daboll allowed punter Jamie Gillan to attempt an extra point after a first-quarter touchdown, but the kick sailed wide to the right. The Giants unsuccessfully attempted two-point conversions for the rest of the game. 

Gano’s absence bit the Giants again in the game’s final minutes. With less than 3 minutes remaining and the game tied at 18, New York had the ball on fourth down with four yards to go. That’s normally an easy decision for a coach: kick the field goal and force the other team to drive the length of the field. 

But without a kicker, the Giants attempted a pass to the right sideline to keep the drive alive — it was touchdown or bust for quarterback Daniel Jones’ squad. 

Jones targeted rookie Malik Nabers, Daniels’ former teammate who torched the Commanders for 127 yards through the air on Sunday. But the LSU product couldn’t haul in the pass along the sideline, turning the ball over on downs.  

“I liked the play we had. I felt comfortable with what we did,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said. “I’m not making excuses. The decisions that are made are all mine.”

With two minutes to play and a field goal needed to win, Daniels led the Commanders down the field with his arm and his legs. A 32-yard gain by wide receiver Noah Brown (in his Burgundy and Gold debut) took the offense into the Giants’ territory.

A 14-yard run by Daniels three plays later brought the Commanders to the Giants 10-yard line, setting up an easy kick for Seibert. 

“I just took a couple of deep breaths,” Quinn said. “Like, ‘Alright, Austin. Here we go, man.’”

Luckily for the coach’s blood pressure, there was no doubt about Seibert’s final field goal. The ball sailed straight through the uprights as time expired. 

In last week’s season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccanneers, Quinn described his squad’s kicking situation as “less than ideal.” The franchise had signed four different kickers over the offseason. None of them stuck. Cade York, the most recently departed kicker, missed a pair of field goals and sent a kickoff out of bounds in the season opener.

Quinn sang a different tune on Sunday after delivering a game ball to his new kicker. 

“Austin was the story of the game. To have a franchise record in your very first game, that’s a big deal,” Quinn said. “It’s not easy going into a new locker room without all the time and chemistry with everybody.”

Before Sunday, no kicker had ever made six field goals in a game for the Commanders. With seven field goals, Seibert fell just one kick shy of an NFL record as he secured a place in Washington history.

After the game, Daniels delivered a simple message to his newest teammate.

“Appreciate you,” the rookie signal-caller told Seibert. “I’m still learning [about him]. He’s very new to this team. But he’s a good kicker. I’m glad he’s on my team.”

• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.

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