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

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons (11) celebrates a sack with defensive end Chauncey Golston (99) and linebacker Buddy Johnson (57) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Josh McSwain)

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) runs with the ball as Dallas Cowboys defensive end Chauncey Golston (99) chases him during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Josh McSwain)

Dallas Cowboys wide receiver KaVontae Turpin reacts during a play against the Washington Commandersduring the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn reacts to a fourth-down stop against the Dallas Cowboys during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy looks on during the second half of an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin, left, goes up to make a touchdown catch against Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. The Commanders won 23-19. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland (26) reacts after Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin caught a touchdown pass in front of him during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. The Commanders won 23-19. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's capital is often not a place that handles winter weather well. Cold-weather transplants complain about the inability of local drivers to navigate snowy roads and the tendency of the school systems to shut down at the first sign of falling flakes.

Now the ceremonial pomp of Washington is colliding with the circumstance of a major snow storm, forecast to dump up to a foot in some places by Monday night. The weather adds an unexpected layer of complexity to what was already a challenging two-week stretch for local officials.

For the first time, the District of Columbia is hosting three designated National Special Security Events in a two-week span: Monday's congressional certification of President-elect Donald Trump's electoral win, this week's state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter and then Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20.

“This has never happened before,” said Matt McCool of the Secret Service's Washington field office.

The special security event designation is reserved for events that draw large crowds and potential mass protests. It calls for an enhanced degree of high-level coordination among D.C. officials, the FBI, Secret Service, Capitol Police and Washington's National Guard contingent.

The certification, which has historically been a low-profile ministerial proceeding, was elevated to National Special Security Event after the chaotic riot of Jan. 6, 2021. This time, that process progressed smoothly Monday afternoon, amid security restrictions that, according to McCool, mimicked those of a presidential State of the Union address.

“The Washington, D.C., area is well-versed in these high-profile events,” McCool told reporters last week. “Still back-to-back NSSEs are a unique situation.”

With the certification out of the way, officials now turn to this week's elaborate multi-day state funeral proceedings for Carter. That rolls straight into preparations for the Jan. 20 inauguration with officials on alert for potential clashes between Trump's supporters and opponents; there's an anti-Trump People's March scheduled for Saturday the 18th and a pro-Trump rally planned for Sunday the 19th.

“We are committed to upholding the right to peacefully assemble and protest in our city,” Metropolitan Police Department chief Pamela Smith said. “However … we will not tolerate any violence, rioting, destruction of property or any behavior that threatens the safety and security of our city.”

Smith said she has placed her department “on full activation” starting Sunday, Jan. 5, positioning “additional officers with specialized training that can be deployed anywhere in the District at a moment's notice.”

McCool also warned D.C. residents to get used to the sight of numerous security and surveillance drones in the next two weeks. The entire District of Columbia is normally a no-fly zone for drones.

The most immediate question is whether the snowfall will prevent visitors from coming to town to pay their respects to Carter. According to tracking platform FlightAware.com, nearly 900 flights were canceled or delayed Monday in and out of Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. More than 300 flights were delayed or cancelled at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

After the completion of memorial services in his native Georgia, Carter's casket will arrive in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Ceremonies, which continue through Thursday, will include a horse-drawn funeral procession Tuesday afternoon that may echo images from the chilly Nov. 22, 1963, procession for John F. Kennedy.

While those events are still scheduled, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced late Monday that federal offices in the D.C. area would be closed again Tuesday.

The snowfall already has prompted changes in standard White House operating procedure: Instead of flying aboard the Marine One helicopter on Monday, President Joe Biden was forced to drive to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to board Air Force One. In a move reminiscent of secret presidential trips to war zones, Biden’s trip to New Orleans and Los Angeles began inside a hangar, rather than on the tarmac as is customary, due to the inclement weather. Air Force One was sheltered from the snow inside a secure hangar and Biden departed during an early afternoon lull in the snowfall.

Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Fatima Hussein and Darlene Superville in Washington, and John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this report.

Flags fly at half-staff in memorial to former President Jimmy Carter during a winter snow storm at Union Station in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. Carter died at age 100. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

A front end loader clears a heavy early morning snow fall on the east side of the Capitol ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the votes from the Electoral College in the presidential election, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

A person walks near the Washington Monument during a winter snow storm in Washington, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)