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

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Marcus Mariota threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin with 3 seconds left, lifting Washington to a 23-19 victory over the Dallas Cowboys 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 Jayden Daniels. The Commanders (12-5) sat their dynamic rookie quarterback at halftime since playoff seeding was the only thing on the line, and the move ended up sparking an offense that produced just 64 yards before the break.

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.

The Commanders will visit either Tampa Bay or the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round next weekend. The Packers will visit NFC East champion Philadelphia, the No. 2 seed, in the wild-card round.

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.

Washington coach Dan 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.

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.

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’s the fourth player with double-digit sacks in his first four seasons. The other three are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

None of Aubrey’s kicks were from 50 yards, but he held on to what is now an NFL record for the most from 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.