The Washington Commanders pulled out another dramatic victory on Sunday by eliminating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road, 23-20. Here are five takeaways from the franchise's first playoff win since the 2005 season.

1. Another clutch performance from Jayden Daniels.

Not that anyone should be surprised by now, but Daniels pulled through with the game on the line in the fourth quarter.

Daniels completed 68.6% of his passes for 268 yards, contributing to the third-best QBR of Wild Card Weekend (only Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen were better), but he was perfect during the Commanders' final two drives that gave them the lead. He accounted for 61 of their final 74 yards, completing all six pass attempts for 57 yards and a touchdown.

But it wasn't just the stats that point to how impressive Daniels was in the last 12 minutes of regulation; it was how he kept the offense on the field by answering the call with several clutch plays. On a third-and-6, he connected with Dyami Brown on a 21-yard gain that moved the Commanders to the Buccaneers' 45-yard line with about three minutes to go; on a third-and-2 with 55 seconds left, he dove forward for the conversion, forcing the Buccaneers to burn their last timeout.

There was no margin for error for the Commanders, especially with Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans and the Buccaneers' third-ranked offense on the other sideline. That didn't bother Daniels, although not everyone shared his comfort level.

"I think if he had his heart rate monitor on, and mine, they would not be the same in the game," said head coach Dan Quinn. "He stays pretty consistently good, and sometimes I'm like the duck… if you just saw the feet going under the water, it's good. But he really is...exceptional."

Daniels' first postseason win put him in rare company. He joined Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott, Andrew Luck, C.J. Stroud and Andy Dalton as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to throw for at least 250 yards in their first career postseason start.

2. The defense bent but didn't break.

The Commanders' defense wasn't perfect during the regular season, and that was the case in the Wild Card round. Mayfield still threw two touchdowns; Evans caught all seven of his targets for 92 yards and a score; and the unit still gave up 101 yards on the ground.

But the unit lived up to the other part of its reputation as well; they pulled through when it mattered most, and it resulted in the Buccaneers, who had dominated almost every opponent they faced this season, putting together one of their worst offensive outings.

The Buccaneers were held to just 20 points for the first time since Week 10 when the San Francisco 49ers limited them to 215 total yards. Much of that had to do with how the Commanders' defense stiffened after Tampa Bay moved into scoring position.

On the first drive of the game, Mayfield missed back-to-back passes to Jalen McMillan after a 23-yard catch by Evans helped move Tampa Bay to Washington's 35-yard line. Chase McLaughlin drilled the 50-yard attempt, but it created a chance for Washington to take the lead with a scoring drive of its own later in the second quarter.

The more important moment came with 5:32 left in the fourth quarter. Bobby Wagner stuffed Mayfield on a quarterback sneak for no gain at Washington's 12-yard line, setting up a third-and-1. On the next play, a miscommunication between Mayfield and center Graham Barton forced the Buccaneers to run their play early. Bucky Irving was swarmed seconds later for a two-yard loss, and the Buccaneers had to settle for a game-tying 32-yard field goal rather than a touchdown.

The Buccaneers had one of the best scoring offenses during the regular season, averaging 29.5 points per game. They still found the end zone twice, but Washington stepped up at critical points to give its offense a chance. And when you have a quarterback like Daniels, that's usually good enough.

3. Washington dominated the time of possession.

There's another reason why the Buccaneers struggled to score points for the first time since last November: they were hardly on the field, particularly in the second half.

The Commanders had a sound offensive plan for the Buccaneers. They wanted to keep Mayfield and Evans off the field as much as possible, and that approach worked in their favor. The Commanders ran 69 offensive plays compared to the Buccaneers' 44 and held the ball for more than 35 minutes. The Buccaneers' offense, which ranked third all season in time of possession, was on the field for just under 25 minutes.

Following their first drive, which resulted in a turnover on downs, five of the Commanders' next six possessions lasted at least 10 plays (they're the eighth team since at least 2000 to do that in a playoff game). They took the lead for the first time with a 17-play drive that covered 92 yards and took more than nine minutes off the clock. They faced four third downs as well as a fourth down along the way and converted all but one of them. Ekeler powered forward for a two-yard gain on fourth-and-1, and Daniels found Brown in the back of the end zone on a third-and-goal.

Although the game was close in the second half, Tampa Bay didn't have the ball long enough for its offense to create consistent momentum. They had three possessions to Washington's four, and one of them ended early with a fumble by Mayfield. Four plays after that turnover, the Commanders retook the lead and put themselves back in control.

4. They stuck to their identity on fourth down.

Other teams were more aggressive than the Commanders on fourth down based on sheer volume, but none were nearly as successful. They paced the league on successful fourth-down conversions at a rate of 87%. The next best team -- the Buffalo Bills -- had a conversion rate of 72.7%.

It might lead to high anxiety levels for their fans, but going for it on fourth down has become part of the Commanders' identity. They stayed on the field for five of their seven fourth downs, starting on their opening drive of the game, and converted three of them -- the most in a playoff game in Washington history since at least 2000.

"We were going to be bold but not reckless," Quinn said. "And I think that's who we are the whole season. But when you do get stopped early, you just have to stay the course knowing that, 'Hey, keep your chin tucked and keep swinging,' knowing that this is going to be a game that's going to go all the way down to the end."

The Commanders could have taken the safe option. All their conversions came inside Buccaneers territory, and there were moments when it could have made sense. Daniels had an incompletion to Zach Ertz from the Buccaneers' 3-yard line when they could have kicked a field goal to cut the deficit from four points to one. Earlier in the game, they could have tied the score, 3-3, rather than attempt a pass to Austin Ekeler.

However, the rewards proved that the risk was worth it. Had the Commanders chosen not to give Ekeler the ball on fourth-and-1 in the second quarter, they wouldn't have taken the lead and the same could be said of the fourth-and-2 at the Buccaneers' 5-yard line, when Daniels threw a dart to Terry McLaurin.

And to Quinn's point of being bold over reckless, Washington needed all three of their fourth-down conversions. They'll likely need to stay aggressive next week against the Detroit Lions, whose offense ranked second in the league and had 33 fourth-down attempts during the regular season.

5. Another thrilling finish for the "Cardiac Commanders."

The Commanders have earned their nickname since their bye week. The last five games -- all wins -- were decided by a combined 17 points.

There are a few reasons why the Commanders were able to pull out those victories. Daniels has certainly played a role in that, but the team also spends an obsessive amount of practice time working through situations to make sure they're all in sync if, and when, those moments arise.

But Quinn pointed out another reason during his press conference: the players believe in each other.

"There's been a lot of tell-the-truth Mondays where it went down to the end," Quinn said. "We talked about why it went right or why it didn't. And in that space, collectively, you can feel the belief from the team on the sideline ... So, it took a lot of work to get into that space. And this team has now bonded and connected. And in these winning-time moments, they have a lot of faith."

That faith has led to the Commanders outperforming many of their flaws. While the roster was significantly reworked by general manager Adam Peters and Quinn, it's far from a finished product. The Commanders still have needs on defense, particularly in the secondary, and require depth at skill positions on offense.

And yet the Commanders managed to beat some of the best teams in the league, despite them having better rosters on paper, because each player believes their teammates can execute when it matters most.

The Commanders have arguably their biggest test coming up on Saturday when they travel to Detroit for the Divisional round. Like the Buccaneers, the Lions are more talented at several spots and have only lost one game since Week 2.

But the Commanders have shown they can compete and beat, anyone as they march through the playoffs. So, why not Washington?