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Austin Seibert was kicking at a pine tree a week ago. Yes, you read that right.

Seibert, an Oklahoma alum, doesn't go to a practice field to practice kicking field goals. Instead, he, along with his wife and daughter, walk to an empty lot by his house and kick about 30 balls at the tree to keep himself ready for an NFL job.

As he jogged onto the field to hit the game-winning field goal in the Washington Commanders' Week 2 win over the New York Giants, Seibert told himself to kick at the tree.

"I guess that's a great way to welcome myself to the team," Seibert said.

Seibert won't be kicking at that pine tree this week. He lined up for seven field goal attempts in his first game in nearly a full calendar year and drilled all of them, setting a franchise record and giving the Commanders a 21-18 win -- their first of the Dan Quinn era -- over the NFC East rival Giants.

On a day that was highlighted by the organization celebrating its multiyear naming rights deal with Northwest Federal Credit Union and quarterback Jayden Daniels making his home debut, the Commanders provided the packed home stadium with proof that they are slowly headed in the right direction. It wasn't pretty -- Washington didn't have the victory in hand until Seibert's 30-yard field goal as time expired -- nor was it without frustration, as the Giants had a chance to score the game-winning points with 2:04 left to play.

But, as the players said afterwards, a win is a win, and that's what matters most in the NFL.

"It's hard to win in the league, as you can see today," said running back Brian Robinson Jr., who had a career-high 133 yards on 17 carries. "We didn't put ourselves in the best position to win, but we still got the win."

One could argue that last part isn't technically true, because Washington gave itself opportunities to extend or take a lead over the Giants (0-2). On eight drives, the Commanders out-gained the Giants, 425-304. Robinson led a rushing attack that amassed 215 yards on 35 attempts while averaging 6.1 yards per attempt. Daniels was sacked five times but showed poise and efficiency in the pocket, completing 23-of-29 passes for 226 yards and hitting Noah Brown with the 34-yard pass that helped flip the field on Washington's final drive.

For all they did outside of the opposing 20-yard line, how the Commanders performed inside of it prevented them from keeping momentum in their favor. They failed to score touchdowns on all six of their red zone trips, thanks to a myriad of penalties, sacks and plays that had minimal gains. Settling for three points instead of seven left a window open for Daniel Jones and Malik Nabers, who had 10 receptions on 18 targets for 127 yards and a touchdown, to stay in the game and claim what would have been their fourth consecutive win over Washington.

Thankfully, Seibert was there to help Washington finish all but one of its drives with points and help cover up some of the problems that persist on both sides of the ball. The offense still needs to get in sync, as shown by their 10 penalties on the afternoon, and missed tackles continue to plague the defense. But unlike last week's season opener, those errors didn't derail the Commanders, albeit barely, and perhaps the effort was enough to give the Commanders a chance to reset before taking on the rest of the season.

"He's got the respect of everyone in that locker room," Robinson said of Seibert.

Seibert's day got started on the Commanders' opening drive of the game. The offense, kept alive by a defensive holding call on third-and-9, had stalled after a 13-yard pickup by Austin Ekeler pushed the ball to the Giants' 4-yard line. There was an intent to try to convert a fourth-and-1, but a false start -- the first of five -- pushed the unit back five yards. Seibert drilled a 27-yarder to give Washington a 3-0 lead.

The Giants, however, didn't have the same issues with finding the end zone. They hit paydirt seven plays after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved their starting spot from the 35-yard line to the 50. Jones found Nabers for a 28-yard pass on a third-and-12, and Devin Singletary broke two takes en route to a seven-yard touchdown two plays later.

Jamie Gillan, who subbed in for an injured Graham Gano, missed the ensuing extra point, which allowed Washington and Seibert to tie and take the lead on scoring drives that accounted for 117 yards. The offense converted four of their five third-down attempts in that span, which helped them get to the red zone, but both drives fizzled out after a sack and a run up the middle for no gain by Ekeler. Seibert was trotted out on attempts of 45 and 26 yards to give Washington a 9-6 advantage.

That lead lasted for about two minutes, though, as the Giants put together a 10-play, 69-yard drive that ended with Nabers getting open in the end zone for a four-yard score and putting them back up, 12-9, at halftime.

It looked like the Giants were about to build on their lead to start the second half, as they zoomed from their 26 to the Commanders' 35 on four plays. Benjamin St-Juste and Jeremy Chinn flipped that momentum, though, with the former popping the ball loose from Singletary's grasp and the latter to fall on it. That led to Washington's offense getting down to the Giants' 9-yard line, only to settle for another field goal from Seibert, this time from 27-yards out.

It became a trend for the Commander to have explosive play outside the red zone and stall in scoring position. Robinson had a 40-yard run -- the longest of his career -- that put the offense at the Giants' 21-yard line, but the unit only gained 10 total yards after that, leading to a 29-yarder from Seibert. A 27-yard catch-and-run by Ekeler set Washington up at the Giants' 6, but two false starts, a pair of incompletions and a one-yard run by Daniels forced Seibert out again for a 33-yard attempt to tie the score at 18-18.

And Seibert's kicks nearly weren't enough to get a win. The Giants drove down to the Commanders' 22-yard line and were forced to try a fourth-down conversion because of Gano's injury. Jones looked for Nabers, but the rookie couldn't haul in the sideline grab.

The incompletion gave the Commanders a final chance to win, and thanks in part to Daniels' 34-yard completion to Brown, they moved the ball close enough for a game-winning 30-yard attempt from Seibert, who was carried off the field by his new teammates.

"It couldn't have gone any better for him," Brown said. "I'm happy for him, proud of him, and he was a huge part of this win."