Zane Gonzalez was on the sideline taking off the cleat on his kicking foot while Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders' offense were trying to get close enough for him to kick a field goal to send them to the Divisional round.

Gonzalez fidgeted with his sock. Something was wrong; it wasn't situated in quite the way that he wanted for such a moment. By the time he got it right, Daniels took a knee at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 19-yard line, setting up a 37-yard attempt.

Chalk all that sock-wriggling as kicker superstitions if you want. But if anyone thinks it doesn't matter, just consider what happened next. Gonzalez's kick doinked off the right upright and ricocheted to the left, sealing the 23-20 win over the Buccaneers.

Washington's playoff win -- the franchise's first since the 2005 season -- provided its fans with their latest round of celebration mixed with heavy doses of anxiety. Just as it has been for the last month, the Commanders had the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to win. They couldn't afford a misstep; the Buccaneers had all three of their timeouts, and the duo of Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans had been perfect all night with seven completions for 93 yards and a touchdown.

And just as they did in one close game after the other, the Commanders executed the clutch plays when needed. Daniels completed all three of his passes and converted a critical third-and-2 with his legs, contributing to a 10-play, 51-yard drive that took up the rest of the 4:41 left on the clock.

The Commanders' win over the Buccaneers means they will travel to play the Detroit Lions on Jan. 18 at 8 p.m.
Unlike the season's last four games, where the high-stakes situations were partly the result of Washington's mistakes, the Commanders played a primarily clean game against a Buccaneers team that had won six of its last seven games. Every time Mayfield and Tampa Bay raised the bar, Washington responded with their own play.

As expected, Mayfield and the Buccaneers' third-ranked offense didn't make things easy on the Commanders. Mayfield's first pass of the night went to Evans, who turned it into an 11-yard gain working against Marshon Lattimore. The two connected again later in the drive for a 23-yard pickup, which helped set up a field goal.

Washington and Daniels were quick to respond, though—a positive turnaround from how things unfolded in the first half of previous games. They turned over the ball on downs on their opening drive but found paydirt on their second. Daniels led a 17-play drive that knocked nine minutes off the clock and found Dyami Brown on third-and-goal for the 10-yard touchdown.

Washington tacked on another three points following a three-and-out from the Buccaneers' offense, but Mayfield helped ignite his unit later in the second quarter with an 18-yard run. Later, Lattimore was called for pass interference on Evans in the end zone. Mayfield went right back to Evans on the next play, and the veteran wideout made the one-yard catch to tie the score, 10-10, to close out the half.

The next time the Buccaneers were on the field, they were driving to take the lead. They responded to Washington's 22-yard field goal to open up the third quarter with a 10-play, 72-yard drive. Running back Bucky Irving, who had been held relatively in check through two quarters, erupted on the possession with seven touches, including the four-yard touchdown on second-and-goal.

Washington wasted no time getting back into scoring position. Daniels converted a fourth-and-5 with a 14-yard reception to Zach Ertz. Four plays later, a pass interference penalty in the end zone moved the ball to the Buccaneers' 1-yard line. However, Tampa Bay's defense, which had not allowed a second-quarter touchdown in eight games, held firm again, forcing another turnover on downs.

But the Commanders got a bit of luck later in the fourth quarter. Mayfield fumbled the snap -- his 13th of the season -- and linebacker Bobby Wagner fell on it to give Washington the ball at the Buccaneers' 13-yard line. Four plays later, the Commanders faced another fourth down -- this time at the 5-yard line -- and Daniels' pass found its target. Terry McLaurin, who had seven catches for 89 yards, made the contested grab to give Washington a three-point lead.

Washington's defense came up big again deep inside their own territory. Irving had a nine-yard gain that moved the Buccaneers to the Commanders' 12-yard line, but he was stuffed and taken down for a two-yard loss on the next two plays, forcing Tampa Bay to kick a game-tying field goal.

That set Washington and Daniels up for another chance at late-game heroics. He started the drive off with a five-yard pass to McLaurin, but his next pass went to Brown for a 21-yard pick. Brown led the team alongside McLaurin with five catches for 89 yards.

Daniels then looked to Austin Ekeler, who made an improbable grab on second-and-10 and turned it into an 18-yard gain. That play forced the Buccaneers to start using their timeouts, which they quickly burned through after another eight-yard gain by Ekeler and Daniels' four-yard run on third-and-2. From there, the Buccaneers could only sit and watch as Gonzalez fixed his sock and hit the game-winning field goal...by about six inches.

Daniels had it right earlier in the week when he said Washington's playoff game was just like any other they had played during the regular season. Washington faced difficult odds and -- with another dramatic finish -- came away victorious.