To upset the No. 1 seeded Detroit Lions on the road, the Washington Commanders knew they’d probably have to be perfect. They knew they’d have to pull out every trick from their bag to steal points, possessions, and generally keep the Lions on their toes.

Decidedly not how they drew it up. The Washington Commanders are going to have to play a near perfect game to usurp the top-seeded Lions in Detroit on Saturday night and punch a ticket to the NFC Conference Championship game.

The Washington Commanders did not “take the points” and settle for field goals on fourth down. They knocked out the Detroit Lions with touchdowns after converting on fourth down.

Marcus Mariota’s clutch play in the game’s final seconds earned the Commanders a six playoff seed highlighting the power of unseen preparation.

Commanders veterans Marcus Mariota and Terry McLaurin put the perfect ending onto a historic regular season for the franchise.

Commanders head coach Dan Quinn celebrated rookie QB Jayden Daniels as a 'rare competitor' after Saturday's huge upset win in Detroit.

Veteran Marcus Mariota will finish the regular season at quarterback for the Washington Commanders. With a playoff spot locked up, head coach Dan Quinn chose to play it safe in the second half and sit rookie quarterback Jayden 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.

Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn says he is "not concerned" about Jayden Daniels' leg soreness that led him to take the rookie quarterback out of the regular-season finale at Dallas.

Daniels rarely displays emotions during games. Instead, Commanders head coach Dan Quinn recalled that the most emotional he's seen Daniels is for a teammate, when backup quarterback Marcus Mariota led a game-winning touchdown in their Week 18 game against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Lions are the NFL's most aggressive on fourth down, but the Commanders proved they're the most successful in Saturday's divisional round matchup at Ford Field.

The Lions lost a starting cornerback to injury early in Saturday night's game against the Commanders, but their defense was still able to come up with a big play to keep things scoreless in Detroit.