Magic Johnson Criticizes Commanders' Clock Management in Rare Public Statement

Hall of Famer and Washington Commanders minority owner Magic Johnson publicly expressed his disappointment with the team's clock management during their overtime tie against the New York Giants on Sunday. Johnson, who rarely posts critical remarks on social media, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his disbelief.

"I’m in total disbelief my Commanders had such poor clock management in today’s overtime game against the Giants," Johnson wrote. "All we had to do was kick the field goal and we would have won the game!"

The Commanders held a 27-13 lead after Jayden Daniels scored on a 26-yard run with 11:05 remaining in regulation. However, Giants quarterback Jameis Winston led his team to two touchdowns, forcing a 27-27 tie and sending the game into overtime. The Commanders ultimately failed to secure a victory, settling for a tie after a late-game miscue.

Commanders head coach Dan Quinn accepted responsibility for the clock management error at the end of the game. "The sequencing of that does not fall on (Daniels)," Quinn stated. "It’s an outside throw or a clock — an out of bounds throw, or a clock. That has to come from me. I have to put him in that spot. I can do that earlier and we can finish the kick earlier. We don’t need to gain more yards."

The tie brings the Commanders' season record to 1-3-1. Johnson invested approximately 4% into the franchise as part of Josh Harris' $6.05 billion purchase completed in 2023.