Jayden Daniels shocked the NFL and his fans Monday Night, and just like that a star was born.
It’s a weird twist of fate. The last time the Commanders played on Monday night they faced an 8-0 Philadelphia Eagles in 2022. This past Monday, they entered the game playing a 0-2 Cincinnati Bengals.
Two years ago, former Commanders quarterback now Los Angeles Charger Taylor Heinicke was at the helm. This time it was Jayden Daniels’, who completed 21 for 254 yards with a few touchdowns to lead the Commanders to their second win. Here are three key moves to how the Commanders pulled off the Monday night upset.
Jayden Daniels Connected With McLaurin
One major element missing in the past two games was the deep-threat catches of Terry McLaurin, who hopes to have another 1,000-yard receiving season. Getting him and his experience involved was key.
“We’ve got to find a way to get Terry more involved. That’s on me completely,” said offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury after the Giants win. “He’s a tremendous player, one of the best players in the league and I’ve got to find ways to get him the football.”
McLaurin was targeted six times, catching four for 100 yards Monday night. His longest was 55 yards. He also caught a late 27-yard touchdown pass from Jayden Daniels late in the Fourth Quarter to seal the game. “I think it’s a momentum shift for us, to stack two wins in a row like that…we came out here and we made plays when we really had to make plays…it’s a good feeling,” McLaurin said after the game.
As far as that late touchdown goes, he said he went to Kingsbury and asked for the ball. “It was third down, and I play on the left side a lot,” McLaurin said. “Watching film this week, I knew they like to play a lot of outside leverage. During the timeout, I said to Kliff [Kingsbury], Give me a go route to the boundary for the game.”
Jayden Daniels Played A Smart Game
The NFL reported Daniels’ 91.3% completion percentage was the highest ever in a game for a rookie. The league also highlighted he became the first player since the 1950s to throw for 250 yards and multiple touchdowns, rush for a score, and complete 90+% of his passes. Daniels is also the third rookie quarterback since 2000 to have a passing and rushing touchdown in the same primetime game.
The other two to accomplish such a task were Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Dak Prescott and Los Angeles Chargers Quarterback Justin Herbert.
To add more flair to how well he played Monday night, NFL’s Next Gen Stats on X reported Daniels’ 27-yarder to McLaurin was what they called “improbable”. The site posted on X, “Jayden Daniels’ 27-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin had a completion probability of 10.3%, the most improbable TD of the season, and the most improbable completion by the Commanders in the NGS era (since 2016). ”
Jayden Daniels Trusted His Offensive Line
The Commanders’ O-Line provided quality protection and time for Jayden Daniels to execute plays. It was rare to see the QB stressed or flushed out of the pocket. He was able to go through his progressions and make good choices. This led to no turnovers and the chains kept moving. In addition, the Commanders were perfect on fourth-down conversions, completing five out of nine third-down conversions. He was sacked twice, but it wasn’t for a major loss.
Monday night’s win was not an “ugly win”, or a “they hung in there” type of win. It was a solid win that erased a lot of negative storylines, from “playing college football offenses” to their failures to score in the red zone. Doubts were silenced. Jayden Daniels has to keep the momentum going into Week 4.
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