Daniels’ ability as a doubles player was on display throughout the match, but his decisiveness and maturity also shone through. In the big moments on the big stage, he was not intimidated, but grew and rose to the occasion.
“He’s a really cool guy and has real poise,” said Commanders head coach Dan Quinn. “We knew from the beginning how important the ball and the decision-making is to it. We just couldn’t give them short pitches and chances. His ability to know when to play with his legs, when not to, we saw a lot of that in practice and now it’s translating to the games where the decision-making, the sliding, the walking, the setting up of the shot, I thought he had a really strong performance tonight.”
It was an achievement that was well received not only by the commanders.
“He’s a damn good player, I’m not going to lie,” said Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, an LSU product like Daniels. “That was the first time I sat down and watched him outside of the spring game. He’s a really outstanding player.”
Even though it was just one game, it was a continuation of an already promising start for Daniels after brilliant performances against the New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which he completed over 70% of his passes, had no interceptions and ran for two scores.
“He continues to grow on the job,” Quinn said. “And that’s because he and all of his teammates who are freshmen are growing and learning when to extend a game, when to lay down, when to use your legs. A few days ago I asked, ‘What have you learned in the first two games?’ And tonight it happened again.”
Daniels littered Paycor Stadium with historical footnotes.
His 91.3% passing percentage was the highest in a game for a rookie in history, according to NFL Research. Since 2000, Daniels joins Dak Prescott and Justin Herbert as the only rookie QBs with rushing and passing scores in a prime-time game. And no player, at least since 1950, has ever thrown for 250 yards, scored multiple touchdowns, run for a TD and completed 90 percent of his passes until Daniels did it on Monday, according to NFL Research.
Although Daniels experienced a long list of firsts that night, he wasn’t too surprised by what he was able to accomplish. That, he explained, was down to preparation.
“Yes and no,” Daniels said when asked if he was surprised by his quick success. “Yes, because obviously it’s something new for me as I continue this journey in my freshman year. But I’ve also put in the work and what happens in the dark always comes to light. I just know that week in and week out, I’m prepared for these moments. I just have to go out there and play football and get it done.”
Daniels has yet to throw a touchdown pass in his first two games, but that one was historic when he hooked up with offensive lineman Trent Scott for a 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter. No first-round rookie quarterback has thrown his first touchdown pass to an offensive lineman since JP Losman hooked up with Jason Peters on Sept. 11, 2005, and Daniels is the first top-five pick to do so.
It was Daniels’ second touchdown, a 27-yard pass to Terry McLaurin, that was by far the more impressive. With the Bengals cutting the score to 31-26 after the Commanders took a 28-13 lead on Scott’s hit, Washington was in danger of wasting Daniels’ sensational night. So on third-and-7 with 2:15 to play, Daniels and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury took the safe play without a fight and went for it. Daniels, smiling at the pass rush, gloated on the hit and threw a beautiful ball that McLaurin turned into a brilliant catch.
On a wonderful evening, Daniels showed his calmness in the decisive situation, his steadfastness, his accuracy – all in a single game.
“They took the time, and if they didn’t take the time, you wouldn’t have the confidence to go in that space,” Quinn said. “But even with all the work they did, obviously we didn’t get some of the deep passes to Terry the first two games, but we knew that wasn’t going to be the case going forward. So when we had our chances and our moments, it was just a really good ball and a great catch by Terry as well.”
Washington now has a 2-1 record this season and is pretty confident about 2024. And as for their quarterback, the Commanders are pretty excited about 2024 and beyond.
For a franchise whose seemingly endless quarterback carousel fell apart long ago, this was the kind of star-announcement performance Washington was hoping for. Daniels became Washington’s eighth starting quarterback in Week 1 in as many seasons when he debuted this year. After Monday night’s brilliant 60 minutes, the Commanders may well feel they’ve truly found a quarterback they can pin their hopes on for the foreseeable future.
