Monday night was Jayden Daniels’ coming out party.
The Commanders’ rookie quarterback completed 21 of 23 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for a touchdown in a 38-33 road win over the Bengals, but the clearest sign of his arrival came on a fourth down in the fourth quarter. That’s when the Commanders trusted Daniels to throw a pass to tight end Zach Ertz to keep a drive alive, and Daniels delivered with a conversion that kept the drive alive and enabled a touchdown throw to Terry McLaurin that was the icing on the cake of this upset victory.
After the game, Daniels was asked if he was surprised at how quickly he found success in the NFL.
“Yes and no,” Daniels said in his postgame press conference. “Yes, because obviously it’s something new for me as I continue this journey in my first 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.”
The Commanders have been a losing franchise for years, but it only took three games for Daniels to give them real reason to hope that better days are coming. Monday night gives them reason to believe those days are coming before the calendar flips to a new year.
