Jayden Daniels makes Bengals player eat his words during Commanders' huge win on Monday Night Football
Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels is off to a great start and it's a big reason why the team just throttled the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football.The Commanders offense, as a whole, produced its best offensive performance of the season, without a doubt. Kliff Kingsbury's unit scored on every single possession it obtained […]
Washington Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels is off to a great start and it's a big reason why the team just throttled the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football.
The Commanders offense, as a whole, produced its best offensive performance of the season, without a doubt. Kliff Kingsbury's unit scored on every single possession it obtained and it put a season-high 38 points on the Bengals' scoreboard.
Daniels and co. sure had their way with the Bengals defense, which is ironic when factoring in what Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor Britt's said earlier in the week.
“They don’t make him do a lot,” the third-year cornerback told reporters on Thursday. “They keep it really simple for him. [It's a ] nice college offense [and] Kingsbury's the OC. They move guys around here and there, but just keep it real simple for him. I heard his pass percentage is very high, but he’s only throwing short routes. Some intermediate stuff, quick throws.”
All Daniels did was pay him back with his own coming out party, as the former Heisman winner has officially arrived.
Taylor-Britt has a point when it comes to the short throws. Per Next Gen Stats, 41 of Daniels' 53 passing attempts through the first two weeks were of the short variety, which is 0-9 yards. Per Pro Football Focus, 21 of those were behind the line of scrimmage.
However, it's not a "simple" offense, like Taylor-Britt states – no NFL offense is. But, even if it is a "simple" offense, Taylor-Britt, along with the rest of the Bengals defense, sure as hell couldn't figure out how to stop it.
As briefly mentioned earlier, the offense was clicking on all cylinders. Right off the bat, Terry McLaurin made plays, specifically the 55-yard catch over none other than Taylor-Britt himself and then the ridiculous fourth-quarter touchdown catch. CTB also drew a crucial flag that turned what would've been a 3rd and 6 into a first down.
The offensive line allowed two sacks, but kept Daniels clean for most of the game, as he was hit four other times. It also opened up plenty of holes for the run game. Austin Ekeler and Brian Robinson ran hard and the former added a huge 62-yard kick return to open the second half.
And then there's Daniels, who played his best game, yet, as a pro. Not only did he complete the 55-yarder and the final touchdown to McLaurin, he made several other strong throws from the pocket. And yes, while he did miss a couple of reads, he also went through a few progressions and made the right decision.
I mean, an offense doesn't score points on every single possession -with five of six possessions resulting in touchdowns- on accident (the Commanders kneeled the clock out on their final possession before halftime). The unit also finished with 356 total yards, averaged 6.2 yards per play, and converted 5-of-9 third down attempts.
Daniels finished the night with a career-high 254 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. His 293 total yards are also a career-best and his three total touchdowns are of the same ilk. He looked like a Pro Bowl-caliber signal-caller just three games into his first season and against one of the best defensive minds in the NFL.
Put it this way: Daniels finished with more touchdowns than he did incompletions on the night, setting a new NFL rookie record after completing 80.3% of his passes through the first three games..
Taylor-Britt may want to watch his words the next time he faces Daniels and the Commanders. The rest of the NFL should watch out, as well, because the kid looks like the real deal when it comes to being the electric player most thought he'd be.