Jayden Daniels didn’t just ease back into Washington’s lineup against the New York Giants. He looked like a problem from the jump.
Daniels finished with 199 passing yards, 17 completions and a 68% completion rate, but the numbers only tell part of the story. His legs mattered too, as he piled up 103 rushing yards and two touchdowns to keep the Commanders’ offense alive. More important than the box score was how he got there: sharp decisions, aggressive throws and consistent ball placement that kept Washington moving.
That kind of two-way threat is going to matter again Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers, who come in ranked sixth in the NFL in total defense by yards allowed per game. If Washington wants a shot at its second win of the season, Daniels will have to keep forcing defenses to defend every blade of grass.
The early signs were strong against New York. On Washington’s first drive, the Commanders lined up in 12 personnel against a Giants base 3-4 look and faced second-and-8 after picking up 13 yards on the first two snaps. Daniels handled the coverage information well before and after the snap on a switch-release concept involving his tight ends against a Cover 4 shell with two deep safeties.
Ben Sinnott did his job by driving the cornerback upfield and away from Chig Okonkwo, who took the inside release and ran a seam route. The Giants held their structure after the snap, which left the middle open. With solid protection in front of him, Daniels had time to stay on his first read and place the ball beyond the linebacker and into Okonkwo’s path.
Later, at the start of the fourth quarter, Washington again used 12 personnel on first-and-10, and Daniels showed the same kind of control. This throw stood out because of how quickly he sorted out the leverage and got the ball out with precision.
The Commanders ran a dagger concept with Ben Sinnott, Treylon Burks and Terry McLaurin. McLaurin won at the top of his route, getting inside leverage as he broke toward the middle.
The Giants countered by using edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux to handle the seam threat, dropping him into hook coverage. Daniels saw that Thibodeaux’s spot left him unable to challenge McLaurin’s dig route and fired on time into a tight window before the defense could close it down.
Daniels kept showing that he wouldn’t get stuck on the first look. On another snap, Washington spread out in 11 personnel from an empty set, and he started working the boundary where McLaurin and Antonio Williams ran corner and hook routes. The Giants’ deep-third and flat defenders took those away, so Daniels had to move deeper into his progression.
That’s where the combination between Okonkwo and Burks came into play. Their routes formed a two-level read that put linebacker Tremaine Edmunds in the middle of the decision.
Edmunds stayed with Okonkwo, and that opened space for Burks. Daniels saw it and delivered the ball for a first down.
That sequence summed up the night well: patience, processing and enough confidence to let the coverage tell him where to go next.
Washington’s overtime finish made the ending sting even more, because Daniels had given the Commanders real chances to win. He stressed the Giants as both a passer and a runner, but the game still ended in a tie.
For Washington, the clear takeaway is that a healthy Daniels gives this team a chance every week. He can beat defenses with his arm, hurt them with his legs and keep the offense on schedule when the structure around him holds up. The next step is putting those flashes together against a tougher test in San Francisco.
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