Daniels near perfect as Commanders beat Bengals

In a situation where they have failed spectacularly for most of the last quarter century, the Washington Commanders (2-1) came out on Monday Night Football and beat the Cincinnati Bengals (0-3), a preseason Super Bowl contender 38-26.

Most importantly, Jayden Daniels established himself as a franchise quarterback. On the national stage, Daniels played an almost flawless game going 21 of 23 for 228 yards and two touchdowns. Daniels also ran for a score and was the team’s leading rusher.

“He’s a really cool customer and he’s got real poise about him,” head coach Dan Quinn said in his postgame press conference. “He knew the importance of the ball and the decision-making for that. He could get them into short fields and chances to go, his ability to know when to and when not to make a play with his legs, we’ve seen a lot of this in practice and now it’s carrying over into the games where with the decision making, sliding, going, taking the shot. I thought it was a really strong performance from him.”

The night did not get off to a promising start.

The Bengals scored on the first possession of the game as Joe Burrow threw a 41-yard touchdown to Ja’Marr Chase. Chase beat rookie cornerback Mike Sainristil to give the Bengals an early 7-0 lead.

Daniels immediately evened the score, leading the offense on a 10-play, 62-yard drive. The biggest play was a 30-yard strike to fellow rookie Luke McCaffrey that put the ball at the Cincinnati two. Brian Robinson Junior would punch the ball to tie the score at 7.

“I’m just a competitor,” Daniels said. “I want to compete at the highest level, and obviously it’s a blessing to be able to go out there each and every Sunday to do things that a lot of people in the world can’t do. I’m blessed to be a part of one of the 32 teams that go out there and compete every Sunday, or Monday, or whenever we play.”

Washington would take the lead for good in the second quarter. After Daniels missed a wide-open Terry McLaurin on a long throw that might have been a touchdown, running back Austin Eckler ran 24 yards for a touchdown to make the score 14-7. Eckler would leave the game in the second half with a possible concussion.

After holding the Bengals to a field goal, Daniels uncorked a 55-yard bomb to Terry McLaurin. It gave the Commanders a first down on the Cincinnati four-yard line. McLaurin finished the night with four catches for 100 yards and a touchdown.

“Hey, that kid has poise, man. I think he grew up tonight,” McLaurin said. “On that deep pass to me, that was a little bit of double coverage, and I’ve been pushing and pushing and pushing like trust me with that safety flat, and give me enough air I can go get it. And for us to make that play, and for him to continue to make throws like that, use his feet to get first downs, the dude is tough, man, and he grew up tonight. He’s been doing a great job in camp making those throws, but to come out here and do it when you’ve got to have it with the game on the line — that’s what great players are about, and I think he’s going to be well on his way if he continues to work.”

The Commanders continued to take advantage of the Bengal’s defense in the second half.

Daniels threw his first career touchdown pass in the third quarter with a 2-yard completion to tackle Trent Scott. The backup lineman had reported in as an eligible receiver.

Cincinnati cut the lead to 28-20 in the third quarter when Burrow found Andre Iosivas for a 1-yard score.

After an Austin Seibert 42-yard field goal gave Washington a 31-20 lead, Burrow struck again, hitting Chase on a 31-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 31-26.

In years past, this would have been the beginning of the end for the Commanders. Instead, Daniels put the game on ice.

Facing 3rd down and seven on the Cincinnati 27-yard line, Daniels stared down an all-out blitz and hit McLaurin in the endzone to give the Commanders a 38-26 lead.

“Yeah, and the crazy thing about it is he’s a leader,” McLaurin said. “He’s trying to keep my head right, and I do a good job of staying focused. He’s been telling me ever since the Tampa game when we missed it, ‘I’m going to keep coming back to you, so stay ready.’ And to have that confidence from your quarterback, that means a lot to me, especially from a young guy. So, for him to walk those two passes to me, it was unbelievable. Those are big-time throws that he’s going to be able to build off, so I think that’s going to help us going forward. I’m so excited for this team and I’m so excited for him, because now as a rookie once you see those throws, you get more confidence, and I think his confidence is going through the roof right now.”

The Bengals would get a final score with less than a minute left to make the final score 38-33.

The Commanders will spend the rest of the week in Arizona to prepare for Sunday’s game with the Cardinals. It will be a week where a franchise, considered a relic of another era just one season ago, will learn what it feels like to be part of the conversation from one end of the country to the other.

 

(This story has been updated with post game quotes.)