After getting past an injury scare to rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, the Washington Commanders beat the New York Giants and piqued the interest of Magic Johnson. But their nail-biting victory brought four overreactions to the table.
First on the list of things getting out of hand is the progress of rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Yes, he’s 1-1 and that’s a good thing. But there are still some lingering concerns with the way he’s playing.
Overreaction #1
Commanders QB Jayden Daniels is that dude
Don’t get this wrong. Daniels has a world of talent. If he stays healthy, he could — maybe even should — be an NFL star.
But two games into his career there’s a amjor problem. He has thrown 53 passes and completed 76%. Yep, that’s right. Seventy-six percent. Thought it would be fun to spell it out.
Wait a minute. Wow! That’s great right? No, it’s not great because Daniels has no touchdown passes and no interceptions. It seems like Daniels only throws a pass when he’s 99 percent sure he can complete it. Think Aaron Rodgers does that? But Quinn said it’s about keeping possession of the ball, according to commanders.com.
“I think he has a real conscience for the ball and security for it,” Quinn said. “That was one of the things that made him so unique coming out of college, that many touchdowns for that many interceptions. And so, he has a real mindset about it. It's a really important thing for us, taking care of the ball.”
So what happens is Daniels decides against risk, tucks it and runs, or gets sacked. His average depth of target is atrocious at 5.2 yards. That’s not even good for a high school quarterback.
Why is it a big deal? He’s taking care of the football, right? Well, the problem is Daniels is ruining one of the NFL’s best receivers. Terry McLaurin averaged almost 14 yards per catch and over the last five years. He had four straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons. But through two games, McLaurin has eight catches for 39 yards. That’s 4.9 yards per catch and puts him on a pace for 331 yards. FOR THE SEASON.
But Quinn is happy, apparently.
“I will say that the completion, the poise of Jayden and putting the ball at the right spot, that's a really big deal,” Quinn said. “And I think the more we play, we are still a new team together, the more reps, the more game experience that we get, these are really valuable times for us. And so, the games are so important, not just because of the win-loss, but how we wanna play. I just kind of anticipated us continuing this trajectory upwards.”
For now, Quinn is playing the course with his driver gathering moss in the golf bag.
Overreaction #2
Washington is a playoff contender
This is still a bad football team from a roster standpoint. And what needs to be understood about this is every team in the NFL will get hit with key injuries as the season goes along. When that happens to the Commanders, those iffy starters will be replaced by extremely marginal reserves.
Of course, it’s nice to be 1-1 and finally beat a Giants team the Commanders have struggled with for many years. Head coach Dan Quinn said his team responded well against the Giants, according to wjla.com.
“It's human nature after a loss to dig in to go to where you're going,” Quinn said. “But it's honestly why we do it after the wins as well, to have the same accountability after the win as you do after the loss. And the dangerous part, if you don't do those, where you don't make those corrections, that it can just kind of get swept under the rug. And then before long you're missing on some things. So, we try to make sure we're going to stay even-keeled just knowing that the whole thing for us is about getting better. And if we can do that over and over again, that's a big deal.”
Quinn knows something about winning. He guided the Atlanta Falcons to only their second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. But he didn’t lose sight of the importance of simply getting his first victory as Commanders’ head coach.
“We had spent some time the night before the game (talking) about the history of the NFC East, and with our team and with the Giants,” Quinn said. “And as cool as that is, we get to write our own story now and we know what the past was and it's important to remember that to know where we want to go. But I thought to get our home win in the division, yeah, having the first one there it was awesome, man.”
But the Commanders’ ceiling still seems to be in the 8-9, 9-8 range. And yes, that’s the ceiling for this roster. And, of course, neither of those marks will likely earn a playoff berth. So instead of overreacting to the first win of the season, Commanders’ fans should enjoy finally beating the Giants.
And look at it from this way, too. It’s a division win, something the Commanders haven’t had much of in recent years. If the franchise can get back to performing well against division foes, even in a down year, that bodes well for a big season and a possible playoff run in future campains. Just not 2024.
Overreaction #3
RB Brian Robinson Jr. will be an NFL star in 2024
Brian Robinson Jr. rushed for a career-high 133 yards on 17 carries, averaging 7.8 yards per attempt. First, it doesn’t matter how good the Giants’ run defense will be this season. The bottom line is it won’t be among the NFL’s best. So take Robinson’s big day with a grain of salt.
Now, the Commanders will have sneaky rushing attack numbers. That’s because Jayden Daniels will add to the mix. Passing plays will often turn into rushing numbers, especially as much as Daniels seems to be in a first-read-and-then-run mode.
Eventually, defenses will start loading up on the ground game and forcing Daniels to prove he can make big plays down the field. If that doesn’t develop, big days like this from Robinson will become less commonplace.
Quinn liked what he saw from Robinson, according to athlonsports.com.
“I was really pleased to see some of the runs, especially the short-yardage ones that turned into big plays,” Quinn said. “It was strong and aggressive, exactly what we needed.
Quinn said Robinson brought a key element to the win, according to commanders.com.
“I really felt Brian Robinson was a real factor in the run game today,” Quinn said. “And we know that he is, but that felt good.”
Another thing that will curtail Robinson’s production this season is Austin Ekeler. He only carried eight times for 38 yards, but he will have bigger games while Robinson will have Sundays where he eats less and his numbers fade.
Also, Robinson chunked up his yardage totals with two runs of 30-plus yards. Those simply won’t be there consistently, especially with an offensive line that is marginally talented.
Overreaction #4
The Commanders have solved their place-kicking issues
It couldn’t have gone any better than it did for Austin Seibert against the Giants. He nailed seven field goals in seven attempts. What a debut. Seibert said he stayed ready when he didn’t have a team, according to apnews.com.
“That’s why you stay ready at all times,” Seibert said. “That’s kind of the nature of the beast right now in the kicking world. It’s just so competitive. You have to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.”
And he deservedly received praise from Quinn, according to commanders.com.
“To have a franchise record in your very first game, that's a big deal,” Quinn said. “So, it's not easy going into a new locker room without all the time and chemistry with everybody.
Quinn added, “We had a good evaluation of him. He was one of the players that we had targeted if we were going to do something, and so it was part of that process from all the way back.”
But let’s get real here. Seibert is the fifth kicker on Washington’s roster since January. Joey Slye, Brandon McManus, Ramiz Ahmed, Riley Patterson, and Cade York were all considered better than Seibert. Right? If not, the Commanders would have brought Seibert into the fold a long time ago.
Seibert has been with four others teams and didn’t stick. Even with the seven kicks made Sunday, his career percentage isn’t great at 83. He’s going to miss kicks. He’s an NFL retread. To say he’s “The Answer” after one game — even if it was a great one — seems very nearsighted. It certainly fits in the overreaction category at this point in time.
For Seibert’s part, he’s trying to take things in stride.
“I think pretty much everyone knew that there were some kickers here before me, and I can’t think about it that way,” Seibert said. “That’s their story. That’s what they’re doing. This is my story. And yeah, sure, you think about that, but at the end of the day, I’m writing my own story.”
And it’s cool for him to keep on writing. But let’s get about six or seven more games into the season before we say the Commanders’ debacle of a kicking game is settled and solved.
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