An old Falcons friend is succeeding in his new venture. Dan Quinn has led the Commanders to an impressive 4-1 start for the first time since 2008, and Atlanta’s former head coach is bringing that same energy he brought to Atlanta to Washington, thanks to the help of Jayden Daniels.
The Commanders are coming off another convincing victory, this time by a score of 34-13 over the Browns. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner didn’t continue his record-breaking run of passing, completing just 56% of his passes on Sunday for 238 yards, one touchdown and one interception, but he made up for it with his legs, putting up another 82 yards rushing.
On Sunday, Daniels became the first player in NFL history to throw for more than 1,000 yards and rush for at least 250 in his first five games. Now, Dan Quinn is in the driver’s seat of the NFC East, a place the Commanders haven’t been in a while.
Quinn led his club to a 42-14 victory by outscoring the Cardinals 25-7 in the second half the week prior. Daniels continued his excellent form, throwing for 233 yards and completing 26 of 30 passes, along with one touchdown.
It marked the second consecutive game where the Heisman completed at least 85% of his passes, becoming the first quarterback to ever do so with at least 15 attempts.
The week before, the Commanders were coming off an impressive victory over the Bengals in primetime, in which Tress Way, Washington’s punter, didn’t get a chance to punt the ball, a streak that extended further than just the Bengals game. Aside from kneel-downs at the end of both halves, Daniels and Washington scored on every drive.
According to Jared Dubin of CBS Sports, the Heisman had his most accurate day throwing the ball against the Bengals, with only 8.7% of his throws off-target and 17.4% of his passes considered deep balls.
The former Falcons head coach who brought Kyle Shanahan to Atlanta should be praised for bringing Kingsbury to Washington, even if Kingsbury needs to clean some things up.
It’s been more than just Jayden Daniels, though. As we’ve seen across the league, inserting a good rookie quarterback isn’t just a cure-all — i.e., Caleb Williams. It takes an owner, GM, head coach, and quarterback pulling on the same rope to succeed in this league.
The former Falcons head coach still has things to work out in Washington, but just having Jayden Daniels makes everything easier.
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