Jayden Daniels carries Commanders to win over Falcons

Breaking down another outstanding performance from the star rookie QB

Jayden Daniels put the entire Washington Commanders franchise on his back and carried the team to yet another dramatic late victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football. In a game full of ups and downs, the Commanders relied on their rookie star quarterback to take over the game and win it for them, and he stepped up to answer that call. Daniels completed 24 of 36 passes for 227 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, but he also had a crucial 127 additional yards rushing on 16 carries.

Those 127 rushing yards were incredibly important to the Commanders winning the game, so I’ll start this post looking at that. The Commanders struggled to get much going in the run game early on, with some fans even calling to bench Brian Robinson for Chris Rodriguez. But Kliff Kingsbury turned to Daniels to try and get the run game going and he did just that.

Here we see a read-option keeper from Daniels midway through the second quarter. The Commanders line up in the pistol with Robinson behind Daniels and two tight ends to the right of the formation. Just before the snap, Daniels sends tight end John Bates in motion across the formation and quickly snaps the ball soon after. Daniels opens to his left and puts the ball out for Robinson to run onto as he reads the unblocked edge defender to the left side of the line. That defender initially crashes inside and reads the tight end coming from the back side as a sift block, so prepares to take on that block. However, Bates isn’t blocking him, he’s arcing around him to lead the way for Daniels on a keeper.

Daniels reads the defender crashing inside on the run and pulls the ball himself. He runs to the edge where he has Bates out in front of him to lead the way. Bates does a nice job not getting committed too early and keeps working down the field before engaging in a block to seal the defense inside. That enables Daniels to use his speed to turn the corner and sprint down the sideline for 26 yards before eventually being forced out of bounds.

The quarterback run schemes were the most effective runs for the Commanders in this game and really got the offense going. Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury went deep into his bag of schemes with certain designed quarterback run schemes which I might break down in more detail later this week, but they were much needed in this game. It enabled the Commanders to give the Falcons some different looks to contend with, which then opened things up for the more conventional run schemes later on. But it wasn’t just the designed quarterback runs that were effective, in fact Daniels ability to scramble was perhaps the biggest reason the Commanders won this game. He used his legs to get the Commanders out of many tight situations.

With the Commanders down 14-17 midway through the third quarter, Daniels was in a tough spot. They started the drive with a false start and then an incomplete pass, leading to a second and 15 situation. This team has been at its best when it can stay ahead of the chains but has struggled when backed up like this. The Falcons opt to blitz, bringing a linebacker as the fifth rusher off the left side of the line. As the ball is snapped and Daniels reaches the top of his drop, he can see the Falcons’ defensive line has lost it’s containment. The defensive tackle to the right side of the line stunted inside and wasn’t replaced, while the edge rusher worked outside. That leaves a big lane open for Daniels to run.

With five rushers coming and a wide open field ahead of him. Daniels decisively takes off as soon as he hits the top of his drop. He gets his team into a third and manageable situation before making a defender miss a tackle in the open field. After avoiding the tackle, Daniels continues to run down the field and picks up 18 yards and a first down before stepping out of bounds to protect himself.

Obviously, you don’t want the offense to live in a world where they are constantly backed up and have to rely on Daniels rushing ability to get them out of it, but the fact he has that in his back pocket when needed is a huge asset for the Commanders. To turn a second and 15 situation into an 18 yard run on a scramble is massive, especially at that point in the game. The Commanders could easily have gone three-and-out in that situation and blamed it on the false start penalty to begin the drive, but instead Daniels overcame it and got the drive back on track before eventually leading the team down to score and take the lead.

Daniels running ability came up clutch in multiple key situations throughout the second half and even overtime. He converted a fourth and one in the third quarter that led to the Commanders getting a touchdown to start the half. Then in overtime, he did this on third and two.

Here the Commanders face a key third and two situation in overtime. It’s a tough spot to be in because they’re outside of field goal range and while head coach Dan Quinn has been aggressive in going for it on fourth down this year, failing on fourth and two near midfield would have given the Falcons a great chance of getting into field goal range to win the game. So converting here was critical. The Commanders call a mesh concept with two shallow crossers working against each other from either side of the field while tight end Zach Ertz spots up over the middle between them.

Almost as soon as Daniels secures the snap, the Falcons get a free rusher. Right guard Sam Cosmi slides inside while right tackle Trent Scott works outside to the edge rusher. That leaves the defensive tackle to run completely unaccounted for right up the middle. Many quarterbacks would panic in this situation and rush a throw into a dangerous spot or simply take a sack here. But Daniels identifies the rusher and takes off scrambling almost immediately. That quick identification is key because as fast as Daniels is, that defender is coming free up the middle and if Daniels is even a beat slow, he gets sacked. But the alertness is there and Daniels is able to take off running to avoid the sack.

Once he starts running and clears the defensive tackle, Daniels sees some open field to pick up the first down. He tucks the ball away and works to the first down marker. He then makes a sharp cut to avoid another tackle in the open field and get up the sideline, turning a third and two scramble into a 16-yard gain, putting the Commanders in field goal range.

But while his legs were critical to the Commanders winning this game, it must be noted that Daniels didn’t suddenly revert to a run-first quarterback. He was consistently looking to pass whenever possible and was only using his legs when he needed to.