Jayden Daniels efficiency leads Commanders to sweep Giants

Breaking down how Jayden Daniels was so efficient as the Commanders beat the Giants again

Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels continued his remarkable rookie campaign, leading the Commanders to their seven win of the season and a sweep over NFC East rivals New York Giants on Sunday. Daniels was very efficient, completing 15 of his 22 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns while adding another 35 yards rushing. Daniels made a number of impressive throws but it was the efficiency that stood out over the flash plays. 

The Commanders went three-and-out on their opening drive, but the efficiency from Daniels kicked in soon after. After the Giants fumbled, the Commanders started their second drive in scoring position. Daniels took an aggressive shot to receiver Noah Brown when he saw a one-on-one match up outside and got a defensive pass interference penalty to set them up near the goal line. After a three-yard carry by Ekeler, Daniels found Terry McLaurin for the opening touchdown of the game. 

On this play, the Commanders run a common rub concept. Terry McLaurin aligns outside to the left with Noah Brown in the slot. Brown runs an out route designed to create traffic, allowing McLaurin to work underneath him on a quick slant. The Commanders don’t quite get the rub they want to here, with Brown and McLaurin not quite timing things up perfectly, but McLaurin still wins his slant route and Daniels makes it work by firing the ball into McLaurin quickly and accurately for the touchdown. 

It’s not the most spectacular of throws, but it is very efficient in getting the job done, which the Commanders have struggled with at times down in the red zone. Daniels took the confidence from that drive and continued to be efficient. 

On the next drive of the game, the Commanders look to pick up a chunk on play-action. They align Noah Brown and Terry McLaurin outside to the left in a stacked set. Just before the snap, Brown executes an exit motion to motion outside of McLaurin. Initially, the pair appear to be running a dagger concept. This is something the Commanders run multiple times a game as it’s a concept that can beat a lot of coverages. McLaurin looks to be running the deep over route with Brown running the dig behind it. However, this play is designed to look like dagger, but it actually isn’t. McLaurin fakes the deep over and breaks off the route to sit in the middle of the field, while Brown fakes the deep dig and breaks outside on a deep out. 

For his part, this isn’t a particularly difficult play for Daniels. The defense is beat by the concept, with cornerback Deonte Banks surprised by Brown breaking outside as he was anticipating the break inside. That leaves Brown wide open, but Daniels does a nice job making the throw in rhythm. You can see he executes his play-action fake and gets into his drop. Once he hits the top of his drop, he takes a hitch step to get himself aligned properly and delivers a good ball to Brown, who makes a nice catch on the sideline to pick up 16 yards. 

It wasn’t necessarily a spectacular play, but it was an efficient one that picked up a nice chunk and got the drive going. The Commanders went on to score a touchdown on that drive too, giving them a 14-7 lead. They got the ball back with just over five minutes left in the half and Daniels’ efficiency led the Commanders to a third touchdown drive, including a 31-yard pass to Noah Brown. 

This play is one of the Commanders’ staple play-action concepts. McLaurin runs a deep vertical route to the left of the formation with the intent to grab the attention of any deep defenders and run them down the field. That should vacate space underneath for Noah Brown running a high cross from the opposite side of the field. The Commanders dress this up with some misdirection, using 21 personnel with two running backs, one tight end and two receivers. Running back Austin Ekeler aligns as a receiver before motioning to the backfield as part of the disguise. The Commanders also wisely provide chip help on both edges to help the offensive line protect long enough for the routes to develop down the field. 

It’s a good scheme, but the Giants actually do a pretty good job reacting to it. They initially drop into a basic Cover-3 defense, with the deep safety in the middle of the field and the outside corners playing deep outside thirds. Linebacker Micah McFadden is an underneath zone defender here, but he recognizes the concept, so he turns his back to the quarterback and sprints back to try and match Brown’s route. This is known as a robot technique and it’s something Cover-3 teams use a lot against these types of play-action concepts. 

McFadden does a great job sinking underneath Brown’s route, but Daniels does an even better job. With McFadden’s back turned to the quarterback, Daniels knows he isn’t a threat to intercept the pass. You’ll often hear coaches and quarterbacks say if a defender’s back is turned, they can only cover the width of their shoulders because they can’t see the ball. Knowing that, Daniels decides to make the throw to Brown anyway, trusting him to adjust to the ball and make a catch. Daniels makes a good throw behind McFadden and Brown makes a strong adjustment to secure and complete the pass for 31 yards. 

A few plays later, that drive looked to be fizzling out. The Commanders were backed up by a holding penalty and faced a third and 18 situation outside of field goal range. Earlier in the season, this has been the type of situation where Daniels would perhaps look to take off running or at least scramble around to try and create a play off-script. But on this occasion, he continued to play efficiently and was rewarded for doing so.