Jayden Daniels fights through injury to beat Bears

Breaking down Jayden Daniels’ performance in the Commanders dramatic victory over the Bears.

The Washington Commanders beat the Chicago Bears in a game that will last long in the memory of every Washington fan. Much like the Giants game back in Week 2, the Commanders were very productive on offense without being able to punch it into the end zone. They relied on the leg of kicker Austin Seibert, who made four out of five field goals, and the defense to keep the Bears in check. It worked for the vast majority of the game, but with just under 30 seconds left in the game, the Bears scored a touchdown to take the lead. Miraculously, rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels found receiver Noah Brown in the end zone on a last second hail mary to win the game. 

It was a deserved ending for Jayden Daniels, who spent the week building up to the game dealing with a rib injury suffered on the opening play of the Panthers game a week ago. His game status was uncertain until pre-game warm ups, when he was confirmed as the starter. While the offense struggled to finish drives, Daniels was very productive. He completed 21 of 38 passes for 326 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for another 52 yards on eight carries. Given the circumstances of his injury and some issues the offense had around him, it was a strong performance from Daniels. He started the game off well too, looking to play from the pocket and work as a passer first and foremost. 

On this play, the Commanders run a bow concept. Tight end Zach Ertz aligns to the left and runs a basic cross while running back Brian Robinson works out to the flat. Receiver Terry McLaurin motions across the formation before the snap and spots up in between the two other routes to that side of the field, creating the bow concept. The core of the concept is to create a high-low read on an underneath zone defender. If the defender sinks back under the basic cross, Daniels can take McLaurin on the spot route underneath, but if the defender attaches to McLaurin underneath, Daniels can find Ertz over the middle for a bigger gain. 

Daniels does a really nice job here. As he drops back to pass, he aligns himself to deliver the throw to McLaurin on the spot route underneath. He goes as far as faking beginning his throwing motion to fully sell that he’s throwing to McLaurin. This is an effort to manipulate the coverage and open up the window to Ertz behind him. Now, the zone defender in coverage isn’t fooled by this because he never really looks at Daniels. He spots McLaurin’s route breaking off and immediately looks to attach to it, so never sees Daniels looking that way or faking a throw to him. So technically, the manipulation from Daniels doesn’t work, but I love that he was thinking about it and attempting it in order to open up a deeper throwing lane. With the defender attaching to McLaurin, Daniels is able to reset to the middle of the field and find Ertz on his basic cross for a nice gain and a first down. 

Early in the game, Daniels was very effective from the pocket. The Commanders didn’t always support him as best they could, with a few drops and penalties hindering his efforts, but Daniels wasn’t put off. He kept making plays and trusting his teammates. Late in the first quarter, Daniels threw a comeback route to McLaurin which went straight through McLaurin's hands, leading to a tough third and nine. But on third down, Daniels had zero hesitation going straight back to McLaurin. 

On third and nine, the Commanders work out of an empty backfield with Terry McLaurin aligned to the left of the formation. The Bears bring pressure, sending five rushers in a fire zone scheme. The scheme leaves cornerback Tyrique Stevenson effectively one-on-one against McLaurin on a fade route. McLaurin does a nice job with his route, angling just slightly inside as he eats up the cushion between himself and the cornerback before suddenly bursting outside on the fade. Daniels reads McLaurin off the snap and as soon as McLaurin shows his burst on the fade outside, he pulls the trigger. The ball is out before McLaurin even clears the coverage, but Daniels trusts him to win and puts the throw out in front of him to go and get. McLaurin beats Stevenson and runs under what is a perfect throw. He doesn’t have to break stride at all to make the catch. Stevenson does well to get back and just trip up McLaurin, saving the touchdown, but the Commanders get an explosive 61 yards on third and nine. 

Daniels looked strong as a passer early in the game and the Commanders helped continue that by using play-action effectively. As the game went on, the Commanders found some nice explosive plays with the use of play-action and Daniels hit them well.