Jayden Daniels had 207 consecutive pass attempts without tossing an interception. Then he had two picks in fourth throws. Late in the fourth quarter of Thursday night’s must-win game against the Giants.
In two words, not great.
The second interception came with 2 minutes, 15 seconds left and Washington down four. Dan Quinn had three timeouts and the two-minute warning, but there was no guarantee Daniels would see the ball again.
He eventually would, and earned Washington a crucial 24-21 victory. At
the time, Daniels understood his interceptions might’ve cost his team the game.
The third-year pro chose not to dwell on that. There would be plenty of time for critique on the plane, back at the facility and over the weekend watching time. This was not that time.
Daniels shut out negative thoughts and remained locked in.
“It won’t do anything for me to still dwell on (the mistakes),” Daniels said in his postgame press conference. “Everybody on the sideline (said) the defense is gonna give you the opportunity to go out there and win the game.”
Sonny Styles provided that. The rookie linebacker sniffed out a designed J.J. McCarthy run on third down and pounced, with a tackle for loss that forced a punt.
Daniels had one more shot. That fact didn’t weigh him down one bit. Nor did the importance of getting this win.
“I think you understand the magnitude of the moment, and you’re not really thinking about the season,” Daniels said. “In that moment, you’re really thinking about winning this game, and that’s kind of just the biggest thing for me. I didn’t want to let my team down in that moment, so when they gave me another opportunity to go out there and win the game, I didn’t want to let them down.”
He took it without hesitation and despite previous mistakes, connecting with Stefon Diggs on a 31-yard touchdown catch-and-run with less than a minute left.
He took a deep shot on the first play, where Treylon Burks earned a pass interference call. Then came a one-yard scramble and a short completion to Austin Ekeler. On the next play, Daniels saw something he could exploit with Stefon Diggs in the right slot.
“Cover zero,” Daniels said. “They’re going to heat us up in those moments. I gave a little signal to Stef, and he went on the slant, and the rest is history.”
It took a Rasul Douglas interception to officially seal it, but Daniels’ resilience after two disappointments was crucial to the Commanders winning this game. If he caves, the Commanders lose. Daniels got it done and earned the sixth comeback in the fourth quarter or overtime in his young NFL career.
This one might’ve been trying, but Daniels didn’t let it show.
“Baby Kobe,” Diggs said. “He ain’t flinch. He’s going to be the same kind of player at the beginning of the game and at the end of the game. For me, things are going to happen, good and bad. He isn’t going to change. I had 100% faith.”
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