For the rest of his NFL career, Jayden Daniels may never produce another play more memorable than the Hail Mary touchdown he threw in October to win just the eighth game of his career.
But that surprising game-winning score to beat the Chicago Bears wasn’t the last key performance of Daniels’ rookie season. Because of their knack for late-game heroics, the Washington Commanders will make the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
A week after leading a 10-point second-half comeback to beat the Philadelphia Eagles, Daniels led the Commanders on Sunday. to another victory, this time against the Atlanta Falcons.
The victory came after the Falcons, led by their own rookie quarterback, Michael Penix Jr., took a lead by 10 in the second quarter and missed a potential game-winning field goal at the end of regulation.
Daniels threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Zach Ertz in overtime to win 30-24 and clinch the wild card spot in the playoffs.
Daniels, the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner as college football’s most outstanding player, was the second overall pick in last spring’s NFL draft. He arrived in Washington under high expectations as the face of a franchise in the process of rebooting, with a new owner hiring a new head coach.
Not only has he proven to be good at improving his stats (on Sunday he set a new record for rushing yards for a rookie quarterback, breaking Robert Griffin III’s old mark of 815), but he’s also been good when it matters most with a consistency that is rare, according to NFL research.
“MVP” chants could be heard around Washington Stadium during overtime Sunday, and that was before Daniels found Ertz for the game-winning and playoff-winning score.
Washington is now 11-5 with one game remaining but its playoff berth is guaranteed, leaving it unclear whether Daniels will play in the regular season finale or rest.
He is currently Washington’s season leader in both passing and rushing yards. If he finishes as the leader in both categories, it would be the first time since 1935 (when the team played in Boston in just its fourth year of existence) that the franchise’s quarterback has also been its leading rusher.
