The remarkable rise of Jayden Daniels will continue for at least one more week.
Daniels will be the sixth rookie quarterback to start a conference championship game after guiding the Commanders to a stunning 45-31 road win over the Lions on Saturday night. The Commanders will find out whether they travel to Philadelphia or Los Angeles with a Super Bowl trip on the line when the Eagles host the Rams on Sunday afternoon.
It is the first time that the Commanders will play in an NFC title game since January 1992.
The emphatic victory came after a string of last-second victories by the Commanders and it should serve as notice that this isn’t just a team getting a few lucky bounces to go their way. They made their own luck on Saturday night and they took advantage of every opportunity that came their way.
Daniels was 22-of-31 for 299 yards and he threw two touchdowns during a wild second quarter that swung the game in the Commanders’ direction. The Lions led 7-3 after 15 minutes, but three offensive touchdowns and an interception return for a score by Quan Martin propelled the Commanders to a 31-21 halftime lead. The 42 points were the most in a second quarter in NFL history.
Brian Robinson ran for a pair of touchdowns, Terry McLaurin broke a screen pass for a long touchdown and the Commanders got big plays from Austin Ekeler and Dyami Brown, but everything about their offensive performance comes back to Daniels. He has surpassed expectations all season and the only question now is how high he will rise before all is said and done.
None of the other rookie quarterbacks who made it to the conference title game have won, but betting against Daniels right now feels about as wise as tugging on Superman’s cape.
The Lions moved within three points in the third quarter, but the Commanders answered with a 15-play touchdown drive and then the Lions saw their mastery of the trick play evaporate at the wrong time. They were driving near midfield when offensive coordinator Ben Johnson called for a reverse that saw wide receiver Jameson Williams try to hit running back Jahmyr Gibbs with a pass. Commanders rookie corner Mike Sainristil got his second interception of the night instead and the Commanders drove for a back-breaking Jeremy McNichols touchdown run.
Williams’s pick was the fourth turnover of the day for the Lions — they added a fifth in the final seconds — and they had several costly penalties on a night when they couldn’t afford to make mistakes. It was an aberration for a team that won 15 games during the regular season and the timing of it will be a cause of great pain in Detroit for the entire offseason.
Pain was the usual feeling in Washington for the Dan Snyder era, but the sale to Josh Harris and the arrivial of new coach Dan Quinn, new G.M. Adam Peters and Daniels this offseason signaled a fresh start for the organization. There wasn’t much talk of having this much success this soon, but the Commanders have shown that they’re ready for anything and neither the Eagles nor the Rams are going to feel comfortable about having them on the opposite side of the field next Sunday.
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