Jayden Daniels announced himself on the big stage with a breathtaking display as the Washington Commanders pulled off a shock 38-32 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday night.
The Bengals were hoping to take their first win of the season on home turf after losses to the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs, but rookie quarterback Daniels had other ideas.
On a night which saw him outshine opposite number Joe Burrow, the 23-year-old finished 21 of 23 for 254 yards while throwing two touchdowns. He also added a rushing touchdown and set a rookie record for completion percentage at 91.3 per cent in a remarkable coming-of-age performance just three games into his NFL career.
The pick of the bunch came right at the death when, as the Commanders looked to close out their upset win, Daniels helped them do exactly that by picking out Terry McLaurin with a sensational 27-yard touchdown pass.
Jayden Daniels announced himself on the big stage with a breathtaking display as the Washington Commanders pulled off a shock 38-32 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow was outdone by his rival quarterback as the Bengals slumped to 0-3 for the season
Despite being overshadowed by his younger rival, Burrow still enjoyed a satisfying night at the office on an individual note after throwing three touchdowns for 324 yards.
In the end the quarterback was let down by a fragile Cincinnati defense, which failed to record a stop across all four quarters at Paul Brown Stadium.
The Commanders (now 2-1) scored on every possession except for kneel-downs at the end of each half and have not punted or turned the ball over in their last two games.
Neither Washington nor Cincinnati punted or turned it over, the first time that’s happened in the Super Bowl era.
Cincinnati is off to its worst start since dropping its first 11 games on the way to a 2-14 finish in 2019.
Daniels’ first career touchdown pass was a one-yard toss to eligible tackle Trent Scott to start the second half, the second straight game in which the Bengals gave up a TD to a lineman. Later, Daniels stayed in the pocket, took a hit and connected with McLaurin from 27 yards out with 2:10 remaining for the game-sealing score.
In the first half, Washington got rushing touchdowns from Brian Robinson Jr., Austin Ekeler and Daniels. McLaurin had four receptions for 100 yards.
The Bengals couldn’t reach the end zone on three first-half drives, with Evan McPherson kicking two field goals and missing another.
Meanwhile, Washington didn’t have a drive that fell short of the end zone until early in the fourth quarter, when Austin Siebert kicked a 42-yard field goal to make it 31-20.
Cincinnati cut the deficit to 31-26 on Burrow´s second TD pass to Ja’Marr Chase, but the 2-point conversion failed.
Daniels then led a drive that ate up 7 1/2 minutes and ended with the TD pass to McLaurin.
Cincinnati scored on a 1-yard run by Zack Moss to cut the deficit to 38-33 with 40 seconds left, but McPherson´s onside kick was unsuccessful.
