ASHBURN, Va. — Four days after the Washington Commanders’ season-opening loss at Tampa Bay, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury had yet to move past “one of the worst plays I’ve ever called.”
Trailing on the road by 23 points deep into the fourth quarter, comeback hopes were unrealistic. Regardless, the coaches kept rookie Jayden Daniels in the game for experience. The No. 2 pick in April’s NFL Draft drove Washington to Tampa Bay’s 1-yard line inside the final two minutes.
One rush attempt was ruled dead after the quarterback’s helmet popped off. Kingsbury stayed on the ground, and Daniels, once again, ran inside for his 16th official carry. Despite banging into a crowd, the result was Daniels’ second 1-yard touchdown run.
The issue is that the prized rookie absorbed more contact partly because Kingsbury didn’t give him an audible to avoid the multiple defenders in his path. Daniels “ran it anyways,” stuck his foot in the ground, cut back and “ran a couple of guys over and got in the end zone.”
“With that look, he needs a play to check out of,” Kingsbury acknowledged. “(Daniels) just said, ‘Snap it’ … ‘I got you coach,’ got it in the end zone. But yeah, if I had that one back, I would rather him not get hit like that.”
Washington collectively wants to avoid another beatdown, such as the 37-20 loss against the Buccaneers in which the Commanders lagged in all three phases. There were positives, of course, like, as Kingsbury noted on Thursday, Daniels’ “competitive spirit,” and one game doesn’t make a season. However, the NFL schedule moves fast, and the staff has expressed an urgency to adjust.
“It wasn’t how we wanted to start,” defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. said. “And I’m not going to get into one game out of 17. You only have 17 opportunities, and we can’t waste any opportunities. And so let’s let teams beat us. Let’s not beat ourselves. We worked hard this week to get it corrected, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The Commanders will play without cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr. on Sunday. The 2023 first-round pick is set to undergo thumb surgery on Friday after suffering the injury in Week 1.
Neither Whitt, Kingsbury nor coach Dan Quinn allowed low-hanging excuses, like only 21 players returning from last season’s team or minimal preseason action, if any, for starters. Two joint practices and training camp afforded the staff ample time to assess the players and how they best fit within the systems.
But live-game action is another story. Whitt’s defense allowed the Buccaneers points in seven of eight possessions, and Tampa Bay converted 9 of 13 third-down attempts. The reigning three-time NFC South champions took advantage of poor tackling and repeated miscommunication within Washington’s pass defense.
“I don’t expect to have the communication mistakes that we had,” Whitt said. “We hadn’t made them. I don’t expect them. The standard is the standard.”
There is no standard yet for Daniels, but expectations are significant for the dual threat who dazzled as a passer and runner for LSU. Taking off from the pocket and turning upfield is fine, if not encouraged. Roughly half of Daniels’ official 16 carries, matching Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson for the most by a quarterback in Week 1, were by design. That amount generated questions about the coaches putting Daniels in challenging situations.
“The reigning MVP of the league (Jackson) had the same amount of rushes, right?” Kingsbury stated. “I’m not saying (Daniels is) the same guy, but your first game as a rookie, you’re gonna have some survival mode, fight or flight going on.”
Kliff Kingsbury on the line between limiting times Jayden Daniels could get hit and taking advantage of his legs.
Daniels took off on his own at times and the OC said the “fight or flight” instinct in your NFL debut isn’t surprising. pic.twitter.com/8iIq6VmEtb
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) September 12, 2024
To the coordinator’s point, nobody faced more blitzes — 15 — than Washington’s rookie. The execution against the harried scenario was lacking. According to TruMedia, Daniels, when blitzed, completed 5 of 9 passes (55.6 percent) for 22 yards, a 69.2 QB rating and was sacked twice.
Kingsbury praised Daniels’ decision-making throughout the summer and wants his starter to determine how best to execute the plan. After all, he is the one on the field. There is also a balance between letting that competitive spirit run unchecked and pushing the rookie toward safe play.
The coordinator has now witnessed where Daniels’ instincts take him. Kingsbury also recognized that the quarterback “didn’t get hit a ton, and made some big plays with his feet. So, you gotta walk that line. I think as he plays, he’ll get a better comfort level, and I’ll get a better feel for him, and we’ll just progress together.”
Daniels’ 88 yards on 16 attempts got the attention of the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator.
“Explosive,” Shane Bowen said of Daniels. “He eats up grass. If he gets loose and he gets vertical, he’s eating up grass in a hurry.”
The passing numbers were modest. Daniels finished 17-of-24 for 184 yards and zero touchdown passes or interceptions. However, his 0.14 expected points added (EPA) per dropback rate ranked seventh among 39 Week 1 rookie starting quarterbacks since 2001, according to TruMedia. His 93.1 passer rating finished 11th among the 39 qualified rookie performances. Washington also finished fifth in offensive total EPA with a 9.25 rate.
“(Daniels) had a really good first game, in my opinion, for a rookie to go out there and do what he did,” Bowen continued. “Talented. We’ll have to be ready for everything from being able to match and cover to … not letting him get loose on us.”
Washington may have wide receiver Noah Brown available against the Giants. Brown was signed as a free agent after being released by Houston during final cuts and was inactive for Week 1. Quinn cited the receiver’s unfamiliarity with the playbook for keeping a player he worked with in Dallas out in the opener. The 6-foot-2 Brown also battled a shoulder injury with the Texans and did not play in the team’s four preseason games. Known for his blocking skills, Brown may quickly emerge as a high-rotation option for a group lacking every-down receivers beyond Terry McLaurin.
For Kingsbury, now comes the challenge of protecting Daniels from a talented defensive front led by Dexter Lawrence. The defensive tackle, who Kingsbury said is one of the three most active disruptive linemen along with Las Vegas’ Maxx Crosby and Kansas City’s Chris Jones, ranked third among all qualified pass rushers in pressure rate at 30 percent. Washington’s defense requires such effectiveness after only sacking Mayfield once.
The Commanders used a blitz-heavy approach against the Buccaneers with minimal success. They sent extra pass rushers at Mayfield 15 times. Mayfield finished 10-of-13 (76.9 percent) versus blitzes for 137 yards, two touchdown passes and a 152.6 QB rating with one sack. Mayfield picked on Washington’s secondary for four touchdown passes en route to being named FedEx Air Player of the Week.
Along with communication concerns and missing more “tackles than I was anticipating,” Whitt said the other factors in the Week 1 woes included “losing leverage in certain situations” and not sacking Mayfield despite being pressured. The Commanders’ defensive EPA rate of -16.87 ranked last in the league.
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones went 6-of-11 against the blitz for 48 yards and a 65.7 QB rating in New York’s 28-6 home loss versus the Minnesota Vikings. The struggling Jones threw two interceptions and was sacked five times. The Giants’ first-round pick and Daniels’ top target at LSU, wide receiver Malik Nabers, landed on Thursday’s injury report with a knee issue.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Sign Up
Though often at his best over his career against Washington, Jones tallied one touchdown pass and three interceptions in four games against a Quinn-coached Dallas Cowboys defense from 2021 to 2023. New York lost each game. The Commanders require a tighter operation to keep Quinn’s winning streak alive, maintain this summer’s positive momentum and help Daniels’ NFL education.
“Second-guessing it, (I) would not have wanted (Daniels) to get hit inside like that,” Kingsbury said, “but a learning experience for all of us, and we gotta be smarter. I gotta be a better coach moving forward.”
(Photo: Kevin Sabitus / Associated Press)
