Jayden Daniels' poise paces Commanders — and could haunt the Bears for years
DETROIT — The most significant win of NFL postseason was sparked Saturday night by a Commanders head coach whom the Bears passed over for their own job; an offensive coordinator the Bears turned down in favor of Shane Waldron; and a quarterback whom the Bears could have chosen in last year’s draft.
The third part should be most disturbing to those inside Halas Hall. Quarterback Caleb Williams may one day turn into the franchise quarterback the Bears need him to be, but the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels is there now. He has the chance to haunt them for the next decade, if not longer.
The surefire Offensive Rookie of the Year played with poise that belied his rookie status in Saturday night’s 45-31 win against the top-seeded Lions at Ford Field. He went 22-for-31 for 299 yards, two touchdowns and a 122.9 passer rating but was at his best when the Commanders needed him most, converting three of four fourth downs. The Commanders punted just once.
“[Daniels] just has a different poise about him than most, and he’s a rare competitor, there’s no doubt about that. ...” said Commanders coach Dan Quinn, who was a finalist for the head coaching job the Bears gave to Matt Eberflus three years ago. “If he was a basketball player, he’d want the last shot. As a [foot]ball player, he wants the ball in his hands to make the difference. And he makes great decisions with the football and that takes real mindfulness. Sometimes the best play may be, ‘Hey, I have to throw this away.'"
Playing under coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who somehow lost out on the Bears’ play-caller job last year, the Commanders outflanked a Lions team that seemed to overthink things. Coordinator Ben Johnson, one of the Bears' top head coaching targets, had a whopping four different Lions players attempt a pass.
The Commanders had no such gimmicks. Daniels ran 16 times for 51 yards, too.
“He uses his legs, but he is a rare competitor for us,” Quinn said. “But his poise in these tight moments really stands out to us.”
Even if the Lions were expecting that sort of poise — “Tape says so,” coach Dan Campbell said — it was remarkable to see. The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner will next week become the sixth rookie quarterback since the NFL-AFL merger to start a conference title game. The others are Brock Purdy, Mark Sanchez, Joe Flacco, Ben Roethlisberger and Shaun King.
None has won a conference title. Daniels gets his chance next week.
He's built on the rookie success that seemed unprecedented when C.J. Stroud broke through last year. The Texans standout became the first quarterback drafted with a top-two pick to win a playoff game as a rookie last season.
This season, Daniels has won two — and counting. Both have been on the road; he went 24-for-35 for 268 yards, two touchdowns and a 110.2 passer rating in a Round 1 win in Tampa.
“I always believe,” Daniels said. “I always believed that we could achieve more than what people give us credit for. But you’ve got to go out there, put in the work, you’ve got to go out there and work daily, get better each and every day, and just put your head down and grind.
"And by this time in the season, you look up and you might be in a position like this.”