Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow was considered the established star among the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks at Louisiana State University who would face him on Monday night, and Washington Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels has a promising future but isn’t quite up to par with Burrow yet.
It seems like the NFL now has two star quarterbacks from LSU. Daniels was the better one on Monday night. He’s the one everyone’s talking about all week. A new NFL phenomenon may have arrived before a national television audience.
Daniels, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, was outstanding in Washington’s 38-33 win over the Bengals. Daniels was simply outstanding in just his third NFL game. He was extremely accurate with the ball and difficult to follow as a runner. And with the Commanders facing a big third down with just over two minutes left, Daniels threw a beautiful 27-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin to beat the Bengals. Daniels completed 21 of 23 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns, plus another run for 39 yards and a touchdown. This is the highest completion percentage by a rookie quarterback in NFL history. Not bad for just his third career game.
The Bengals were supposed to be the team to watch this season. They’ve had slow starts before, but never to this extent. After their second shocking home upset loss of the season, Cincinnati is in big trouble at 0-3.
Washington is 2-1 and must be excited about its future with Daniels, and they will look back on Monday’s debut party as an announcement that Daniels had arrived much sooner than expected.
Commanders’ offense was strong in the first half
Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt has been on a string of loud comments this season. Last week, he said the Washington Commanders were keeping things simple for their rookie quarterback and running a “great college offense.”
The midweek entertainment is great, but that’s what’s wrong with the Bengals. They think they’re Super Bowl contenders. They’re acting like it. There’s not a lot of substance to back it up yet.
When he’s on a roll, he can be as fearless as Taylor Britt, but the Bengals are 0-3. Maybe Taylor Britt thinks Washington’s offense is college-caliber, but the Bengals just couldn’t stop it all night.
The Bengals got off to a fast start, with Burrow throwing a very deep pass to Ja’Marr Chase for a 41-yard touchdown. The Commanders defense hadn’t been great this season, so it looked like Burrow was going to come out big and secure a much-needed win.
However, the Commanders had the offensive power to score a lot of points in the first half.
Washington was successful on each of its first three touchdown drives on which it touched the ball. The drives were 69, 62 and 75 yards. On the third, Daniels threw a 55-yard deep pass to Terry McLaurin, who overpowered Taylor Britt. A great pro move. That led to Daniels’ touchdown run. Washington had a surprising lead at this point, 21-10. Daniels was 7-of-8 for 139 yards in the first half. The Commanders were averaging 8.5 yards per play before halftime.
The Bengals were the more desperate team and were supposed to be the heavy favorites, but for most of Monday night it didn’t look that way.
Bengals struggle on defense
The Bengals were coming off a shocking loss at home to the Patriots in Week 1 and looked likely to lose at home to the Commanders in Week 3, and the second half began with a 62-yard kickoff return by Washington’s Austin Ekeler.
That set up Daniels for a touchdown pass to 320-pound offensive lineman Trent Scott, his first NFL touchdown pass and one day a popular quiz question. The Bengals were down 28-13, and the offensive tackles were dancing in the end zone.
The Bengals didn’t give up. Andrei Iosivas and Chase scored in the second half, but the Commanders led 31-26 with under 10 minutes left in the game.
Daniels then led the game-deciding drive. On fourth down and four yards, Zach Ertz caught a pass for a first down. The Bengals couldn’t stop the rookie quarterback, making his first start and second away start on Monday night. Then, when the Bengals had another chance to get the ball back to Burrow, Daniels threw a spectacular touchdown pass to McLaurin.
“We covered zero. We knew we were going to get hit, but we trusted the guys that were there,” Daniels told ESPN’s Lisa Salters after the game. “I trusted my guys to make plays.”
Cincinnati scored a touchdown with 40 seconds left, but Washington recovered the onside kick, capping off Daniels’ storybook night.
The Bengals have a lot to fix, and at 0-3, they need to fix it quickly. They’re in a tough spot after losing to two teams considered the worst in the NFL before the season began. But while the Commanders’ issues aren’t all solved, they know they’re not going to be an easy opponent to beat. Daniels is already too good to take a win against Washington for granted.
