The Washington Commanders will only go as far as quarterback Jayden Daniels takes them this season. That theory was put to the test during the team's annual excursion to take on the Dallas Cowboys in Week 7.
To say Daniels' supporting case was depleted would be an understatement. Terry McLaurin missed his fourth consecutive game despite optimism earlier in the week. Deebo Samuel Sr. wasn't risked after his heel complication didn't get any better. Noah Brown hasn't been seen since Week 2, and the Commanders finally placed him on injured reserve.
That left Daniels with Chris Moore, Luke McCaffrey, fourth-round rookie Jaylin Lane, and practice-squad elevation Robbie Chosen as his wide receivers. Not exactly the strongest group, so the former LSU standout had to do whatever was needed to elevate this team in pursuit of keeping up with Dallas' high-octane offense.
Fortunately, the Cowboys' defense is nowhere near as good. They rank dead last in almost every meaningful defensive category this season. Matt Eberflus' unit was also without cornerback Trevon Diggs, who suffered an accident at home and is now in the concussion protocol.
Even so, this was a legitimate 50-50 game where every slight edge was crucial. As it turned out, the Commanders were embarrassed en route to a heavy defeat, and Daniels didn't even finish the contest.
With this in mind, here are five significant observations from Daniels' performance in Week 7 at AT&T Stadium.
Major observations from Jayden Daniels' performance against the NY Jets
Jayden Daniels' timing
Being without so many pass-catchers comes with more complications than just production and reputation. Jayden Daniels was working with receivers that he wasn't as familiar with in a typical game-day setting. This has the scope to cause timing issues, which reared its head throughout the signal-caller's time under center.
There were some good moments, but they were few and far between. Something wasn't clicking. Daniels and the offense couldn't get into a rhythm, and the Cowboys had no trouble adopting man coverage on the outside with the fear factor gone.
Daniels missed some makeable throws, which has been an overlooked tale of his tape throughout his NFL sophomore campaign. Everything that came so easily for him last season isn't the case this time around. There is plenty of blame to go around, but the Cajon High School graduate raised a ridiculously high bar for himself that hasn't come close to being met as yet.
It's all about chemistry. Daniels was trying to force the issue, and it didn't work. He needed to be flawless to keep up with Dallas' relentless offense, and it was clear from a long way out that this wasn't going to be the case.