Packers answered Jayden Daniels' superpower
Jeff Hafley is going to be an NFL head coach one day. The Green Bay Packers' defensive coordinator enhanced his stock with a masterful game plan to take away Jayden Daniels' superpower.
When plays aren't developing as expected, Daniels has no trouble getting out on the move and using his dynamic rushing ability to keep things ticking over. Only the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers had an answer for it last season. The Packers added their name to the list.
Any time Daniels threatened to take off, he was swarmed. The edges maintained their gap discipline, and the linebackers were explosive enough to cut off any running lanes before the signal-caller could capitalize on them.
This was a prime example of what can happen when the NFL's youngest team plays the oldest. Daniels cannot do it alone, and once the rushing aspect of his game gets nullified, he's relying on people to get open and the offensive line to stand their ground for a little bit longer.
Neither of those happened effectively enough. However, the Cajon High School product deserves enormous credit for hanging in there and keeping Washington in the fight.
Daniels isn't going to be restricted to 17 rushing yards from seven carries every week. But when he does, Washington needs a better plan to keep the offense rolling.
A reality check for Jayden Daniels and the Commanders
This was always the danger. Playing a contender on a short week, who've not had to travel as yet, had the scope to bring complications. That proved to be the case for Jayden Daniels and the Commanders.
It was a humbling defeat — one that represented an early reality check. It's early days, but there is a huge amount of hard work ahead before this team can consider itself among the Super Bowl favorites.
Everything was disjointed offensively, for the most part. The wide receivers were locked down in coverage. The Packers were able to generate pressure at will with just four linemen. There were sloppy individual errors that held them back. Several influential figures got banged up to compound Washington's misery. And Daniels couldn't get into a rhythm.
It's one defeat. The Commanders would have done well to get anything out of this one. Even so, this should knock them back down to earth.
Daniels is resolute enough to shake this off and focus on the next challenge. This was not his best performance, but he's far from Washington's biggest problem. What's important now is fixing the flaws and ensuring they are ready to hit the ground running in Week 3 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Being 1-1 at this stage isn't the end of the world. Daniels must lead the way to prove this was a blip and nothing more.
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