Jayden Daniels is beloved in Louisiana. The Washington Commanders quarterback took college football by storm at LSU en route to the Heisman Trophy in 2023. Now, the conquering hero returns to potentially guide his team to a pivotal victory in Week 15.
The Commanders have to win against the New Orleans Saints. They remain in the postseason places, but their advantage has evaporated. It'll be interesting to see how this squad responds in the face of increasing pressure.
Daniels will be at the heart of everything. He's the player Washington believed could finally become the franchise presence this downtrodden organization has been seeking for decades. Aside from a mini-slump, the signal-caller looks well on his way to attaining this prestigious distinction.
Washington needs all that and more from Daniels down the stretch. The playoff margin for error has gone. At the same time, a win for the Commanders and a loss from the Green Bay Packers moves them into the sixth seed.
Focusing on the immediate task at hand was the message from head coach Dan Quinn leading into the contest. As it turned out, Daniels and the Commanders came through by the skin of their teeth to keep their playoff hopes alive.
With this in mind, here are five major observations from Daniels' performance at the Caesars Superdome.
Major observations from Jayden Daniels' performance at the Saints
Jayden Daniels' accuracy
Jayden Daniels was on a historic trajectory regarding accuracy earlier in the season. That dipped during a series of inconsistent performances, but normal service has been resumed over the last fortnight.
Daniels delivered the ball to the right spots consistently in Week 15. He completed 17 of 19 passes in the first half and kept up this positive momentum after the interval. His poise and precision maintained offensive efficiency within Kliff Kingsbury's balanced attack. This was essential considering the duress he was under without the services of starting center Tyler Biadasz to depend upon.
The Cajon High School product eventually finished the game with an 80.65 completion percentage success. Daniels throws a beautiful ball. The fact it's almost always on target makes things much easier for a pass-catching group getting more depleted with every contest that passes.