For Washington Commanders fans, this year's playoff divisional round nearly resulted in the worst-case scenario.
Drake Maye, Caleb Williams, and Bo Nix's teams all played for a chance to compete in a championship game. Jayden Daniels, who did that last year, is at home after a season in which Washington won only five games, and he couldn't stay on the field.
Both Maye's New England Patriots and Nix's Denver Broncos advanced. Williams' Chicago Bears took the Los Angeles Rams to overtime, before former Commanders safety Kamren Curl came through with a crucial interception in the clutch. Between those three teams, there was a consistent theme that underscores just how impressive Daniels' heroics a year ago were.
Jayden Daniels' QB class rivals can afford to play badly and win, but he can't
Nix completed only 56 percent of his passes against the Buffalo Bills. Maye fumbled four times against the Houston Texans. Williams threw three interceptions, including the killer in overtime. All of them still had a chance to win the game. Two of the three cases did.
Contrast that with Daniels last year, when he had to lead his offense to 38 points (seven were from a Quan Martin pick-six) to punch the Commanders' ticket to the NFC Championship. Despite the Detroit Lions turning the ball over five times, Washington's defense gave up 31 points in that contest.
Every time the Commanders had the ball at Ford Field, it felt like it was must-score. Any mistake whatsoever on Daniels' part would have been deadly. If Jared Goff hadn't turned into a pumpkin and Ben Johnson hadn't gotten too cute with his play-calling, the Lions might have put up 55. The next week, the Philadelphia Eagles did exactly that.
The idea that Daniels ever had a great situation in Washington was always a myth, and this past year proved it.
The former LSU phenom made life look easy, but it never was. Daniels had to be perfect to give the Commanders a chance time and time again during his electric rookie season, starting with his initial coming-out party against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3.
Now, it does no one any good to cling to the magic of 2024. Being bitter about the Patriots', Bears', and Broncos' success is loser behavior. But seeing how easy those teams have made life for their quarterbacks should send a clear message to Washington moving forward...
The Commanders need to figure out how to build that way around Daniels.
Even beyond his injury concerns, Commanders fans need to prepare for the possibility that Daniels isn't the superhuman specimen they all want him to be. His play wasn't at the same level in Year 2.
He might rebound and have a Lamar Jackson-esque trajectory, or he might be another C.J. Stroud. In the latter case, the Texans have solidified themselves as a consistent playoff team despite their quarterback's stalled development.
The Commanders need to become the type of team in which Daniels can afford to be less than perfect. Quarterbacks alone don't win games. Well-built rosters do.