3 changes Commanders' coaching staff must consider in Week 2 vs. NY Giants

Commanders must be more expansive offensively

First-game jitters are normal. Rookie quarterback, a new regime, and a lot of pressure. I get it. But when you're going up against an offense that is shredding your defense every time it steps on the field, at a certain point you have to weigh the learning experience of Jayden Daniels with winning football games.

Every game counts, even at this early stage of the campaign at the start of a long-term plan for sustained success. Going up against Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles in his first game was not ideal for Daniels. He did well in tricky circumstances, but there is a lot of hard work ahead to meet some lofty expectations.

Even though the New York Giants' defensive front is no slouch, the Commanders need to open the playbook a little further. If they could get the run game going with someone other than the rookie quarterback, Kliff Kingsbury would feel a little more comfortable calling shots downfield for Daniels to exploit.

But even if that doesn't happen, the Commanders need to take advantage of these games to see what Daniels offers at the professional level sitting in the pocket. When the first read wasn't there, he took off. That cannot become the typical approach moving forward.

Everyone can agree that 16 rush attempts are too many for Daniels. Perhaps John Bates and more two tight-end sets should be deployed more often to give the signal-caller more time to find his receiving options. Stopping him as a runner in those wide sets is going to be incredibly difficult for opposing defenses to stop. And yes, they're already going to have to gameplan for them.

The Commanders need to see what the ball looks like coming out of his hands and attacking the field with deeper routes. That, combined with his running game, will make him a force to be reckoned with. Especially against a Giants secondary that was torched by Sam Darnold in Week 1.