Consistency is key for Commanders QB Jayden Daniels after Week 3 breakout

Washington Commanders fans are on cloud nine right now. An amazing win against the Cincinnati Bengals in their stadium on Monday Night Football instilled hope they haven't had in a long time.

Millions of people saw rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels come into his own and seemingly start his reign as a star in the NFL. His performance had shades of Robert Griffin III. Perhaps even better.

Like every week, we will look at what Daniels could improve on going into Week 4 at the Arizona Cardinals. But first, let's look a what he did well in Week 3. And there's a lot of it.

Commanders QB Jayden Daniels' impressive traits in Week 3

Reading through progressions

This is something Daniels struggled with through the majority of the first two weeks. It was a completely different story in Week 3.

Instead of reading his first option and then immediately checking the ball down to tuck and run, he went through his progressions to find an open man, at least until he ran out of time and had to run or scramble out of the pocket.

Even when he did get out of the pocket, Daniels attempted to pass first several times before scrambling. A 91 percent completion percentage - when he had a good amount of throws of 10-plus yards down the field instead of just a bunch of throws around the line of scrimmage - was a major step in the right direction.

Watching the film, Daniels did an amazing job of staying in the pocket when he was able to. There was a play on film where the No. 2 pick read completely left to right, then back to the left to make a completion. That's the sort of presence normally associated with a savvy veteran.

Another beautiful progression read was a dart to Luke McCaffrey on a slant. Just a beautiful quarterback play and the start of what will hopefully be a blossoming relationship between the pair.

Connecting with Terry McLaurin

It finally happened. Washington's QB1 and WR1 are on the same page and it doesn't look like they're going to be looking back anytime soon.

Two huge deep shots connected to Terry McLaurin that were jaw-dropping. The first one was an impressive route that caught the safety off guard. Daniels dropped it right in the bucket, an absolute dot of a throw that set the Commanders' offense up to score.

The other deep shot to McLaurin brought tears of joy to Commanders fans all over the world. The Pro Bowl pass-catcher called his shot and told Daniels to trust him, and he did just that.

Daniels threw a dot to McLaurin with a free rusher in his face from Cover 0 to ice the game. It's safe to say anytime the Ohio State product has one-on-one coverage, the signal-caller will look his way immediately.

Rushing and extending plays

Twelve carries for 39 yards doesn't look amazing on the stat sheet, but how he got there is what was impressive. Daniels utilized his legs to get multiple first downs, showing amazing athleticism in doing so and not trying to do too much.

There was one run on film where Daniels extended the play, decided to try and pick up the first down with his legs, and got tangled up from a tackle. Instead of going down, Daniels spun out of it and got out of bounds for the first down.

Even more impressive than the rushing talent was Daniels' ability to extend plays. There were several plays where the Heisman Trophy winner scrambled out of the pocket, keeping his eyes peeled downfield to find an open man.

Areas for Jayden Daniels to improve in Week 4

Consistently hitting the deep ball

If we're going to nitpick here, this is about all you can negatively say about Daniels' performance. The one deep shot to McLaurin in the second quarter wasn't great. It seemed like that was more of them not being on the same page with the break, however.

There were other instances of not seeing the open receiver when opportunities arose. The more experience Daniels accumulates, the more comfortable he'll be in pulling the trigger.

Keep this play up

The Commanders just need Daniels to continue playing like this. If he does, Dan Quinn's men have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs.

Teams are becoming increasingly wary of Daniels, with good reason. What separates the good quarterbacks from the great is performing well whether the defensive game plan is sufficient or not.

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