Jayden Daniels leads Commanders to first NFC Championship in 33 years

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Published Jan 18, 2025

Jayden Daniels leads Commanders to first NFC Championship in 33 years

Luke Hubbard • Death Valley Insider

Analyst

@clukehubbard

On April 25th, 2024, the Washington Commanders struck gold when they drafted former LSU standout and 2023 Heisman Trophy winner, Jayden Daniels.

After Dan Snyder sold the team to a group of buyers led by Josh Harris and Magic Johnson, they hired Adam Peters as their new general manager and Dan Quinn as their new head coach, and in the nine months since then, they, along with the help of Jayden Daniels, have completely turned the franchise around.

After a historic regular season where Daniels threw for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns while rushing for 891 yards and six scores, he led the Commanders to their first playoff win since 2005 when they defeated the Buccaneers, 23-20 in the Wild Card round. In that game, Daniels threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns and looked like a seasoned vet.

With the win and a Packers loss, the Commanders drew a matchup with the No. 1 seed and 15-2 Detroit Lions. They were 9.5-point underdogs, but that didn't matter. From the opening kickoff til the final whistle, they took it to Dan Campbell's squad and took down the No. 1 seed Detroit Lions, 45-31.

Daniels went off, throwing for 299 yards and two touchdowns behind a 70.9% completion percentage. He also ran for another 52 yards while leading the Commanders offense to 38 points.

With the win, Daniels and Commanders advanced to the NFC Championship for the first time since the 1991-1992 season.

Daniels, who is a shoo-in for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, continues to show why he may just be in the midst of the greatest rookie season of all time. He became just the sixth rookie quarterback to make the conference championship game, following in the footsteps of Brock Purdy, Mark Sanchez, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco and Shaun King.

What we're seeing from Daniels right now is unprecendented. Other rookies have made the conference championship, but nobody has done it while playing at the level Daniels is right now.

It might sound insane, but he's already a top-five quarterback in the NFL and the best quarterback in the NFC.

And he's only a rookie.

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