Wherever he looked, his receivers were covered. Wherever his progression took him, he just couldn’t find anybody open. Drive after drive, the Eagles’ secondary frustrated Jayden Daniels by just not giving him any easy throws.
The Eagles on Thursday night hounded Daniels into the worst game of his promising rookie season.
He managed just 13 completions and 146 yards with an interception on Washington’s first 10 possessions and although a late touchdown drive padded his numbers a bit, the Eagles just never allowed him to get going.
They corralled him into just 18 rushing yards and 2.6 yards per carry. This is a guy who was averaging over 50 yards per game and 5.5 yards per carry per game coming in.
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“An athletic guy that’s gained some confidence throughout the way and he has the ability to make every throw and tuck the ball and run it whenever he feels necessary,” Zach Baun said. “So it’s a lot to prepare for. But we’ve got the guys on this defense and the speed on this defense to take care of it.”
Daniels has been a big-play machine this year, but whenever he tried to make a play on third or fourth down, the Eagles overwhelmed him.
On Thursday night on third or fourth down, he was 4-for-7 for 27 yards passing with a sack – that’s 19 net yards on eight pass plays - and when he ran on third or fourth down he was 0-for-2 trying to get to the sticks, netting just two yards on two carries.
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Put it all together and Daniels averaged just 2.1 yards on 10 third or fourth downs. He averaged 7.2 yards on third or fourth downs in the Commanders’ first 10 games.
Overall, he completed four passes for 24 yards to wide receivers with a long gainer of 10 yards.
The Eagles keep facing elite wide receivers and they keep shutting them down.
Malik Nabers is averaging 81 yards against everyone else. Had 41 vs. the Eagles.
Ja’Marr Chase is averaging 103 yards against everyone else. Had 54 vs. the Eagles.
Brian Thomas is averaging 65 yards against everyone else. Had 22 vs. the Eagles.
CeeDee Lamb is averaging 83 yards against everyone else. Had 21 vs. the Eagles.
Terry McLaurin is averaging 71 yards against everyone else. Had 10 vs. the Eagles.
Week after week, Quinyon Mitchell has been shutting down the other team's top guy. Daniels loves throwing to McLaurin. He was averaging 6 ½ targets per game before Thursday night. He got just two.
“Terry McLaurin is a hell of a ball player, but we got a 1st-round corner for a reason,” Gardner-Johnson said. “It’s another quarterback that didn’t throw downfield, right?
"How good are our corners? Our corners are doing a hell of a job, our linebackers, our d-line, just constant pressure, so every quarterback we play has been good in their own way and it’s just when the ball doesn’t travel like you see weeks prior against teams they they played. It’s a good sign for our defense as a whole.”
“Shoutout to Q and Coop. Shout-out to (the coaches) for trusting us as a whole and understanding that this is a young group but they feel like veterans. I don’t think the moment is ever too big for them. Having them two out there makes it easier for us older guys.”
Daniels made a few plays Thursday night, but a couple early long completions to Austin Ekeler and Brian Robinson were more the result of missed tackles than spectacular throws.
By the second half, even those plays had dried up.
Once the Eagles’ defense settled in, Daniels had no answers. During one stretch, Washington averaged about 18 yards per drive over eight possessions.
And on Washington’s desperation 4th-and-2 early in the fourth quarter with the Eagles up only two points, Baun stuffed Daniels for no gain at the Eagles’ 26. Four minutes later the Eagles were up 16.
“You obviously prepare for a situation like that but you never know what they’re going to run,” Baun said. “He bobbled the snap a little bit and he’s a confident guy and he was going to take it himself and then you’ve just got to make a play.”
This is a kid who’s been lighting up the NFL. Vic Fangio’s unit had an answer for everything the Commanders did.
“Any quarterback that's out there, that's making plays and scoring points, you gotta get to them and make them uncomfortable,” said Brandon Graham, who had one of the Eagles’ three sacks.
“And I think up front, we did a good job of that and we stopped the run. Because that's another thing, because that can get them going. And just trusting in when your play comes, just go make it.”
One interesting number from Thursday night: Daniels dropped back or ran 42 times for 189 yards, which is 4.5 yards per play. Coming into the game, he was averaging 7.1 yards per play.
“Our defense is great with awareness right now,” Gardner-Johnson said. “We’re hitting on all cylinders, we’re doing little things after practice, you guys see how hard Nick coaches us in certain situations. It’s fun when every week a new player makes a play for the team to win the game. That fourth-down stop was a test for the whole defense.”
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