The Washington Commanders have been one of the NFL's long-suffering franchises when it comes to abhorrent quarterback play. The Commanders finally decided to just clean house from the top of the organization on down in the 2024 offseason, getting new ownership, a new GM, a new head coach, and apparently lucking out with Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels falling to the 2nd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Daniels has been outstanding through the first three weeks of his rookie season in the NFL, but he was the most impressive we have seen in Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals on the road.
And in that game against the Bengals -- an upset win against a well-coached defense -- Daniels made some legit NFL history.
Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels makes NFL history in Week 3
As impressive as the Week 3 win for the Commanders was, it's tough to overshadow the bigger picture of Daniels's individual performance the last two weeks. The Commanders pulled off a win in Week 2 against the New York Giants and obviously orchestrated a beautiful game-winning drive to seal the deal over a division rival.
But what he did in Weeks 2 and 3 is wild...
No team in the Super Bowl era has done what the #Commanders just did: two consecutive games with ZERO turnovers and ZERO punts.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) September 24, 2024
Take a bow Jayden Daniels.
Take a bow Kliff Kingsbury.
Take a bow Terry McLaurin.
Take a bow Washington Commanders.
What a night. pic.twitter.com/YlcgqCYEDQ
You read that right. Two games in a row without a turnover or a punt for the Washington Commanders.
I believe it was Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt who said before this matchup that the Commanders had a "nice college offense" and that nice college offense just tore up the 0-3 Bengals to the tune of 38 points scored, no turnovers, and no punts.
How about that?
Jayden Daniels certainly carved up the Bengals as though he was playing against a college defense, racking up three total touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) while only throwing two incomplete passes the entire game. And it was Daniels' ability to extend drives and make plays on the money downs that really set this performance apart for him.
The steady improvements being made every week by Daniels are noteworthy and it's no wonder the Commanders have won their last two games when you consider that they haven't punted or turned the ball over a single time in those two games.
Even though the margin of victory has been rather narrow, the overall prognosis for this team is extremely positive and would be even if they had lost these last two games.
But here we are entering Week 4 of the 2024 season with the Commanders at 2-1 and looking like a potential surprise team in the NFC East if Daniels can keep this up.