Philadelphia’s defense is facing a major test.
He has not supposed to be this good this fast. Jayden Daniels is probably trending even better than what Washington Commanders’ management thought through his first 10 games. Daniels is a major reason why Washington is an NFC East contender. The rest of the country will find out who Daniels is—and where the Eagles are, for that matter—Thursday night on national TV from Lincoln Financial Field.
Daniels’ play is a large reason why the Commanders are 7-3. Through 10 games, he has completed 180 of 262 for 68.7-percent and is 12th in the NFL with 2,147 yards passing. He is averaging 214.7 yards passing a game and has not thrown an interception over his last 151 passes. He’s shown poise, leadership, and an advanced ability to see the field beyond his years.
“He’s done a great job for them,” said Eagles’ defensive coordinator Vic Fangio about Daniels. “I mean, kudos to him for what he’s been able to achieve. Kudos to the coaches there that are coaching him. Because that’s not an easy offense to run. They do a lot of different things. And, you know, he’s only thrown two interceptions, which is unreal, really. He’s a really good player, highly talented. I think they’re running an offense that he’s very comfortable in. And he’s got a lot of good players around him. And I think it’s an accumulation of all that.”
Eagles’ head coach Nick Sirianni has been really impressed.
“He’s come out on fire,” Sirianni said about Daniels. “He’s got his team playing really well. Hats off to their coaches. You know, I just have a lot of respect for that coaching staff and the players on that team. He’s a really good player who started off on fire, so we’ll have a challenge here this week. Can’t say enough good things about him. You know, how he’s going to the right place with the football, being accurate, the things he can do when things do break down. I have got a lot of respect for him and we’ll have our hands full.”
What the Eagles will need to do is show Daniels varied looks. In Pittsburgh’s 28-27 win over the Commanders on Sunday, Daniels was held to a season-low 5 yards rushing. The Steelers sometimes showed blitz, sometimes they backed out, leaving Daniels guessing.
“Yeah, they rushed a lot of guys,” Fangio said. “When I say a lot, they rushed five a good bit, or four. Pittsburgh is pretty good. You’ve got [T.J.] Watt and [Alex] Highsmith on the outside. They’re good guys. [Cameron] Heyward is still on the inside. They’re a good defense.”
Washington runs a lot of zone read, which the Eagles have not seen much of this season.
“Yeah, we’ve got to be assignment sound, make sure we always have a guy available to play that quarterback if he pulls it,” Fangio said. “[Daniels] will pull it sometimes with blockers. He’ll pull it sometimes with just himself there if you overplay the run. You’ve got to be assignment sound.”
