This coming Sunday, Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels will attempt to become the first rookie quarterback to lead his team to the Super Bowl. He's already the sixth quarterback to lead his team to the conference title game in his debut season, but each of Shaun King, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez and Brock Purdy before him saw their team's run come to an end one step shy of winning the conference.
Daniels' opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, isn't going to treat him like a rookie, because he doesn't play like one. Just ask defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
"He's a young quarterback by birth certificate, not by the tape," Fangio said in his press availability, via 94WIP.com. "The guy is playing extremely well. You can tell how much they think he's playing so good, by the volume of their offense and the things they trust him to do. And he's come through for them in a big way. He's tough to handle."
The Eagles know that better than most. Back in Week 16, Daniels lit up the Eagles for 258 yards and five touchdowns through the air while adding 81 yards with his nine carries. Daniels did turn the ball over twice, but he still led Washington to a come-from-behind 36-33 victory that he sealed with a last-second touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder, erasing a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit in the process.
He has since been uniformly excellent in his two postseason appearances, completing 46 of 66 passes for 567 yards and four scores while also gaining 87 yards on 29 totes. The Eagles have largely shut down the Packers and Rams offenses, allowing 32 total points and forcing six turnovers in the process.
How they're able to deal with Daniels -- who is much more of a dual threat than either Jordan Love or Matthew Stafford -- remains to be seen, but this was one of the NFL's best defenses all season and it has already seen Daniels twice this year. It won't be caught by surprise when it comes to exactly how good he is.
