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Jayden Daniels is one game away from incredible NFL first

The rookie quarterback starred in the Washington Commanders’ 45-31 win over the Detroit Lions.

Has a rookie QB ever won a championship?
NIC ANTAYAAFP

The Washington Commanders upset the odds to see off the Detroit Lions, the No. 1 NFC seed, in a thrilling match-up on Saturday night.

In a high-scoring game, the Commanders came out on top with a 45-31 win to book their place in the Conference final for the first time since 1991. That snaps the league’s longest active run without an appearance at that stage, a historic night for Washington football.

It was a particularly big night for rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who proved more effective than the vastly-experienced Jared Goff. Daniels threw for 299 yards and two touchdowns. Crucially, he did not suffer a single interception.

It’s been a very impressive debut season from Daniels, the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Heisman Trophy winner ended the regular season with the rookie records for QB rushing yards (891) and completion percentage (69%).

Jayden Daniels on the brink of history

The Commanders will play the winner of the Philadelphia Eagles and the LA Rams in the NFC Conference final. If they win that, Daniels will really have his name in the history books.

No rookie quarterback has ever started a Super Bowl. Daniels and the Commanders now stand just one game away from becoming the first. Only five other rookie quarterbacks have ever started a Conference final: Brock Purdy (2022), Mark Sanchez (2009), Joe Flacco (2008), Ben Roethlisberger (2004) and Shaun King (1999). All five lost those games.

Speaking earlier this week Commanders head coach Dan Quinn paid tribute to the quarterback’s mentality and ability to thrive in high-pressure environments.

“Jayden has such poise in these winning time moments and that is contagious as well,” Quinn said of Daniels.

Jayden has poise in these moments where he doesn’t go wild after or lose his cool. He just has real poise in spots and it’s the same whether it went well or didn’t and that’s really hard to do. And so having poise in those moments, that’s a really big thing because the other players see it and feel it and they have it in those moments as well.”

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