Another game, another Jayden Daniels record.
The Commanders rookie quarterback threw the game-winning touchdown to Zach Ertz with 2:42 left in overtime as Washington defeated the Atlanta Falcons and fellow rookie standout Michael Penix Jr. 30-24 on Sunday Night Football to officially clinch a wild-card berth.
Daniels threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another 127 yards, including 42 in OT.
The 25-year-old also surpassed Robert Griffin III for the most rushing yards by a rookie quarterback.
Griffin, like Daniels, galvanised Washington during a much-hyped NFL debut and led the team to the playoffs in his rookie season.
Daniels’ record-breaking moment came on a seven-yard run with 9:21 left in the fourth quarter, putting Daniels to 820 total rushing yards and surpassing RGIII’s of 815 rushing yards he set during his 2012 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign.
The 2023 Heisman Trophy winner now leads all rookie quarterbacks for most rushing yards in a season with 864, with one regular season game still to play against the Dallas Cowboys next week.
“I wanted Jayden Daniels to break my rookie rushing record because I’m not about rooting against the next generation,” Griffin posted on X after the game.
“He EARNED IT. He is the FUTURE. Some of these old heads need to stop drinking all that haterade and lift up these young guys instead of tearing them down.”
Shannon Sharpe and Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson were just as effusive in their praise of Daniels after the game, saying the former LSU man had officially locked up the Offensive Rookie of the Year award with his history-making performance.
“Hey, listen, Jayden Daniels was effing phenomenal,” Johnson said on the most recent episode of their ‘Nightcap’ podcast.
“Despite the pick, they were able to overcome and do what they needed to do.
“Ice in his veins. Ice in his veins, throwing the ball, threading the needle, using his legs when he needed to.”
Sharpe, meanwhile, lauded the Commanders organization for drafting the right quarterback and putting the pieces around him to allow him to be great.
“They’ve done a great job of drafting,” Sharpe added. “They got the quarterback. They had nice pieces in place, but they got a quarterback.
“They brought an offensive coordinator in that’s good at handling young quarterbacks, putting together an offense that’s very quarterback friendly, that utilizes what that quarterback does.
“Remember Kyler Murray? Kyler did a lot of what we see Jayden Daniels did, doing this season. And Kyler was rookie of the year. So I don’t think anybody’s surprised by that.”
Washington (11-5) has won 11 games for the first time since the 1991 season, which was the last time the franchise won the Super Bowl.
With the win against the Falcons, they are officially in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, largely thanks to the brilliance of Daniels.
He became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least two touchdowns, throw for at least 200 yards and run for at least 65 yards in three consecutive games.
Per the Commanders, Daniels also moved past Kirk Cousins for the second most combined passing and rushing yards by a quarterback in a single season with 4,281.
“The fan base waited a long time for this,” Daniels, who has six rushing touchdowns to go along with the 25 he’s thrown, said after the game.
“I really can’t put into words how much it means to them and how much it means to me to be able to go out there and lead this franchise and this team to opportunities like that.”
The Commanders could move up to the sixth seed in the NFC if they beat Dallas in the regular season finale, which would set up a wild-card round game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the Los Angeles Rams.
Daniels now has the chance to create yet more history and lead Washington to its first postseason win since the 2005 campaign.
talkSPORT is your home of the NFL on UK radio, and you can stay up to date with all the latest from around the league via our dedicated ‘EndZone’ YouTube channel.
talkSPORT will bring you live coverage across Week 18 with a double header featuring the Cincinnati Bengals @ Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota Vikings @ Detroit Lions
