After delivering a commanding win in Cincinnati on Monday Night Football and then spending the short week in Arizona, it would be acceptable if rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels had just an average, workman-like game against the Cardinals in Week 4.
After throwing for 233 yards and a touchdown with only four incompletions from his 30 attempts – with another 47 yards rushing and a touchdown – in a 42-14 win, it is safe to say the Washington Commanders' quarterback is not interested in doing anything that is just so-so.
"He is dynamic," Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon said of the rookie. "We had a couple times where we wrapped up, he got out of it and made some plays with his legs. He gets the ball out and he's accurate. He is a good player."
In the realm of coach-speak, that is about as good of praise as one is going to get out of the opposition after a loss.
The win improved Washington to 3-1 for the first time since 2011. And they did so by scoring 42 points, the most they've scored as an offense since Week 11 in 2016.
Despite throwing his first career interception, Daniels still tallied an 89.5 QBR (out of 100) and a 96.3 passer rating (out of 158.3).
"I want that one back," Daniels said of the pick. "But you're good, moe onto the next play. The NFL is alwys about the next play. You can't go back and fix what happened in the past."
Of course, the blow of the first turnover was softened when it came after the Commanders had scored on their first two possessions of the game for a run of scoring on 16 straight possessions going back to the final drive in Week 1.
"There's so many things for us, after a win like this, we can get better at this and get better at this and that's what we're going to go chase. Just constant improvement," Washington head coach Dan Quinn said.
"The kid is special," veteran tight end Zach Ertz said, "Obviously, as far as game, you can't just anoint him by any means. He's going to work his butt off to continually improve, but him and [offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury] are so in sync right now. They're dialed in. It seems like they've been playing together in the player-OC relationship for four, five, ten years the way they are operating right now.
"But, we can't get too high. We probably have one of the best defenses coming into our stadium next Sunday with the Browns. It's going to be a great game and that's our focus now."
Before turning the page to Week 5 gainst Cleveland, some stats on Daniels and the offense in Arizona and through four games:
- With 87 completions on 106 attempts, Daneils' 82.1 completion percentage is now the highest for a quarterback in the first four games of a season (minimum of 75 attempts). It is the highest percentage of any player in a four game span at any point in their career (minimum 100 attempts) since 1950. (via @NFLplus)
- Daniels is now the first player in NFL history to have two consecutive games of at least 85 percent completion percentage (minimum 15 attempts in each game).
- On Sunday, Daniels threw his first incompletion on a pass under 15 air yards since the 4th quarter of Week 2, ending a streak of 35 straight passes of 15 air yards or less between incompletions totaling 100 minutes and 5 seconds of game clock. (via @NextGenStats). He also leads the NFL in EPA per dropback on throws over 10 air yards. (via @greggrosenthal)
- The Commanders offense is off to a historic start in terms of expected points added per game, at 16.9, they are the ninth-best offense through a season's first four weeks since 2002. (via @ngreenberg)
- And at .335 expected points added per play outside the red zone, Washington is the best offense in the NFL, double the Buffalo Bills' 0.167. (via @tejfbanalytics)
- With 42 points against Arizona and 38 against Cinci, the Commanders have now scored 38 points in consecutive games for the first time since the 1991 season (Week 11 and 12).
- This was the first time they scored 30-plus points in consecutive games since 2017 and the first time they have won consecutive games when scoring 30-plus points since 2015.
- Washington's offense through four games has 23 scoring drives, 19 incompletions and just four punts. They are the second team in the Super Bowl era with more scoring drives than incomplete passes in their first four games, joining the 1973 Rams. (via @RealJackAndrade)
- And in terms of QB efficiency, Daniels is top in the NFL in completion percentage above expected and second in expected points added per play. (The one worry: Washington's defense is still at the bottom in terms of expected points added per play.) (via @benbbaldwin)