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A closer look at the Commanders opening touchdown drive

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Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels only saw action on Washington’s first possession, Saturday, during their 20-17 loss to the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

However, with the Commanders gaining 70 yards in 11 plays, concluding with a Daniels 3-yard touchdown run, he was pulled and sat out the remainder of the contest.

The opening drive featured Brian Robinson Jr. running hard, carrying the ball five times, gaining 20 yards.

The only negative for Daniels was on second-and-6 from the 34. He may have been nervous as he badly missed Austin Ekeler, sailing it over Ekeler’s head on an attempted screen pass to the right.

On the very next play, Daniels looked deep and found Dyami Brown for 42 yards to the Jets 24. More significantly, tight end Zach Ertz told Bryan Colbert on the Commanders’ sideline that Daniels “was able to check the play at the line of scrimmage and get us in a better play.” Indeed, the call from the sideline had been for a screen pass.

However, on the play, Daniels had the Commanders in a five-wide out alignment, which necessitates an empty backfield. Meaning that Daniels knew he had to get rid of the ball quickly because there was no running back to help pick up a free pass rusher.

The coverage by Jets corner Jarrick Bernard-Converse was actually good. However, Daniels laid the ball just beyond the reach of Bernard-Converse, and the outstretched Brown made a nice catch.

On first-and-10 at the 12, Daniels hit McLaurin on a swing pass to the right. Had Jahan Dotson kept his feet better, McLaurin would have penetrated much deeper than the 9 for a small gain of three yards.

After a Nick Allegretti false start, Ekeler showed good quickness in a four-yard run to the 3. On Daniels’ touchdown run, be sure to watch on the right side, noticing the job done by tight ends John Bates and Cole Turner. Their efforts resulted in Daniels being able to jog into the end zone for the 3-yard touchdown.