Jayden Daniels doesn't have ice in his veins -- the rookie quarterback's blood flows with liquid nitrogen.
The Washington Commanders signal-caller came up clutch again Sunday night, leading his club to another second-half comeback with a game-winning overtime march, capped off with a dart to tight end Zach Ertz to clinch a playoff berth with a 30-24 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
The rookie's composure has impressed every onlooker.
"What I told (Falcons coach) Raheem (Morris) after the game, I said, 'Man, there's some things that five [Daniels] does that you can't put on a card,' " Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said, via the team's official transcript. "At the end I thought, in the second half especially, there was just some strong plays and he just willed it. That's the competitor he is. And I thought he was fully able to demonstrate that and express himself tonight with his legs, with his arm. And it was hard. It was really hard and those are things you do gain from. I'd love to say we gain a lot from the ones where there's a big score and you went ahead, but it's nights like tonight that you do gain a lot and it's tough and it's grimy at times and you have to overcome things. But those are the times that we get to learn. And we're fortunate tonight that we get to learn after a win and we will take all these lessons and apply them."
Daniels finished 24-of-36 passing for 227 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He also powered the Commanders' rushing attack, scampering for 127 yards on 16 carries, much coming in the second half and overtime.
Daniels has generated 12 touchdown passes in the fourth quarter or overtime, the most by a rookie in NFL history. To add, he has five TD tosses in the final 30 seconds of regulation or overtime, two more than any quarterback has earned in a single season since 1970.
The poise in big moments has impressed his veteran teammates.
"You want to be in these moments," linebacker Bobby Wagner said. "Him getting hit and making big plays, his confidence, his demeanor never changes. You know that he knows he's going to make a play, and everybody on the sideline and on the field believes he's going to make a play."
Added Ertz: "Yeah, I wish I had something really fun to say, but he really is the same guy. You see him on the bench, whether it's right before the two-minute drill and overtime, he is literally just the same person. Whether it was OTAs when we're working two-minute drill against the defense or with the opportunity to go to the playoffs or solidify ourselves with an opportunity to go to the playoffs. He's literally the same guy. He's the most mature rookie I've ever been around. He approaches the game, he loves to learn. And so, he just, he exudes such a quiet confidence. He's not out there, a rah rah guy, but we all know how good he is and how much confidence we have in him. And so, he doesn't need to say anything."
Washington erased a 10-point halftime deficit with two long back-to-back TD drives and a field-goal march to take a 24-17 lead. When the defense couldn't hold Atlanta from forcing overtime, Daniels took control, leading a 12-play, 75-yard march in the extra frame to secure a playoff berth.
With the 10-point comeback, coupled with last week's 14-point surge over the Eagles, Daniels became the fifth rookie since 1950 to lead his team to back-to-back double-digit comeback wins.
"I was just trying to make plays and help the team the best I can to win this football game," Daniels said. "Whether that's sitting back there and throwing the ball or running -- anything, man. I just want to win."
Washington has done a lot more winning in Daniels' first season than it has in a long time. The Commanders won 11-plus games for the first time in a season since 1991 (14-2, won Super Bowl XXVI). Sunday marked the first Washington OT win since Week 8, 2014, at Dallas (0-4-2 in the previous six OT games).
