OPINION:
Maybe it was inevitable. Not necessarily in the way it happened — quarterback Jayden Daniels having his foot stepped on by left guard Chris Paul and dislocating his left elbow as he reached out to brace his fall. Washington’s best player went down on coach Dan Quinn’s foolish goal-line gamble with three seconds left in the first half of a 37-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
But perhaps it was only a matter of time before Daniels — dragging his overmatched team up and down the field to keep them in the game Sunday after they fell behind 10-0 in the first 10 minutes — got hurt.
If not Sunday, then sometime this season. And probably soon.
The assets needed to protect him — not just the offensive line but the offensive weapons and the defensive playmakers he needs to prevent those 10-0 early deficits — are just stretched too thin.
There were no new updates from Quinn Monday regarding Daniels, who first dislocated the same elbow last November in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Daniels missed three weeks and returned in early December, only to reaggravate the injury in a loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He was shut down for the rest of the season after that.
Quinn said the quarterback was having imaging done on the elbow Monday and would then see specialists to figure out how to proceed and how long Daniels would be sidelined. Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, who finished the game in Dallas, will get the start Sunday against defending Super Bowl champion Seattle in the Commanders’ first home game of the season.
It took a Herculean effort by Daniels to get the Commanders back into the Dallas game Sunday — scramble after scramble, until he had rushed for 69 yards. He brought his team to the point where, down 17-10, they were on the goal line with seconds left in the half and a chance to cut the lead to 17-13 with a chip shot field goal.
Instead, Quinn went for the touchdown on fourth down and Daniels and his team’s season crumbled with that decision.
The call didn’t make Daniels more vulnerable — it was a fluke injury. But it was an unnecessary risk. With a field goal, Washington (0-2) would have had the momentum going into the locker room at half time and have possession of the ball to start the second half.
“Looking back on it, at the 1-yard line, we need touchdowns,” Quinn told reporters after the game. “And so, I don’t regret the call. Obviously, any time someone’s injured, you play the ‘what if’ game. I don’t think this is one of those times for me.”
Instead of momentum coming into the second half, it was more of the Dak Prescott party for Dallas (1-1). The Cowboys quarterback completed 26 of 31 passes for 279 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. CeeDee Lamb had eight catches for 153 yards and two of those scores.
Did you see the Dallas quarterback on the sidelines laughing and celebrating with teammates? This was a coronation for him — he broke Tony Romo’s career franchise record for touchdown passes with his second scoring pass of the game — number 249. It was easy pickings for Prescott.
“Collectively, we didn’t make life hard enough for Dak,” Quinn said in Monday’s zoom conference call.
Did it seem to you that the Commanders matched up with the Cowboys’ roster? Yeah, me neither. And looking forward, there will be mismatches most weeks.
The reality is that the roster Quinn and general manager Adam Peters inherited from Ron Rivera was so devoid of talent that there has been little margin for error when it came to fixing it. And Peters has made mistakes, most notably a series of second-round draft choices that have failed to make an impact.
Before the season began, I looked at the additions Washington made to help Daniels — particularly on defense, with seven free agents — and, along with the addition of tight end Chig Okonkwo, receiver Stefon Diggs and the promise of rookie Antonio Williams, I believed that the Commanders could compete, even though we never really saw them on the field during the preseason.
But now, after two games, I don’t see it.
Name one player besides Daniels who strikes fear in the hearts of opponents? No, cornerback Mike Sainristil doesn’t count. I didn’t say strike fear in his own coaches’ hearts.
Daniels was the great equalizer in 2024 when Washington went 12-5 and made it to the NFC title game. But the burden of making up for the deficiencies around him put him at risk with every snap.
It’s a burden other quarterbacks often must carry as well — but typically there’s a bit more of a safety net.
Daniels made 55 starts in four years of college. Now he’s the quarterback who can’t get past Week 2.
• You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
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