The Washington Commanders were 60 minutes away from their first appearance in the NFC Championship Game in 33 years and their third Super Bowl title in the 1991 season.

There were some quiet years in the three decades since, making just seven playoff appearances — and winning just three games.

The team went 4-13 last season and received the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and oh, how grateful they are.

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Sunday, January 19, 1:00 am

Drafted quarterback Jayden Daniels out of LSU, the sensational rookie completely changed the fortunes of this fading NFL franchise, made them relevant and made them a contender again.

Daniels was almost considered a front-runner for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors at the NFL’s end-of-season awards ceremony, finishing the regular season with 3,568 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and just nine interceptions while also earning the honors. A huge success. 891 yards and six rushing scores.

There were some huge highs along the way, most importantly when the 24-year-old sent the league into a frenzy with a miraculous Hail Mary touchdown at the end of Week 8 that saw the Commanders defeat Chicago Bears.

As the game clock expired and the Commanders trailed 15-12, Daniels ran back and forth in his own half and eventually launched a desperate throw into the end zone. The ball rolled out of the hands of a group of players and fell into the Waiting in the hands of the players. Noah Brown completed a 52-yard touchdown run in the slot.

Daniels held the ball for a touchdown in 12.79 seconds of the game, the first touchdown pass that took longer than 10 seconds since NextGen Statistics began in 2016.

“It was kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Daniels said at the time, and the incredible end result caused quite a stir in the industry. sky sports studio.

“If J-Bell (Jason Bell) can’t speak, there’s a problem!” Super Bowl champion defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh laughed. “They can build a team based on that.

“You think back to the big catch that Odell Beckham Jr. had in New York, like J-Bell mentioned, if they continue to ride that wave, it could be huge and monumental for this organization. “

Commanders also rode the wave. Three games into the season, with the team’s playoff hopes briefly threatened, Daniels led the team to five straight wins and clinched a playoff berth… He added another in his postseason debut. The impressive performance extended that streak to six. .

Daniels threw for 268 yards and two scores in a 23-20 road win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wild Card Weekend, but was most impressive when he helped organize the run as the team trailed entering the fourth quarter. In the final four and a half minutes of a winning attack, the two teams were tied. Take your time, take your time.

“Of course, it’s not a one-man game, but Jayden Daniels is a big reason why Washington turns this around,” sky sports’ Neil Reynolds said on the latest episode of the Inside The Huddle podcast.

“For three hours in the playoffs, this kid’s heart rate barely went up or down. That’s why Washington has won six straight games, the last five of which have been decided in the last minute.

“You don’t want to live like this forever, but when you have a kid that’s not afraid to be in that environment, that’s it — especially when you go to a really tricky place now, Detroit, in the playoffs.”

Added former Buffalo Bills coach Phoebe Schechter: “This young man, he plays like a veteran, like a pro.

“We rarely see rookies do things like this — even if you look at what C.J. Stroud did last year (for the Houston Texans). He and Jayden Daniels both performed at a certain level.

“He has the ability to extend games and a moment is never too big for him.

“You saw last week’s game against the Buccaneers and he was really cool.

“Against the Lions, the stage isn’t going to be too big for him. I think it’s going to be challenging … but he just loves what he does.”

This is indeed the next challenge for Daniels and this team, as the sixth-seeded Commanders now travel to Detroit to take on the NFC’s top-ranked Lions, who are eyeing a back-to-back NFC Championship Game.

The Lions have lost just two games all season and are favorites for Saturday’s game – Sky Sports NFL live broadcast from 1.15am on Sunday – but they take the commanders, especially Daniels, very seriously.

“He’s dangerous; he’s a big threat,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of Daniels. “He doesn’t play the position like a rookie quarterback. He’s a difference-maker.

“You could tell he understood how to run the offense and what they were asking him to do. And he had weapons. I mean, boy, they had weapons.”

Note that Detroit also has a lot of weapons. This is the NFL’s top-ranked offense, averaging 33.2 points per game, while their 409.5 yards per game is second only to the Baltimore Ravens’ average of 424.9 yards per game.

The Lions were many people’s Super Bowl favorites, and the general consensus was that this was the end of Daniels’ rookie career. Not that he was listening to any noise.

“I’m kind of in my bubble right now and focusing on what’s next,” Daniels said before the divisional round game against the Lions.

“We will not give up until the clock hits zero. We will continue to fight until the end.”

Watch the Washington Commanders’ playoff divisional round game against the Detroit Lions on Sky Sports NFL live at 1:15 a.m. Sunday.