EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Since the NFL began tracking quarterback starts in 1950, no rookie quarterback has started and won two games against the Giants.
Tomorrow in MetLife Stadium, the Giants will try to keep that streak intact when they host Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders.
It's a challenging task. Daniels, the No. 2 selection in the 2024 NFL Draft and the midseason favorite to be named Offensive Rookie of the Year, is, according to Giants coach Brian Daboll, "one of the better quarterbacks in the league already."
With help from a strong supporting cast, Daniels has led Washington to a 6-2 record and first place in the NFC East. That includes a 21-18 victory against the Giants on Sept. 15. The Commanders are third in the NFL in points (29.5), total yards (396.3) and rushing yards (165.8) a game, and are fourth on third-down conversions (46.4%, 45-of-97).
"They're an explosive offense," Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen said. "I think they're top three in just about every category. They've got really good quarterback play. They've got an elite receiver outside (Terry McLaurin). They're running the ball. I think they have four games with over 200 yards rushing. So, there's going to be some plays. We've got to understand that and hopefully we can fight through it, and when we're able to get some third downs, be able to get off the field. And if they get down in the red zone, being able to find some stops."
Daniels' 71.8 completion percentage is the league's second highest and only two of his 206 passes have been intercepted. He has been particularly proficient in the fourth quarter, when he's completed 77.8% of his passes, averaged 9.5 yards per attempt (8.4 overall), and thrown four touchdown passes and no interceptions.
His favorite receiver is McLaurin, who has caught 40 passes and is fourth in the league with 579 receiving yards. Daniels is throwing more often over the middle and down the field than he was when the teams met seven weeks ago.
What's the biggest difference in Washington's offense between then and now?
"The confidence building throughout the year for Jayden Daniels," safety Jason Pinnock said. "They wanted to give him the easy throws, hand the ball off, stretch the edge, get to the perimeter to slow the game down for him. Now it's Week 9 and we're far enough along where he's seen a lot of different defenses - cover two or cover three or fire zone. The game is slowing down for him, so he's able to kind of stretch the ball a little bit. So, we're expecting a little bit more explosive plays."
"You see the growth, especially in the passing game, you see the growth from him getting more comfortable back there," Bowen said. "He can make every throw. He was able to make every throw going into the first game, too. So, elite quarterback as a rookie who can really do a lot of things that can hurt you."
View photos of the Giants on the practice field at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.
Despite that, the Giants' first objective will be stopping Washington's ground game, which they didn't do in Week 2. The Commanders ran for 215 yards on 35 carries, led by running back Brian Robinson Jr.'s 17 carries for 133 yards. Washington held the ball for 37:32 and never punted.
To improve those numbers, the Giants' defense likely must reduce the league-high 5.4 yards a carry it is allowing.
"We know what they are offensively," Bowen said. "They've rushed for over 200 yards four times. And it's not just the quarterback doing that. They've had some big, big rushing games. You see all the explosive runs that they've had throughout the season. That's a big emphasis for us.
"They're going to get their yards, because they hand the ball off. It's just making sure that we're not giving up the explosive ones and we're able to get them on the ground and hopefully keep them 10 or less and not 30 or 40 on a third and one play when we got him bottled up in the backfield and he fights for yards, and he skates off the edge and breaks one on you. I think there's an intensity of focus that comes with it because of how much success they had week two against us."
Daniels, of course, is an integral component of the Commanders' rushing attack. He is just behind Robinson and is second among NFL quarterbacks with 424 yards and four touchdowns. Daniels is particularly proficient on third down, when he improvises and picks up a first down, demoralizing the defense.
"It puts stress on every down when you play a guy like that," Daboll said. "It's a challenge because he can do it. I think he can do it with three things. I think he can do it with his mind. He's a very instinctive player who has good anticipation, touch and accuracy. For a young quarterback, that's always a challenge, but you can see that he can do that. He can do it with his arm, arm angles, arc and pace, drive throws, and obviously he can do it with his legs.
"When you have a quarterback that can do all those three things and do it in critical situations - the play that he made to McLaurin against Cincinnati at the end of the game, and there's a free runner in his face and he throws the ball before McLaurin's four yards off the line of scrimmage and drops a dime in the end zone, that's hard to do. Or the play he makes to McLaurin when he scrambles out to the right, there's three guys on him, he lofts up a 40-yarder in stride and hits him. Those are tough players to defend. He's got all the traits of being an excellent quarterback."
That won't change tomorrow. The Giants hope their streak against rookie quarterbacks doesn't, either.
*A good omen for the Giants?
Washington defeated Chicago last week on Daniels' stunning 52-yard "Hail Mary" touchdown pass to Noah Brown as time expired.
Each of the last four teams to win on a last play touchdown pass – either a Hail Mary or a similarly unlikely score pulled off by Miami and Minnesota – lost their next game.
The list includes the 2017 Vikings (beat New Orleans but lost the NFC Championship Game a week later), 2018 Dolphins (defeated New England, lost at Minnesota), 2020 Cardinals (beat Buffalo, lost to Seattle) and 2020 Raiders (defeated the Jets, lost to Indianapolis).
The last team to win the week after pulling out a victory with a Hail Mary was the 2015 Green Bay Packers, who won in Detroit on Aaron Rodgers' 61-yard pass to Richard Rodgers on the game's last play and followed that with a 28-7 victory in Dallas.
View photos from the all-time series between the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders.