After leading the Washington Commanders on a Game Winning drive to beat the Buccaneers in the NFL Playoffs Wild Card Round, Jayden Daniels and the Commanders are set to face off against the Detroit Lions in the Divisional Round. The Lions have been one of the best team's in football all season long finishing the year 15-2 which was good enough to take the top seed in the NFC.
The headline for the Detroit Lions has been their incredible offense which leads the league scoring 33.2 points per game behind a balanced attack as the Lions are second in the league in passing yards per game (263.2) and 6th in rushing yards per game (146.4).
Where the team has flown under the radar is on defense as despite suffering injuries to key pieces all season long, Detroit's defense still ranks 7th allowing just 20.1 points per game. The Lions defense provides a difficult challenge for Jayden Daniels as he faces one of the league's best units on the road in the playoffs.
The last five quarterbacks the Lions have faced have put up the following stat lines:
- Sam Darnold: 18-41, 166 yards, and 10 yards rushing
- Brock Purdy: 27-35, 377 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 12 yards rushing, and 1 rushing TD
- Caleb Williams: 26-40, 334 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 34 yards rushing
- Josh Allen: 23-34, 362 yards, 2 touchdowns, 68 yards rushing, and 2 rushing touchdowns
- Jordan Love: 12-20, 206 yards, 1 touchdown, and 23 yards rushing
Over his last five starts, Jayden Daniels average line is 24.4-34.2 for 237 yards and 3 touchdowns with .8 interceptions and 68.6 yards per game rushing.
Against this Lions team, Daniels can't afford to turn the football over as the Lions defense will quickly make you pay. In this game we'll likely see the Commanders try to hold onto the ball longer looking to wear down the Lions defense which means we'll likely see more designed runs by Daniels. The Lions injuries at edge rusher should allow Daniels success on outside runs and we project he'll pick up 85 yards on the ground.
Given that the Lions have dealt with injuries at cornerback, the bye week was massive as Terrion Arnold has been full go at practice while Ennis Rakestraw began his window to return from injured reserve and Amik Robertson is off of the injury report.
The Commanders will likely look to limit how often they're putting the ball in harm's way getting the ball out quickly with Jayden Daniels getting the ball out quickly. We'll likely see Daniels attempts go down to about 28 attempts with 21 completions for 225 yards and a touchdown.
Final Projection for Jayden Daniels: 21/28 with 225 yards passing, 85 yards rushing, and a touchdown.
Will it be enough for Jayden Daniels if he hits that line to knock off the Detroit Lions? It'll all depend on the defense and the Commanders rushing attack whether that performance is enought to win the game. The Commanders rushing attack struggled mightily against the Buccaneers and will need to bounce back against the Lions in order to win this game.