NFL Power Rankings: Are the Washington Commanders a top 5 team?
The Washington Commanders are on a four game winning streak and getting more national attention after every victory. The questions about whether the team is legit, are turning into how far they can go this season and in the post-season. Rookie QB phenom Jayden Daniels got a breather early in the 4th quarter against Cleveland, something that Washington fans are used to seeing from opposing teams. The wins have been relaxing and exciting to watch, and it is a great time to be a fan.
Washington is now 4-1 and still has sole possession of first place in the NFC East. FanDuel had them at 6 1⁄2 wins this year, and that over is going to give some optimistic fans a nice payday. The Commanders were considered to be a bottom 10 team at the beginning of the season, but now they’re being listed in the Top 5 more and more each week. Jayden Daniels has been everything fans could hope for at this point, and we’re only five games into the season.
A stunning performance over the sleepwalking Browns. Jayden Daniels saw pressure and, on third-and-forevers, was evading defenders and torching secondaries. In that battle between quarterbacks, both were facing an onslaught of defenders. One of the two made the defense pay and regret ever sending an extra rusher. Jayden Daniels, welcome to the MVP conversation.
Even the people who were optimistic about Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels weren’t optimistic enough. Daniels was 99th in the draft order and sits fifth in points per game (22.68) and second in points by quarterbacks after five weeks. He passed for 238 yards and rushed for 82 against the Browns and has now led Washington in rushing in three of its five games in addition to being the NFL’s leader in expected points added per dropback
Through five weeks, the Commanders are nearly halfway to their 2023 season total of 329 points. They’ve already matched last year’s win total of four and have a chance to make a statement in a Week 6 showdown with the Ravens. Non-conference tilts normally don’t weigh
this much, but this is shaping up as the biggest Commanders game in years. A loss obviously won’t kill what has been a dream start to the season. But win this one, and who knows how high the ceiling is for this club? Jayden Daniels didn’t have his sharpest game on Sunday. He was a little off-target early, but he finished with 320 combined passing and rushing yards, shaking off the early red-zone pick to finish with a good performance overall. And how about Washington’s defense? This might not be a special unit right now, but that’s three solid performances in the past four games. Last week: 7
