Rookie to Revelation: Jayden Daniels Crushes Detroit’s Dreams, Saquon Barkley Powers Eagles, Chiefs Round into Form | 4 Downs

The Biggest Takeaways From a Gangbusters NFL Divisional Playoff Weekend

The Detroit Lions lived a charmed existence in 2024, in so many ways, embodying a ‘team of destiny’ feel that was only emboldened with each serious injury thrown at them, coming dangerously close to derailing what felt like a high-speed train screaming down the tracks on their way to Crescent City.

But after surviving all of the casualties of a challenge-filled season of consistent dominance, who would have thought that it would be a rookie quarterback, putting a four-win team from last year on his back, that would lead to the Lions’ early postseason demise.

Not many thought it was possible until the Washington Commanders and the sensational Jayden Daniels rolled into Motown.

Unintimidated by the Lions’ aura nor head coach Dan Campbell’s relentless aggressiveness, rather these Commanders led by this quarterback were prepared to play their own brand of high-flying offensive football, with reckless abandon, and with little regard for the moment nor their opponent’s outsized mystique.

Saturday night at Ford Field, Daniels officially arrived at the station alongside the game’s elite quarterbacks, the maestro conducting an offense mirroring the explosiveness of what had gotten the Lions to the NFC’s No. 1 seed, and a swarming defense that has been stacking confidence on confidence and opportunism atop sound fundamentals for weeks.

Maybe, then, we shouldn’t be surprised that the Commanders walked into the Lions’ den, forced five turnovers and scored 21 points off of them.

Perhaps it isn’t shocking that Daniels showed the poise of a five-year veteran in the pocket with the precision accuracy of a quarterback well beyond his experience of two postseason games, on his way to passing for 299 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while spreading the ball around to six different Commanders pass catchers.

“He’s so far ahead of schedule,” a rival NFL Offensive Coach tells me, of Daniels, on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about another team.

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Never was the No. 2 overall pick in last spring’s draft’s poise, command, or accuracy more evident than on arguably the most impressive throw of this season; a perfectly placed 39-yard bomb into the tightest of windows along the sideline to Dyami Brown with Lions safety Kerby Joseph draped all over him as both an exclamation point of Daniels’ abilities and the Commanders’ fearlessness against a vaunted defense.

Daniels is unquestionably the main attraction of this Commanders renaissance under the watch of new general manager Adam Peters, and head coach Dan Quinn.

“Kliff [Kingsbury] is also doing a great job keeping it simple for Jayden,” the coach says. “I think the real measure is going to be how he maintains next year, beyond his rookie success.

“I’ve seen a lot of quarterbacks the last decade or so have rookie breakouts, but eventually fall off. Although, I really do think Jayden is the real deal.”

On Saturday night, it was Joe Whitt Jr.’s defense that not only delivered body-blow after body-blow but stomped out the Lions’ Cinderella season and comeback hopes when with 5:33 remaining in the first half and the Commanders nursing a 17-14 lead, Quan Walker was in the right place at the right time to pull down a Jared Goff overthrow before breaking three tackles on a mad-dash into the end zone for a pick-six that announced Washington’s presence as a legitimate threat, once and for all.

Backed by a swarming defense that exacted a pound of flesh for every Goff imperfection on a night that there were more than Detroit’s share of to be able to survive, Kingsbury and Daniels put on a masterclass when it comes to utilizing the deep ball to complement an explosively punishing ground attack.

As a result, Daniels becomes just the sixth rookie quarterback to ever advance to the conference championship game, and the Commanders have lived up to their label entering this postseason as the team no one wanted to face.

The Lions’ season is over, but thanks to exemplary roster building from general manager Brad Holmes and stellar player development from Campbell and staff, even if Detroit loses coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glen in the coming days to head coaching opportunities this is a franchise with a Super Bowl window that’s very securely propped open.

Washington’s moment, though, is here, and with Daniels leading the charge, their trajectory mirrors the grit and explosiveness of their Northern rivals. But, with a generational talent under center and a roster built for sustained success, the Commanders may soon— and for years to come, be charting a course beyond even their wildest expectations.

Inside the biggest takeaways and storylines from the NFL Divisional Playoffs:

1st Down: Eagles’ Defense and Barkley’s Heroics Ice Rams in NFC Divisional Thriller

Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

As the snowfall grew heavier and the stakes higher, Vic Fangio’s defense turned the NFC Divisional Round into a nightmare for Matthew Stafford and the Rams, setting the stage for Saquon Barkley to deliver the final blow in one of the most electrifying moments of the postseason.

This game was always destined to revolve around Barkley, the Eagles’ boldest offseason acquisition and arguably the most important player on the field.