Hogs Haven
ESPN
Daniels, playing for the first time in two weeks — and for the first time near his hometown of San Bernardino — reminded everyone the danger he provides to the Washington offense. He threw for 231 yards and a touchdown while rushing for another 39 yards in the Commanders’ 27-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
“It means a lot,” he said. “First game back to be in my hometown. You can’t write a better story.
“I dreamt of moments like this.”
It was a tale Washington needed. The Commanders (3-2) were coming off a loss to Atlanta and had numerous injuries impacting the starting lineup. Receivers Terry McLaurin and Noah Brown missed the game with injuries. The team needed Daniels to provide a spark.
Daniels missed the past two weeks with a sprained left knee and had to play Sunday with a brace.
But it didn’t alter his game a lot: He still carried the ball eight times and took some shots from the Chargers’ defense but never stayed down on the ground.
“You all tell me. How did the knee look?” Daniels said when asked about his recovery.
The answer: pretty, pretty good.
Commanders.com
The Commanders set up at their own 1-yard line and went 99 yards to ice the game. They kept their offense on the field for a fourth-and-7, and Daniels found Samuel near the right corner of the end zone, marking the first time all season that the Chargers had given up more than 21 points.
The Commanders have played unevenly to start the year, switching back and forth between satisfying wins and frustrating losses. Week 5 was another high for the team, as they took down one of the AFC’s better teams and got to 3-2 for the second straight season. They have a difficult stretch of games over the next month, including three primetime games against the Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks.
The Commanders needed something to stabilize them as they tried to fight through injuries and slow starts. Perhaps the fumble recovery that helped flip the switch against the Chargers will be enough to help them even out the roller coaster they’ve been on to start the year.
Washington Post (paywall)
With Jayden Daniels back under center, Washington takes charge after a second-quarter turnover and rolls past Los Angeles.
Quinn said he remembered looking up at the scoreboard at that juncture and thinking to himself: “S—.” For a second week in a row, his team had put itself in a hole.
“But it felt different,” Quinn said. “Our energy, our speed — although [we were] down, it didn’t feel the same. I don’t know how to explain that exactly.”
Then, at some point in the second quarter, two things changed....
