Crossing Broad
Does anyone else find it somewhat quizzical that the biggest obstacle standing between the Eagles and the Super Bowl is a Washington quarterback? A rookie quarterback, no less. Jayden Daniels is the Commies’ #1 threat in the NFC Championship Game, bar none, and Vic Fangio was asked about him this week:
Commanders QB Jayden Daniels is obviously a young quarterback and you saw him just last month. He’s played in his first post-season games. In that small amount of time has he changed?
VIC FANGIO: He’s a young quarterback by birth certificate, not by the tape. You know, the guy is playing extremely well. You can tell how much they think he’s playing so good by the volume of their offense and the things they trust him to do. He’s come through for them in a big way, and he’s tough to handle.
You mentioned the volume. Aside from the amount of plays that Commanders Offensive Coordinator Kliff Kingsbury has and goes to, are there a lot of teams around the league that run a lot of what he does?
VIC FANGIO: I’m sure there are. You know, he has the added dimension of the gun-run game where he can have design runs for the quarterback or pull it and keep it. That adds another level to an offense, and he excels at that. I assume he was doing it in college and it just comes natural to him.
When you evaluate Daniels ahead of Sunday, what do you look at? Do you look at his only previous game at Lincoln Financial Field, when he threw for 191 yards, one TD, one pick, and ran for 18 yards? Do you look at the second Commies/Eagles game, when Jalen Hurts went out injured and Daniels led a two-minute drill for the game-winning score?
Or do you look at the Tampa and Detroit playoff games? –
Top of mind should be the shift in climate. Daniels is going from sunny Tampa and dome Detroit to a predicted 38 degrees this week. Not horrible, but not entirely comfortable either. And he’s playing against an Eagles defense only expected to be missing one starter, depending on what happens with Quinyon Mitchell. Everyone is talking about Washington’s offensive performance in the divisional round, but that Lions defense was so depleted that it makes the 2025 Sixers look healthy. Not only that, but the Detroit offense turned it over five times on the afternoon. The Eagles have protected the ball all year long and are +6 in turnover differential this postseason with zero giveaways of their own.
The other thing is that five of the Commies’ last six wins...
