Jayden Daniels came close, but in the end, came up short in becoming the first rookie quarterback to ever start in the Super Bowl. Daniels’ Washington Commanders fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 55-23 Sunday in the NFC championship.
Sunday’s loss ended the greatest rookie season for a quarterback in NFL history. Daniels completed 29 of 48 passes for 255 yards, with a touchdown and interception. It was his first turnover in three postseason games and came late when the game was essentially over. Daniels finished his debut season with the most passing yards for a rookie quarterback in league history.
Daniels was understandably dejected after the loss that ended his season.
“Obviously, man, this sucks,” Daniels said via Pro Football Talk. “This s–t sucks. Excuse my language, but I couldn’t be prouder of the guys in the locker room. Year one, everybody not really knowing each other — rookies, doing a tremendous job bringing us in and helping us out. We all just meshed. We got to this point, but at the end of the day, we lost and it sucks. We’ll move on from this.”
It was a tough way to end such a phenomenal year. But it’s important to note the 2024 season was supposed to be a transitional year for the Commanders. The most important part of their magical 2024 season was not winning 12 regular-season games, two playoff games, or appearing in the NFC championship game for the first time in 33 years. It was finding a quarterback. Daniels is a legit superstar.
