Washington’s Jayden Daniels made history in the Commanders’ 45-31 victory over the Detroit Lions. Daniels joined Baltimore’s Joe Flacco as the only rookie quarterbacks to beat a No. 1 seed in the NFL postseason.
Jayden Daniels Makes History In Commanders’ Win Over Lions
A slice of NFL history: The only two rookie QBs ever to beat a No. 1 seed in the playoffs are now Joe Flacco, whose Ravens beat the Titans in 2009, and Jayden Daniels, whose Commanders upset the Lions on Saturday night. pic.twitter.com/GLebFE6Nsa
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 20, 2025
Daniels added another accomplishment to his record-setting season.
Daniels and the No. 6 Commanders went into Detroit and defeated the No. 1 Lions in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Daniels joins Flacco as the only two rookie quarterbacks to defeat a No. 1 seed in the postseason.
Flacco and the No. 6 Ravens defeated the No. 1 Tennessee Titans 13-10 in the Divisional Round of the 2008-2009 NFL Playoffs. Flacco completed 11 of 22 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown in the victory.
Daniels’ numbers were significantly better than Flacco’s stats. Daniels completed 22 of 31 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday night’s win. The rookie also rushed for 51 yards on 16 carries.
With the victory over the Lions, Daniels now has 14 wins, including the regular season and postseason. That ties him with the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback for most wins by a rookie quarterback in NFL history.
Daniels joins Flacco, New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez (2009), and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (2022) as the only rookie quarterbacks to win two playoff games in one postseason.
To date, a rookie QB has yet to win three playoff games.
Jayden Daniels has tied Ben Roethlisberger for the most wins by a rookie QB in a season 🫡 https://t.co/eFb2E9ExuZ pic.twitter.com/VG7ni6uhcD
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) January 19, 2025
Jayden Daniels Could Make More History In NFC Championship
Rookie QBs to start a title game, and where their teams’ scoring defenses ranked:
Brock Purdy – 1st
Mark Sanchez – 3rd
Joe Flacco – 3rd
Ben Roethlisberger- 1st
Shaun King- 3rd
Jayden Daniels – 18th pic.twitter.com/vWT6Cy6O4P— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) January 19, 2025
The Commanders advance to the NFC Championship to play the No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles.
Six rookie quarterbacks have started in a conference championship game. Besides Daniels, the list includes Tampa Bay’s Shaun King (1999), Rothlisberger (2004), Flacco (2008), Sanchez (2009), and Brock Purdy (2022).
If Daniels wins, he will become the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to win a conference championship and start in the Super Bowl.
The Eagles host the Commanders on Jan. 26 at 3 p.m. ET on Fox.
