The Bears were able to overcome a rough day for first overall pick Caleb Williams and the offense to win in Week One, but second overall pick Jayden Daniels and the Commanders couldn’t do the same thing.
Daniels ran for a pair of touchdowns, but the offense didn’t consistently generate points and the Washington defense was shredded by Baker Mayfield in a 37-20 Buccaneers win. It wasn’t the result that the team was looking for in Dan Quinn’s debut as their head coach, but Quinn was able to spin the rough outing as a learning experience that will help the team down the road.
“You need the struggle to see the identity develop — you don’t want it, but you do need it,” Quinn said, via Ben Standig of TheAthletic.com. “That part is hard. That struggle happened tonight.”
Daniels showed why he’s central to any identity the team plans to build, but Quinn and company will need to look at ways to make sure that he remains on the field for the long run. Daniels’s took several big hits while running and lost his helmet multiple times, including on a late fourth quarter run with the game well out of reach. The Commanders have to balance the rewards that come from Daniels taking off with the ball with calling plays that ensure he will be able to stay in the lineup for the entire season or the struggle will look a lot worse than it did on Sunday.