LANDOVER, MARYLAND —Throwing an early interception at the goal line, Jayden Daniels shrugged it off as if it were his 50th NFL game, not his fifth. It was successful enough to give Daniels and the Washington Commanders their fourth straight win, as they destroyed the Cleveland Browns 34–13 on Sunday.
Despite having almost as many interceptions as the previous three games combined, the rookie quarterback overcome it with 82 yards of rushing and his first touchdown pass of the season.
With 211 yards on 31 carries, Daniels, Brian Robinson Jr., Austin Ekeler, and Jeremy McNichols ran all over the Browns. In a game so lopsided that, with four minutes remaining in the third quarter, spectators were doing the wave, Robinson rushed for two touchdowns and McNichols scored one.
That was mostly due to the Commanders’ defense, which sacked Deshaun Watson seven times and giving up 212 yards made him fumble. Cleveland’s sole touchdown came in garbage time after Washington, who came into the game with the worst third-down defense in the league, went 1 of 13 in a clumsy, disorganized effort.
The reality of football
With 125 yards and a late touchdown pass to tight end Jordan Akins, Watson completed 15 of 28 passes. However, he did two highlight-reel throws, one for a touchdown to Dyami Brown (after he asked offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury for the opportunity to go deep) and another for Terry McLaurin (66 yards).
McLaurin caught four passes for 125 yards, a season-high. Ekeler’s rush of 57 yards was the longest for Washington since Derrius Guice’s 60 yards in 2019. “The reality of football is that we didn’t score on every drive like we have in the past,” said Ekeler, who finished with 107 yards from scrimmage after returning from a concussion.
Early in the second half, Browns long snapper Charley Hughlett (rib) and cornerback Denzel Ward (hamstring) were declared out. Security Following his injuries in the third quarter, Grant Delpit underwent evaluation for a possible brain injury…. C After leaving the field in the fourth, Ethan Pocic went straight to the locker room, and Stefanski reported that Pocic had a knee injury. David Njoku, a tight end, made a 14-yard reception during his three-game absence due to a high ankle injury.