Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels took responsibility for a fourth-quarter fumble that played a significant role in Washington’s 25-24 road loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday night.
According to Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic, Daniels said: “I just lost the ball. Completely my fault. Didn’t give [running back] Bill [Croskey-Merritt] a chance, so it’s my fault.”
With just over three minutes remaining in the game, the Commanders had a third-and-1 at the Chicago 40-yard line while leading by two points, and Daniels attempted to hand the ball off to his rookie running back.
However, the ball hit the ground on the exchange, and Bears cornerback Nahshon Wright jumped on it for the fumble recovery.
Close-up replays on the ABC broadcast showed the ball slipping out of Daniels’ hands before he could make a clean handoff to Croskey-Merritt, resulting in the fumble.
The conditions undoubtedly made the handoff more difficult than usual, as both teams dealt with rain throughout the game.
After the fumble, the Washington offense never saw the ball again. Quarterback Caleb Williams took control for the Bears and authored a nine-play, 36-yard drive that resulted in embattled kicker Jake Moody hitting a 38-yard field goal for the win as time expired.
Daniels had some great moments in Monday’s game, throwing for 211 yards and three touchdowns, and rushing for another 52 yards, but he also made some key mistakes.
On top of the fumble, Daniels threw an interception and took three sacks on the night.
That would normally be attributed to the trials and tribulations of a young quarterback, but Daniels’ performance as a rookie last season put him on a pedestal compared to other signal-callers of his experience level.
En route to being named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and earning a Pro Bowl berth, Daniels completed 69.0 percent of his passes, while throwing for 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns and nine picks. He also rushed for 891 yards and six scores.
On top of that, Daniels led the Commanders to their first playoff berth since 2020 and took them all the way to the NFC Championship Game.
Daniels is off to another strong statistical start with 875 passing yards, seven touchdowns and one interception, and 176 yards on the ground through four starts. However, he has gone just 2-2, and the Commanders are 3-3 overall, as Daniels previously missed two starts due to injury.
There is plenty of time for Daniels and the rest of the Commanders to regroup and get back on track, but they allowed a winnable game to slip through their hands Monday, both literally and figuratively.
