The Washington Commanders entered their Week 6 matchup on Monday hoping to get back on track after their disappointing tie with the New York Giants. However, Jayden Daniels and his men couldn’t bounce back and suffered another frustrating loss, falling 23-17 to the San Francisco 49ers.
Daniels still posted solid passing numbers in the game. However, one of his questionable decisions in crucial moments left many in the NFL community frustrated with the quarterback.
NFL World Questions Jayden Daniels’ Awareness After Bizarre Decision Against 49ers
The Commanders squandered a chance to win in overtime last week when Daniels scrambled for no gain with no timeouts remaining, and Washington couldn’t get lined up quickly enough to spike the ball before the clock expired.
Daniels made another questionable decision during Monday’s game against the 49ers. In the second quarter, Washington faced a fourth-down situation, but he inexplicably threw the ball out of bounds instead of attempting a pass to a receiver who might have kept the play alive.
The decision, coupled with Daniels seemingly laughing after the play, quickly sparked frustration across the NFL community.
Daniels also made another costly situational mistake on Washington’s final possession. With 16 seconds left, no timeouts and the Commanders at the 49ers’ 28-yard line, he was flagged for intentional grounding, triggering a 10-second runoff before he was sacked on the game’s final play.
“Jayden Daniels makes a terrible decision throwing the ball away on 4th down. Two weeks in a row just clueless on managing the game. Stop grinning bro, lock in,” RotoBaller’s Frank Ammirante wrote.
“Jayden Daniels football IQ is 0.0,” Fox Sports’ Chris Fallica wrote.
“When Jayden Daniels make a decision like that, it makes you think he’s at fault for what happened against the Giants. Why are you throwing the ball away on fourth down?” Fox Sports Radio co-host Mark Gunnels said.
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“Throwing the ball away on 4th down. One week after turning a win into a tie by massively botching end of game. Jayden Daniels yikes,” analyst Warren Sharp wrote.
The sequence also raised questions about whether Daniels fully recognized the down-and-distance situation. Washington entered the game with a disappointing 1-3-1 record, leaving the team with little room for further costly mistakes.
That is why Daniels’ latest decision drew even more scrutiny, especially after last week’s overtime mishap.
“This is crazy this man awareness is so bad this the second week in a row Jayden Daniels have done this. Man run for the first down would’ve got it easy. He acted like they had another down,” ex-NFL star Roddy White said.
“Jayden Daniels throwing the ball out of bounds on 4th down after last week’s fiasco is a horrible horrible look,” one said.
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“Jayden has to get serious about this job,” analyst Kevin Sheehan wrote.
“4th and 2, illegal motion and Jayden throws it away. You can’t make this up. This is an awful team,” NFL Draft analyst Josh Taylor wrote.
Keeping aside that controversial decision, Daniels delivered a productive statistical performance in Week 6. He completed 29 of 40 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns while adding 10 rushing yards on four attempts.
Daniels has shown encouraging signs in his first two appearances since returning from an elbow injury. He now ranks No. 15 in the PFN QB Impact Score with a grade of 77.8.
The Commanders will have a bye in Week 7 before returning to action against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night, November 1. Daniels will have an opportunity to bounce back during the break and address the decision-making issues.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.