Washington Commanders complete a turnaround from 4-13 to making the playoffs behind Jayden Daniels
Associated Press— Moments after the Washington Commanders finished the 2023 season at 4-13 and locked up the second pick in the draft, Daron Payne was already feeling optimistic about the organization’s long-term future. “There’s no better gift that you can give a man on his 60th birthday than a playoff berth,” Peters said, handing the ball to Harris while players cheered. “The first time I saw ‘5’ throw the football, I just thought, ‘Well, let’s play some ball and see what happens,’” Way said. And that stuff doesn’t go unnoticed by players like myself who have been in the league for 12 years.” Daniels lost his NFL debut, then led the Commanders on a four-game winning streak and victories in seven of the next eight while gutting through a rib injury, including a Hail Mary touchdown throw to beat Chicago among his many spectacular moments. Winning 27-22 at the Giants the following week to improve to 7-2 was the kind of “ugly game” that showed players what they could do when Daniels didn’t have the magic touch.