I’ve been a Washington fan since I was six years old. I’ve been lucky enough to see some great games during my time as a fan. Yesterday’s performance was among the best and most complete games I’ve seen Washington play in the past two decades.

The Commanders looked rested and ready after a short week of play in Arizona, and despite giving up a touchdown on the first Cardinals drive of the game, they really owned it from then on. The offense appeared to be in midseason form and Jayden Daniels is playing like a 10-year veteran in Kingsbury’s system. Even the defense stepped up, holding the Cardinals to just 14 points and 296 total yards.

Washington is now 3-1 and in sole possession of first place in the NFC East!

Below are my Studs from the game, followed by some comments.

Studs:

That boy Jayden – This young man is something else! He’s mature beyond his years, takes pressure, always seems in control and has all the intangibles you look for in a franchise quarterback. Sure, he threw his first career NFL interception yesterday on a poorly thrown ball, but I don’t think you’ll find a fan of this team who cares about that. The way he played yesterday was magical again.

Daniels was 26/30 for 233 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He added 47 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Brian Robinson/Jeremy McNichols – The duo of Robinson and McNichols combined for 169 rushing yards and three touchdowns (2 by McNichols) in the afternoon. They added four receptions for 18 receiving yards. McNichols was once again excellent at picking up blitzes in pass protection, while Robinson had some impressive blocks downfield.

Terry McLaurin/Olamide Zaccheaus – McLaurin and Zaccheaus played key roles in Daniels’ passing success all afternoon, showing the ability to create separation, convert third downs and make the tough catches. They combined for 13 receptions for 137 yards and a touchdown (McLaurin).

Attack line commanders – I’m as harsh as anyone when it comes to judging the performance of our offensive line. That said, yesterday’s game against the Cardinals was the best I’ve seen in over five years in line play, both in terms of run blocking and pass protection! Lucas, Allegretti, Biadasz, Cosmo, Wylie, Coleman And Scott were excellent all afternoon. I was especially impressed with rookie Coleman’s pass protection when he was on the left side. BIG step forward for this unit!

Frankie Luvu/Bobby Wagner – Luvu and Wagner were all over the field causing chaos in the Cardinals offense. They recorded 17 total tackles, a sack (each player had half a sack), a tackle for loss, two quarterback hits, four pressures and a forced fumble and recovery (Luvu).

Dorrance Armstrong After a relatively quiet start to the season, Armstrong had his breakout game against the Cardinals with five tackles, one and a half sacks, one tackle for loss, three quarterback hits, four pressures and a forced fumble.

Cliff Kingsbury – Kingsbury continues to call masterful games. Washington’s offense is clicking and he’s putting his quarterback in positions to succeed.

Duds:

No one should be named!

Notes:

• Austin Seibert remained perfect during the season, making both his field goal attempts (45 and 38) and his extra points.

• As bad as this secondary started the season, no Arizona receiver had more than 45 yards receiving. The only really bad play I can remember in the secondary was the fourth and 12 play against Harrison for the easy first down.

• Jeremy Chinn played a very active game and improved his tackling compared to earlier in the season. He recorded eight tackles and a forced fumble.

• John Bates continued his excellent blocking!

• Payne and Allen look like they’re putting pressure there. There was a play early in the game where Payne came flying onto the field and lost his lead, allowing Conner to run for a big gain. On the next play he was called for offside. However, the due did cause some chaos in the Cardinals’ backfield, combining for seven tackles (five by Allen), one and a half sacks, a tackle for a loss and two quarterback hits.

• Washington has only scored once in the last three games!

• Give the Washington staff credit for making the decision to travel directly from Cincinnati to Arizona in this short week. The team looked rested and ready to play!