Tom Brady gives Commanders' Jayden Daniels major recognition after Week 1 win
Things weren't perfect for the Washington Commanders in their Week 1 21-6 defeat of the New York Giants to pick up an early NFC East victory. Washington's offense started the game slowly, but eventually found a rhythm behind a strong running game, quarterback Jayden Daniels, and wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
Daniels picked up right where he left off in 2024, and while not the prettiest outing, he still managed to complete over 60% of his 30 pass attempts for 233 yards and a touchdown while adding another 68 yards on the ground. Daniels' leading ways were good enough to earn him FOX Sports' Tom Brady's LFG Player of the Game honor.
Daniels shines, Brady approves
Per Brady, Daniels' mother, Regina Jackson, called that he would be winning the award, and she was right. Daniels once again proved why he should be viewed as one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and Brady seems thrilled to see Daniels pick up right where he left off a season ago.
While the performance was impressive, there is still room for growth. Becoming more efficient and getting Terry McLaurin more involved will likely be at the top of the list. However, things are looking good for just getting through the first week of a grueling NFL season.
Speaking of grueling, Daniels and the Commanders won't have time to sit on their victory over the Giants all that long. Washington will have to quickly turn around this week as they head West to take on the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football.
The Giants' defense is solid, especially when it comes to the pass rush, but the Packers have a new look and seem reinvigorated with the addition of Micah Parsons. The Packers, much like the Commanders, are fighting to prove they are worthy contenders for Super Bowl LX, so Daniels and the rest of the squad will have to come out firing on all cylindars if they hope to go 2-0 to start the season.
Packers’ Colby Wooden Fires Back at Critics After Dominant Run Defense Performance
Micah Parsons, a contrarian opinion had taken hold, too–the Packers defense would get chewed up in the running game.Three days before the Packers were to play the Detroit Lions in their 2025 opener, defensive lineman Colby Wooden got a phone call. It was his father. While much attention had been foisted on the Packers in recent days after the stunning trade for pass-rusher
The Packers had to trade away stalwart defensive lineman Kenny Clark to acquire Parsons, and the feeling was, that would be costly in the team’s efforts to handle the run. Detroit, after all, rushed for 2,488 yards last season, sixth in the NFL. Without Clark, surely the Packers would be in trouble.
Wooden, who is helping replace Clark in the middle, took the call from his dad, who said, “Do me a favor, shut ‘em up.”
And he, along with the entire Packers defensive front, did just that, holding the Lions to 46 yards on 22 carries, their lowest rushing output since Week 6 in 2023. Wooden, Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks held the line admirably in the middle all day for the Packers.
Colby Wooden: ‘I Took That Personal’
Wooden, for one, was insulted by the questions about the team’s inability to hold against the run.
“I for sure took that personal …” Wooden said. “So I just, did my job, went out there, stopped the run. I took it personal. Honestly, I felt like it was kinda disrespectful, like, ‘Oh, they gonna run the ball.’ So I made it my mission—we, excuse me—we made it our mission to shut them down.”
That’s not easy to do against the combo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, nicknamed Sonic and Knuckles.
“We know what they want to do,” Wooden said. “Last year, they wanted to run. They call them Sonic and Knuckles, or whatever. They want to run them 30 times. So we know they want to run that ball. We’ve got to do our job to stop the run so they can get back and let (Parsons) go get them.”
Packers Filling Roles With Micah Parsons on Board
Wooden said the effect of having Parsons on the field was obvious, and it works both ways. When offenses focus on corralling Parsons, the other Packers must step up.
“Everybody’s got a job to do, everybody got a role,” Wooden said. “Everybody’s got to buy into their role. We know what attention and what he comes with. And we know we got to stop that run, go help him out, if he is getting is getting chipped, doubled or whatever, now it’s somebody else’s turn to win their one-on-one.”
Packers Have Commanders Next
And despite the obviously encouraging results, Wooden is not getting ahead of himself. The Commanders will be next on the docket, with fearsome young quarterback Jayden Daniels on hand.
“It’s just one week,” Wooden said. “It’s Week 1. It’s great to start off with a win, dominate. But we’ve got to keep it going. We got a good team coming here on Thursday, we know we got to be ready to stop that run and contain that quarterback. So we just gotta keep going, keep getting better, keep jelling.”
