Instant analysis: Commanders’ loss overshadowed by Jayden Daniels concerns

Join the huddle. Sign up here for Commanders updates in your inbox.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Washington’s greatest fears were realized in Dallas.

After the Commanders spent the entire offseason trying to keep their franchise quarterback healthy, Jayden Daniels injured his left elbow and was carted off the field in an air cast Sunday.

It was the same elbow he gruesomely dislocated against the Seattle Seahawks last year that ultimately ended his season. He tried to return three weeks after the initial injury but aggravated it against the Minnesota Vikings before Washington shut him down.

Without Daniels, the Commanders lost to the Cowboys 37-20. They fall to 0-2, with two divisional losses.

Here are three immediate takeaways.

A disaster in Dallas

There is nothing that truly matters from this Cowboys game other than Daniels’ injury. He dropped back on the final play of the first half and tripped over an offensive lineman’s foot. When he was bracing for his fall, his left elbow appeared to hyperextend.

Daniels stayed down for several minutes before being carted off with a towel over his head — sending Washington’s fanbase into shock.

The Commanders saw Daniels go down with injuries too many times in 2025. They were so worried about it that they installed a new offensive scheme around Daniels not getting hit. New play-caller David Blough put him under center, limited his scrambles and taught him a pro-style attack. They even named the plays after things he cared about to make him comfortable.

But it wasn’t a hit that did him in. It was a fluke play just 90 minutes into the season.

Plenty will be said about who comes after Daniels and whether Washington’s season is over.

The Commanders re-signed veteran Marcus Mariota, knowing Daniels’ injury history. He finished with 111 yards on 11-of-16 passing. But, even with an above-average backup, the chasm between Mariota and Daniels is significant. Look at the second-half production from Washington. The Commanders struggled to score seven points.

If need be, the Commanders have rookie Athan Kaliakmanis, whom they felt strongly enough about to keep on the 53-man roster. But it is hard to read the situation any other way: The Commanders are in serious trouble if Daniels misses extended time.

A glimpse of what could be

What makes the injury even more difficult is Washington was finally getting a glimpse of what Daniels could be in this new offense.

Unlike last week, when he seemed hesitant to run, this time he had no such qualms.

He ran for five first downs in critical moments. The first was a 7-yard scramble in Washington’s own territory, and then came an 18-yard run on third down to keep the drive alive. Later, he had a 20-yard scamper up the middle of the defense.

Dallas kept showing Daniels light boxes. On the long run, the Cowboys dropped back in zone after not biting on play-action. Dallas was testing Daniels to see if he’d be comfortable using his legs. This week, he did. It led to two scoring drives.

Daniels’ rushing threat opened the passing game that Blough was hired to implement. Washington’s quarterback started the game 9-of-10 passing. It was proof of concept for Blough.

Notably, Daniels also didn’t take a big hit on any of the runs. In theory, this was the ultra-athletic quarterback altering the game without being in harm’s way. That is, until the noncontact injury.

A dynamic duo

Coordinator Daronte Jones started the week by saying Washington’s defensive scheme needed to be geared toward stopping the Cowboys’ two premier receivers. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens are explosive playmakers just waiting to expose a thin Commanders secondary, he said. But Jones thought there were ways to mask an overpowered group.

“That’s not a one-man job in terms of how we want to handle that. That’s a team effort, collective effort,” Jones said. “That’s [defensive] disguises, that’s the back end, that’s the linebacker, that’s the rush.”

That plan may have sounded good, but it didn’t work.

Dallas went to Lamb early and often. He had six catches for 94 yards and a touchdown in the first half. He ended with 153 receiving yards and two scores. Pickens totaled six catches for 40 yards.

With those two running free, quarterback Dak Prescott looked comfortable pushing the ball downfield. He had 279 yards and four touchdowns on 26-of-31 passing.

Jones was being honest about how he wanted to defend Lamb and Pickens. Washington played zone over 75% of the time in the first half and went man-to-man less than 10%.

He didn’t want his corners isolated on Lamb and Pickens. The problem was, Dallas kept finding the soft spots of the zone. That included Lamb’s first touchdown, when he basically walked into the middle of the zone for a wide-open score.