Jayden Daniels, Josh Allen shine in Monday Night Football wins; Bengals, Jaguars remain winless |Max Sporty|

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🏈 Good morning to everyone, but especially to…

THE WASHINGTON COMMANDERS AND THE BUFFALOS

Man, oh man, is Jayden Daniels and Josh Allen funny or what?! The Commanders exceeded the Bengals38-33, and the Invoices demolished the Jaguars47-10, with both starting quarterbacks stealing the show on the national stage.

Let’s start with Daniels, whose statistics were unprecedented:

• First player in NFL history with 250 yards passing, two touchdowns passing, one touchdown rushing and a 90% completion rate
• 21 of 23 passing (91%): NFL single-game rookie record and Commanders single-game record
• 80.3% completion percentage: second best through three weeks of a season in NFL history, trailing only by Drew Brees 80.6% in 2018
• Only player in NFL history with an 80% completion percentage and 150 yards rushing in a three-game span
• Daniels & Co. withdrew this one-in-1.7 million feat

Daniels’ best moment — the game-clinching — was an absurd 27-yard touchdown to Terry McLaurin on third and 7. Oh yeah, and him too threw his first NFL touchdown to an offensive lineman.

Daniels has a truly rare accuracy to the point where labeling him a dual threat seems like a disservice to his demise. But he also ran for 15 first downs — the most of any quarterback this season, and one before. Lamar Jackson — and three touchdowns, so he’s elite in that aspect, too.

I’ve watched Washington cycle through quarterbacks all my life. The defense is a mess, and Daniels will hit bumps, but the Heisman Trophy winner has delivered hope. Pure, unbridled hope. Before there was hope. But this feels different. This one, in a game I watched with my dad who passed on the fandom, felt special.

In a much less dramatic game, the Bills ran roughshod over a Jaguars team that feels like it’s getting close to falling apart completely. More on that in a bit. Buffalo looks amazing.

• Allen threw for 263 yards and four touchdowns — one to Khalil Shakir, Dalton Kincaid, Ty Johnson and Keon Coleman — and looks like an all-time MVP candidate. I love the new look supporting cast, led by James Cook and Shakir, a supercharged, really fun gamer.
• Buffalo scored a touchdown on each of its first five possessions.
• The Bills had five sacks and eight passes defensed, absolutely dominating Trevor Lawrence and Jacksonville.
• in a real good time, Damar Hamlin caught his first career catch.

However, it returns to Allen. The accuracy — long underestimated — is high. The bad decisions are down. He has yet to throw an interception this season. He throws the ball shorter on average, but he still makes things happen downfield.

Allen has 0.55 expected points added per dropback this season. The best single-season mark on record (since 2000) is 2004 Peyton Manning at 0.45. Yes, Allen was that good.

👍 Honorable mentions

😬 And not such a good morning for…

THE CINCINNATI BENGALS AND THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Where do we start?

OK, we’ll start with the Bengals, who didn’t hit or turn the ball over and still lost. That doesn’t happen often: In the era of the Super Bowl (since 1966), there were 34 occasions where a team did not have a throw or a turnover in a game. Only two of those teams lost.

The defense is a wreck. There is no overtaking speed outside Trey Hendrickson. The second and third tier defenders can’t hold on forever. When the defense is this bad, there is no margin for error for the offense. That’s why a missed field goal, a couple of red-zone trips that ended in field goals and a failed two-point attempt loomed so large.

The Bengals are 0-3 with all three losses by six or fewer points. They blew several chances in Week 1 against the Patriots. They had the bosses held up to fourth and 16 on the final drive before losing. And now Monday. They are close. But close is not enough.

The Jaguars, meanwhile, aren’t even close. And they are definitely not good enough. We can discuss Lawrence’s struggles, sure. But it’s hard to see a team come out so flat and not see bigger problems. Almost 12 minutes into the game, the Bills had two touchdowns, and the Jaguars had 1 yard. The defense fell apart. The offense looks lost. But the effort… The effort was unacceptable.

Just under 10 months ago, the Jaguars were 8-3 and looking like a contender. Lawrence hasn’t won a game since (eight straight losses). There is a shocking collapse, and Doug Pedersonthe seat is already burning hot.

👎 Not so honorable mentions

⚾ Phillies clinch NL East for first time since 2011

The Phillies had led the NL East since May 3. On Monday, they made sure it would stay that way for good. Philadelphia clinched the division crown — first since 2011 — with a 6-2 win over the Cubs.

• The Phillies secured a playoff bid Friday against the Mets but were not satisfied with this, and they will not be satisfied with this. They are half a game behind the Dodgers for the best record in MLB. They are also 3.5 games up on the Brewers for the second best record in the NL. The top two seeds in each league get up to.
• This ends the Braves‘ run of NL East titles at six straight.
• Philadelphia leaned on a host of offensive weapons and excellent top-ten four starting pitchers in Aaron Nola, Christopher Sánchez, Guard Suárez and Zack Wheeler.

Mike Axis sums it up nicely: “The Phillies are very good and they’re healthy, too. This might be the best chance for their current core to parade down Broad Street.”

😳 Conference realignment: Utah State heads to Pac-12, AAC stands strong

There has been no news about conference realignment in a few days, and apparently someone decided that was too long. We have another movement — and invitations declined — on our hands.

Remember, the Mountain West lost Boise State, Fresno State, Colorado State and San Diego State to the Pac-12 earlier this month. So, currently, the Pac-12 and the Mountain West both have seven teams. Leagues must have eight members to be recognized by the NCAA as an FBS conference.

Dennis Dodd and Shehan Jeyarajah ordered through the chaosand surely more to come.

🏈 Injuries wreaking havoc across NFL; 49ers among top-hit teams

After the brutality that is NFL Sunday, Mondays are when we learn the extent of the carnage. And it’s really starting to pile up.

There is a lot of competition for “team most affected by injuries”, and the 49ers is in the running. The news doesn’t get any bettereither.

• Javon Hargrave (partially torn triceps) is done for the season.
• Christian McCaffreywho hasn’t played this year and is on IR, is in Germany seeing a specialist for his Achilles tendinitis.
• Brock Purdy is daily with back pain, although his MRI was clean.
• San Francisco was without George Kittle (hamstring) and Deebo Samuel (calf) in its Week 3 collapse against the Ramswho were without Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and several other players on both sides of the ball.

As for other NFC contenders…

In the AFC, Myles Garrett is experiences pain in both feet and both legsand the Chargersmaybe down Justin Herbert and both starter kits, could be without Derwin Jameswho was suspended one game for repeated rule violations.

📺 What we watch on Tuesday

⚾ Orioles at Yankees7:05 pm on TBS
🏀 Game 2: Dream at Liberty7:30 pm on ESPN
🏀 Game 2: Storm at Aces9:30pm on ESPN
⚾ Padres at Dodgers10:10 PM on TBS