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The Washington Commanders vanquished the New York Giants, 21-18, in a nail-biting Week 2 game at Northwest Stadium. Kicker Austin Seibert, running back Brian Robinson Jr., quarterback Jayden Daniels and cornerback Benjamin St-Juste all had impactful performances to help lift the home team against the visiting divisional rival.
Austin Seibert
It's no secret that kicker has been one of the biggest pain points for Washington as of late. There's been a revolving door of players at the position since the release of Brandon McManus in June, and in a job where performance is more binary than arguably any other on the field, each of them hasn't been able to get it done.
Enter Seibert. Washington signed the former fifth-round pick this past Tuesday after moving on from Cade York. Before joining Washington, Seibert had been on six different teams since entering the league in 2019. That said, it's perhaps understandable that Washington would have a hope-for-the-best mentality about their new addition.
On Sunday, the kicker showed that he can be a permanent solution for the Commanders. Seibert scored every single point in the Burgundy & Gold's win over New York. Plus, his seven made field goals set a new single-game franchise record.
Brian Robinson Jr.
Robinson has shown he can be an X-factor for Washington when given the opportunity. Yesterday's win over the Giants was proof of that and more, as the 25-year-old is making a case as one of the best young running backs in the league.
The Commanders recorded 215 yards on the ground in Week 2's win, and 133 of those came from Robinson. The tally marked a career-high for the third year back. He averaged 7.8 yards per carry and, in a number that highlights his toughness, averaged 7.24 yards after contact per carry.
Two of Robinson's 17 rushes against New York were over 30 yards -- the first time he's done that in the pros. One of those was a monster 40-yard carry in the third quarter, the longest of his career, where he somehow emerged from a scrum that looked to have surely taken him down.
The threat Brian Robinson poses is going to be important for the Commanders as they look to stack wins this season.
"I always knew I was capable of doing what I did," he said after yesterday's win.
Check out the top photos of the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium during their Week 2 matchup against the New York Giants. (Emilee Fails, Kourtney Carroll and Washington Commanders staff)
Jayden Daniels
The level of hype that can swirl around highly-touted young quarterbacks, in combination with the jump to the pros, has been known to rattle many rookies. That can lead to interceptions and fumbles. Not Jayden Daniels though.
"He has a real mindset about it," head coach Dan Quinn said postgame on the topic of Daniels protecting the football.
Not only has Daniels not produced any takeaways in his first two games for Washington, but he's been accurate with his throws, tough, come up big when the team needed it and learned from the situations he's been in.
All of these qualities were on display in the Commanders win over the Giants – the first win of the Jayden Daniels era. The young signal-caller was 23-for-29 and notched 226 passing yards on Sunday. He wielded a mix of rushing and passing to chip away at the Giants defense and wasn't fazed at all by late-game pressure, leading a march down the field late in the fourth to set up Seibert's game-winner.
Over the course of two games, Daniels' completion rate of 75.5% ranks third in the NFL, while his passer rating of 97.2 is eighth. Not a bad start to his NFL career.
Benjamin St-Juste
The Commanders' defensive performance against the Giants left much to be desired, but when there were bright spots, St-Juste had a habit of being behind them.
St-Juste recorded six tackles and three pass breakups at Northwest Stadium yesterday afternoon. The first PBU was early in the third when the cornerback punched the ball out of Devin Singletary's hands for Jeremy Chinn to recover -- the first takeaway for Washington this season.
Another came minutes later with the Giants moving into scoring territory. St-Juste did well to track and stay with Darius Slayton who cut into the middle, preventing a catch on third-and-10. The cornerback turned up for a final key pass breakup in the fourth quarter, staying with Malik Nabers on a deep pass from Jones down the sideline and getting his hand up to swat it away just inches from the receiver's grasp.
Building on that momentum from a solid day's work will be crucial for St-Juste as the Commanders head into their Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals.