Washington is out to their best start through 14 games since 1992 after picking up a 20-19 victory on the road against the New Orleans Saints. The Commanders secondary, quarterback Jayden Daniels and wide receiver Terry McLaurin made their presence felt to help lock up the Commanders' ninth win of the season.

The secondary

From making strong tackles in the open field to eliminating passing options, Washington's safeties and defensive backs made life difficult for the Saints offense yesterday afternoon.

Let's first shine the spotlight on Jeremy Chinn, who was incredibly active against New Orleans and extinguished plays with great instincts and smothering hits. The safety had a tackle for loss in the first quarter on Saints running back Kendre Miller and then in the second quarter, with the New Orleans offense on third-and-5, he fought through his blocker to bring down Saints quarterback Jake Haener for a sack and loss of nine yards. Though he went out with injury in the fourth quarter, Chinn led the team with seven tackles.

Cornerback Mike Sainristil also balled out. In addition to his five tackles (tied for second on Washington's defense), the rookie cornerback provided one of the highlights of the afternoon in the second quarter. On third-and-4, Haener looked to find a receiver downfield, but Sainristil spoiled that plan. The Michigan product read the pass and came up with his second interception of the season. Head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. both spoke about the need to get turnovers earlier in the week, and Sainristil clearly was listening.

And how about Marshon Lattimore? After signing with the Commanders at the trade deadline, many had been waiting with bated breath for the debut of the Pro Bowler as he worked his way back from injury. That first appearance in the Burgundy & Gold finally came against his former team yesterday, and it was uneventful in the best way possible for a cornerback. Lattimore wasn't targeted once all game.

Jayden Daniels

Week 15 offered something of a homecoming for former LSU star Daniels, and the rookie quarterback put on a show in his return to the Bayou State.

The signal-caller got the offense humming on its first possession of the afternoon, completing a 12-play drive with a backyard football-esque scramble and pass to McLaurin. The way the quarterback kept the play alive with his legs (after stumbling), evaded tacklers and zipped it to McLaurin in such a tight window perfectly captured much of what has made Daniels so exciting and impactful this season. The play had just a 13% completion probability. The Daniels-McLaurin connection also produced Washington's second touchdown of the game as the quarterback demonstrated poise in the pocket before finding his WR1 mid-stride.

Daniels' brilliance wasn't just highlighted on scoring plays. He made smart little decisions like when he outstretched his hand on third-and-2 in the middle of the second quarter to get Washington a first down. He wielded gravity-defying athleticism to extend drives and pick up yardage like when he launched over a pile on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter.

In the win, Daniels completed 25-of-31 passes for 226 yards, two touchdowns and a 118.5 passer rating. He also rushed for 66 yards. These stats pushed him into elite rookie quarterback company. Daniels joined Lamar Jackson, Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III as the only rookie quarterbacks in NFL history to record 650-plus rushing yards in their rookie campaign, and he became the third rookie in NFL history (alongside Newton and Griffin) to throw for over 3,000 passing yards and rush for over 600 yards.

Terry McLaurin

McLaurin had an impressive two-touchdown outing against the Titans before the bye and kept that rhythm going down in New Orleans after the Week 14 break.

There seems to be a strong correlation between McLaurin finding the ball early in games and the Commanders bagging a win. More proof of that was on display yesterday in Caesars Superdome. Daniels hit McLaurin on his first pass of the game and that drive ended with six points for Washington -- the jaw-dropping touchdown where McLaurin, sandwiched between two defenders after running across the end zone, secured the dart from Daniels. He followed that up in the second quarter with another sure-handed catch in the end zone to put Washington up 14-0.

Yesterday marked the first time in the wide receiver's career that he has recorded multiple touchdowns in back-to-back games. He has four of those on the season now, the second most in the NFL behind just Cincinnati's Ja'Marr Chase. He also surpassed 900 receiving yards for the sixth straight season.

The Daniels-McLaurin connection is flourishing and bringing a lot of joy to the six-year veteran who, after his performance against the Saints, moved into a tie with Ricky Sanders (36) for No. 8 all-time in franchise history for career touchdown receptions and became the first Washington wide receiver to have 10 or more touchdown receptions since Gary Clark did so in 1991.