Anyone paying attention to the Washington Commanders has probably noticed that the national perception about the team is a little different compared to previous seasons or even the start of September.

The Commanders, a team that many national pundits painted as one that would struggle to get off the ground in Dan Quinn's first season, are now the talk of the league with a 3-1 start, a record-setting quarterback and a historically great offense. The hype hit a new high Sunday afternoon after they travelled to Arizona on a short week and thoroughly dismantled Kyler Murray and the Cardinals, 42-14, thanks to another exceptional outing from Jayden Daniels, who some have even gone so far as to proclaim as "the best quarterback in the NFC right now."

All the positive noise surrounding the team is a new sensation for the players, several of whom were around for the rough patches of previous seasons. The vibes are appropriately high in the locker room as the Commanders look for their first 4-1 start since 2008, but don't mistake that for anyone letting the fanfare get to them.

"None of that matters," said quarterback Jayden Daniels. "That was last week's stuff."

Granted, there's no shortage of reasons to be positive about the Commanders over the past month. That starts with Daniels, who has expedited the offenses' growth with his poise, accuracy and demeanor. His "worst" game, for lack of a better term, was during the season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a game in which he was fine with 272 total yards, two rushing touchdowns and a few missed opportunities.

Since then, Daniels has been on a tear leading an offense that has punted just one time in three games. His 82.1 completion percentage through the first four games is the best in NFL history, and while there are still some mistakes from the No. 2 overall pick, they are becoming sparser by the week. He's also starting to take more shots downfield, which has in turn helped elevate the offense even further, as it ranks sixth in yards and third in points.

It's clear that Daniels is having fun when he's on the field as he flashes a grin on scrambles and when he's on the sideline, but you won't hear him bragging about his success.

"We won," Daniels said to open his postgame press conference in Arizona. "It went pretty well."

It's an accurate, albeit simple way of describing how things have gone for the Commanders. Thanks mostly to the offense, although it's worth pointing out that the defense did perform better against the Cardinals' top five-ranked unit, many national pundits have hitched themselves to the ever-growing Washington bandwagon. In this Tuesday's round of power rankings, most had the Commanders in the top 10 or just outside of it. Sports Illustrated even had them as the fifth best team in the league.

And the offense has earned the attention. After being one of the worst units in football last season, they rank sixth in yards, third in points and third in rushing yards. They have the highest third-down percentage through four games, and they scored 38 points in back-to-back games for the first time since 1991.

Veteran Austin Ekeler's advice for his team: keep a level head. He quoted one of his old coaches who said. "You can smell the perfume, but don't taste it."

"You're gonna get praise when you're winning, but don't get too far into it, because you know when you're on the flip side, it's gonna be the exact opposite."

All the success is certainly unfamiliar territory for the Commanders' veterans who have been on the team for the last five seasons, but they're more interested in the actions that have led to the success.

"When you're not solely focused on the end goal as far as wins and losses, but the process of how to get wins and losses, I think that's important," said defensive tackle Jonathan Allen. "Obviously, the end goal is to win, but if you play bad and win, there's a lot of things to improve on."

Allen, a 2017 first-round pick, is familiar with how quickly things can change in the NFL. In 2018, Allen's second season, Washington started the year with a 6-3 record before losing six of their last seven games and finishing 7-9. There were some extenuating factors behind that slump, like Alex Smith suffering a leg injury that nearly killed him, but Allen's point still stands; now is not the time to get enamored with all the positive vibes coming from outside the team.

"We're not really super focused on what the media has to say about us," Allen said. "We're just focused on what we have to do to get better, day in and day out."

Safety Jeremy Reaves admitted that it is a refreshing change for Washington to be in the spotlight for its performance on the field. Though much of the attention is focused on the offense, the defense has started to elevate itself after holding the Cardinals to just four third-down conversions and sacking Murray four times. It's far from a turnaround, but it did serve as an example of what the team can accomplish when playing a complete game.

As the Commanders get ready for a slate of games that includes three home games (one of their road games is against the Baltimore Ravens), and five opponents with records of .500 or less, Reaves doesn't want himself or his teammates to buy into the hype, or as he called it, drinking the Kool-Aid.

"When it's good, everybody's patting you on the back," Reaves said. "You kind of just gotta stay even keeled, because just as quickly as people will pat you on the back, when you blow it, it's like, 'Oh, I knew those guys would do that.' So, you just gotta keep that even keeled mindset of just doing that work every day and trying to be the best at what you do every day."