Favre-Aikman. Brady Manning. Mahomes-Allen. Marquee quarterback duels punctuate NFL history. It’s far, far too early to say that the meeting of the No. 2 and No. 8 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft will ever come close to the heights of that lofty rivalry. But hey, you never know.
Sunday night’s showdown between Jayden Daniels and Michael Penix Jr. is perhaps the first in a long, storied line of classic games. According to NBC, it’s already the first primetime game in NFL history between two rookie quarterbacks who were first-round draft selections:
If that’s too much statistical massage for you, the bigger point remains: These are two highly touted quarterbacks meeting professionally for the first time, and the stakes are high for both teams.
Sunday night’s showdown between the Washington Commanders and the Atlanta Falcons will have an immediate impact, with playoff berths and positioning on the line for both teams. And if you want some extra personnel drama, this is the first time Washington’s Dan Quinn will face Atlanta as head coach since the Falcons fired him in 2018.
Both teams ended up in the same spot – a rookie starting at quarterback in a crucial late-season game – in the most different ways possible. Washington struck gold studded with diamonds in Daniels, who jumped straight from LSU into a potential 10-year NFL starting role. Atlanta, meanwhile, saw its two-year quarterback succession plan explode a year and a half earlier and is in Game 2 of the Michael Penix Jr. experience.
Penix enjoyed this year’s equivalent of a preseason warm-up game against the woeful New York Giants last Sunday, a 34-7 victory in which he played solid but unspectacular ball. He threw for 202 yards, without a touchdown, but with an interception that wasn’t exactly his fault. Penix showed a stronger arm and more pocket mobility than Kirk Cousins, whom he replaced, had ever shown in an Atlanta uniform.
“I’m happy for him; he waited his time,” Daniels said of Penix earlier this week. “In my opinion, he is a phenomenal player and I am happy to compete against him.”
Daniels, for his part, has of course been spectacular all season. He ranks among the NFL leaders in several key statistical categories, from completion percentage to QBR. More importantly, he’s given Washington hope, the kind of irrational hope you have when leading a team to its best season in years.
Washington has nearly secured a playoff spot, and even a division title is still on the table if the Commanders beat Atlanta and Dallas next week. The Commanders are four-point favorites at home, and an 11th win would be Washington’s highest win since the 1991 season – the last time the franchise won a Super Bowl.
Atlanta, on the other hand, has a much more uncertain path ahead. The Falcons and Buccaneers each have eight wins, but the Falcons maintain the division lead thanks to tiebreakers. However, if Atlanta loses this game and Tampa Bay beats Carolina – not an impossible proposition – the Falcons will surrender the lead after holding it for an entire week. And considering that both the Falcons and Buccaneers face the bottom half of their divisions in Week 18, Atlanta can’t afford to give up ground and be confident of holding down a spot in the postseason.
“The reality is you fight, you fight, you fight and you put yourself in a position to go out and win your division,” Penix said earlier this week. “You give yourself a chance to qualify yourself for extra play. We’re right in the mix to do that, and we’ve got to do it and finish it.”
Expect the Falcons to go with a heavy offense on Sunday; the Commanders rank 29th in the league in rushing defense, compared to fourth in the NFL in passing defense. It’s not the kind of situation that would send a rookie quarterback flying. Meanwhile, expect Daniels to look to pick apart Atlanta’s 20th-ranked pass defense, which has proven friendly to quarterbacks all season.
The NFL thought about this game enough to work it into the big Sunday night slot, understandably from Miami-Cleveland. If Washington can live up to its regular season standard, or if Atlanta can rise to the occasion, the flex will be worth it. Either way, it’s a chance to see two of the game’s most touted rookies on the court for the first of what could be many memorable matchups.
