3 Commanders overreactions from Week 4 destruction of Cardinals

Hail to the Commanders! Right? Yes, there's plenty of reasons for Commanders fans to be excited. After all, head coach Dan Quinn is thrilled about his offensive coordinator. And if minority owner Magic Johnson is smiling then things must be good. But with the good things must come the reality, and here are three Commanders overreactions from the Week 4 destruction of the Cardinals.

The bandwagon is getting crowded, but let's make room for reality. Please. The Commanders are 3-1 this season. They got dusted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who honestly look decent this season. Then they defeated the New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals, and Arizona Cardinals. Break that down. The Giants stink at No. 27 in the Sporting News power rankings after Week 4. The Bengals can't play a lick of defense and stand at a generous No. 21. And a whiff of the Cardinals isn't pleasant either as they settle at No. 25.

Get the picture? The Commanders are fat on bottom feeders. So why do the brakes need to be pumped?

Overreaction #1

Jayden Daniels is already a proven NFL star

Folks we can trot out the statistics. And we will because they're kind of fun in this case.

The Commanders have been one of the most efficient offenses of the Super Bowl era through four weeks. When measuring by EPA per drive, the Commanders have been the second most efficient offense in the NFL since 2000, falling only behind the legendary 2007 New England Patriots per The Athletic's Sheil Kapadia.

Also, the Commanders have put together 23 scoring drives with 19 incomplete passes. The 1973 Rams are the only other team in the Super Bowl era that had more scoring drives (21) than incomplete passes (14) in their first four games of the season, per Jack Andrade of NFL Media Research.

Daniels has completed 82.1% of his passes. It's the highest completion percentage by any player during a four-game stretch (with a minimum of 100 pass attempts) at any point in their career since at least 1950, per NFL+ via The Athletic's Ben Standig.

Also, Daniels completed 35 passes in a row under 15 air yards over multiple games. According to NFL Next Gen stats, he had only a 0.02% chance of pulling off that feat.

See, aren't stats fun? But again, let's look at the schedule. And let's go back to the only top 10 team the Commanders have played this year. Against Tampa Bay, Daniels threw almost as many incomplete passes (7) as he's had over the last three games combined (12). He threw for only 184 yards while surpassing 200 in each of the next three games. Pretty much any stat comparison for Daniels between Game 1 and Games 2-4 is going to look different.

What about WR receiver Terry McLaurin's slow start?

McLaurin said he's pleased with what Daniels is doing, according to washingtonpost.com.

"I think he's really confident in what he's seeing," McLaurin said. "I think his preparation is very unique for a guy who just got into the league. The way he attacks practice, the way he's starting to conduct the film sessions at the end of the week for the receivers and the tight ends and stuff, it's not a surprise when he goes out there and he executes at a high level."

But here's the problem. Up next are the Browns — and Myles Garrett. Then it's the Ravens on the road, and they just manhandled Josh Allen on Sunday night. If Daniels emerges from those two games with the same type of crazy completion percentages, we can spin a different story.

The Commanders don't have a ton of offensive talent. Daniels must be accurate or he won't succeed. Eventually he's going to have to perform under more defensive pressure. The Cardinals certainly didn't harass him , according to the comments from Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon to arizonasports.com.

"He's a good player. He's dynamic," Gannon said. "We had him wrapped up a couple times and he got out of it and made some plays with his legs. I give him a lot of credit, but we've got to do a better job of affecting the quarterback."

So when Daniels meets an opponent that can apply pressure — remember the Commanders' offensive line is suspect — his elite abilities will either emerge or be exposed.

Overreaction #2

Kliff Kingsbury has secret formula

No team ever wins a Super Bowl because of a scheme. Yes, they can win WITH a scheme, but not BECAUSE of it. One good example is Bill Walsh, who helped changed the NFL with his innovative West Coast offense. But let's get real in a big hurry. Take Jerry Rice and Joe Montana off that team and let's see how far the 49ers would have gone.

Kingsbury hasn't reinvented the wheel. It's still football. And you can't throw smoke and mirrors at defenses for 17 weeks. NFL defensive coordinators are smart. The teams who have enough talent are going to pick apart Kingsbury's scheme and play-calling. They will make life very difficult for Daniels.

Yes, the Commanders are flying high and Kingsbury deserves credit, as Terry McLaurin said to nfl.com.

"It's fun times right now, the way we came out together and played as one unit," McLaurin said. "When you do that and capitalize on opportunities, then you get opportunities to win big games like this."

Overreaction #3

Dan Quinn has solved defensive issues

The Commanders looked sweet on defense against the Cardinals. They totaled four sacks and had three tackles for loss. If they get four sacks every week, this defense will be special.

But they overwhelmed the Cardinals. Perhaps it happened to be a bad matchup. The Commanders aren't this good on defense. The Bengals and Buccaneers went through them like melted butter.

Quinn said his defense is working together, especially the line.

"I really felt their connection, all four," Quinn said. "That's such a big piece of this, much like any good defense, where you're connected in a way."