Jayden Daniels and Commanders Trail Giants 12-9 at Halftime

The game nearly started with a bang as running back Austin Ekeler took the opening kickoff all the way back for a touchdown, but a holding penalty on linebacker Nick Bellore reset the Commanders to their own 27-yard line to start the drive.

From there, Daniels took his offense down the field, getting to the Giants’ four-yard line before a false start penalty on tight end Ben Sinnott pushed them back for what would become a 27-yard field goal for kicker Austin Seibert that gave Washington an early 3-0 lead.

The drive lasted more than nine and a half minutes, and the Commanders used 16 plays to get the opening score.

Another special teams penalty – again on Bellore – gave New York great field position for its first drive, starting at its own 47 yard line.

Daniel Jones took the field for the first time and aided by an explosive 28-yard catch and run by rookie receiver Malik Nabers on 3rd and 12, the Giants scored on their first drive as well. ONly theirs was a touchdown secured on a seven-yard run by running back Devin Singletary. After a missed extra point by New York punter Jamie Gillan who was kicking in place of the injured Graham Gano, the lead was just 6-3.

When Daniels got back on the field he and the Washington offnese picked up where it left off putting together another long drive, taking off five and a half minutes of game clock this time, ending in another field goal by Seibert – tying the game at six points a piece.

The Giants’ second possession of the game lasted five plays and resulted in a punt, putting Daniels and the Commanders offense back on the field at their own 18 to start their third possession. And for a moment, it looked pretty bad, then it got better – but worse at the same time.

On 3rd and 13 from his own 15 yard line Daniels escaped the pocket and took off toward the first down marker. The good news was he gained the requisite yards. The bad, that he took a hard hit courtesy of two New York defenders and remained on the ground after the play came to an end.

He only missed one play, but the moments Daniels laid on the ground were some of the quietest we’ve ever heard in this stadium.

Getting back onto the field Daniels orchestrated another long drive lasting 13 plays before resulting in Seibert’s third field goal of the half, giving Washington a 9-6 lead with less than two minutes left in the half.

With the ball back, just over one and a half minutes left, and timeouts in their pocket Jones and the Giants went back to work looking for a one-and-one by scoring before the end of the half knowing they’ll be getting it back to start the second.

More missed tackles by the Commanders defense aided in what New York was trying to do, and after a 21 yard gain by Nabers took the ball down to the 13 yard line Jones took it down to the four with 17 seconds left and one more timeout in his possession.

With 12 seconds remaining, on 3rd and 1 from the same spot, Jones came out lined up in shotgun, dropped back to pass and found Nabers wide open in the end zone for the second New York touchodown of the game.

Unsurprisingly, the Giants came out with a trips bunched look, the same look the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave the Washington defense fits with.

New York went for two, didn’t get it, and the score stands at 12-9 as we enter halftime at Northwest Stadium.

READ MORE: Commanders Need Biggest Week 2 Improvement in Secondary

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