It doesn’t matter if you spend just one year in Louisiana or twenty four — the Caesars Superdome is one of the most storied venues in the history of American football, and anyone who’s worn cleats and a helmet knows the arena has a different atmosphere. And that goes for former LSU Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels, too.
Daniels returned to the Superdome on Sunday and led the Washington Commanders to a win over the New Orleans Saints on their home turf. It was a close one, too, at 20-19. And that tight margin meant something special to Daniels.
“My first game in the Dome, we lost by one point,” Daniels told reporters after the game, recalling his Tigers’ 24-23 loss to Florida State back in the 2022 season opener. “So it feels good to win by one point.”
It didn’t seem to matter how many times the Saints sacked Daniels (five times in the first half, and eight in total); he just kept bouncing back up and threading passes into tight windows while scrambling to make plays with his legs. The Commanders got their quarterback in this year’s NFL draft.
Maybe the Saints can find theirs next year. Spencer Rattler had some nice flashes in a second-half rally, but he isn’t on the same level as Daniels just yet. Neither is Jake Haener. Derek Carr’s best days are behind him at this point too. We’ll see if the Saints can finally draft a quarterback who can lead them to success next April, but in the meantime they’ve got to find a way to get some positivity going through the last three weeks of their season.
