Jayden Daniels authored another miracle Sunday.
Then his kicker missed the extra point.
The Commanders rookie threw an 86-yard touchdown on a catch-and-run by Terry McLaurin with 21 seconds to play and his team trailing the Cowboys by seven. Austin Seibert then missed the extra point, forcing the Commanders to try an onside kick that was returned by the Cowboys for a touchdown seven seconds later.
The Commanders lost by eight, a far less joyous outcome than they had at their home stadium a month ago, when the No. 2 overall pick heaved a Hail Mary to beat the Bears.
Here’s how Daniels and the other first-round picks did in Week 12:
No. 1 overall pick: Bears QB Caleb Williams
After not throwing a touchdown for a whopping five weeks, Williams threw two Sunday against the Vikings. His 103.1 passer rating was his best in six weeks. That qualifies as progress for the second consecutive game, which is all that matters at this point in the season.
No. 2 overall pick: Commanders QB Jayden Daniels
The Commanders have lost three in a row and Daniels has crashed to earth. He torched the hapless Giants the week after beating the Bears on a Hail Mary. Since then, he’s yet to post a passer rating over 82.7. More concerning: in two of the three games, he had fewer than 18 rushing yards.
No. 3 overall pick: Patriots QB Drake Maye
The Patriots failed their rookie quarterback Sunday, having 10 penalties accepted against them in Sunday’s 34-15 loss to the division rival Patriots. Maye went 22-for-37 for 221 yards and his team trailed 31-0 at the end of the third quarter.
No. 12 overall pick: Broncos QB Bo Nix
Nix broke the Broncos’ 56-year-old touchdown record for a rookie quarterback when he threw his 15th Sunday against the hapless Raiders. He’s emerged as perhaps the steadiest of the four first-round picks this season. After throwing zero touchdowns and four interceptions to start the season, he has 16 passing touchdowns and two interceptions.