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Favre-Aikman. Brady-Manning. Mahomes-Allen. Marquee quarterback duels punctuate NFL history. It’s way, way too early to say that the meeting of the No. 2 and No. 8 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft will ever get anywhere near the heights of those lofty rivalries. But hey, you never know.
The Sunday night showdown between Jayden Daniels and Michael Penix Jr. might be the first in a long, storied line of classic games. According to NBC, it’s already the first prime-time game in NFL history between two rookie quarterbacks who were first-round draft selections:
If that’s too much statistical massaging for you, the larger point remains: these are two highly touted quarterbacks meeting professionally for the first time, and the stakes are high for both teams.
The Sunday night showdown between the Washington Commanders and the Atlanta Falcons carry an immediate impact, with playoff berths and positioning very much on the line for both teams. Plus, if you want a little extra personnel drama, this marks the first time that Washington’s Dan Quinn will face Atlanta as a 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 widely divergent ways possible. Washington struck gold studded with diamonds in Daniels, who jumped straight from LSU into a potential decade-long NFL starting role. Atlanta, meanwhile, saw its two-year quarterback succession plan detonate a year and a half early, and is in Game 2 of the Michael Penix Jr. experience.
Penix enjoyed this year’s equivalent of a preseason warmup game this past Sunday against the woeful New York Giants, 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 exhibited a stronger arm and more pocket mobility than Kirk Cousins, whom he replaced, had ever shown in an Atlanta uniform.
“I’m happy for…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/here-are-stakes-when-rookies-jayden-daniels-and-michael-penix-jr-meet-for-the-1st-time-in-crucial-nfl-sunday-night-matchup-055244303.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-12-27 05:52:00
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