Everything has changed around Jayden Daniels ina relatively short timeframe. His quarterbacks coach, Tavita Pritchard, left to take the head-coaching job at Stanford. The Washington Commanders also p arted ways with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, his most trusted ally since entering the league in 2024. Promoting David Blough to offensive coordinator helps maintain some stability around Daniels. He's got no play-calling experience and was only a position coach for a few weeks after Pritchard departed.
The Patriots' defensive performance in their Wild Card matchup with the Chargers was an unexpected highlight of their win. Although they have some star power on that side of the ball, they have been a mostly inconsistent group this season, primarily due to the number of injuries they suffered, so they needed to play at a high level in this game now that they were at their healthiest.