Washington Commanders vs. Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions begin their quest for the franchise’s first Super Bowl tonight when they host the Washington Commanders at Ford Field in the divisional round of the playoffs. The Lions (15-2) are no. 1 seed as the NFC North champions, and the Commanders (13-5) enter as the No. 6 seed, fresh off their Wild Card win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last weekend.

Here are five things to watch out for in this matchup:

1. Limiting Jayden Daniels

Washington’s rookie quarterback threw for 268 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and led the Commanders’ rushing attack with 36 yards in the win over the Bucs in the Wild Card round. He has been one of the most impressive rookie quarterbacks to come to the NFL in some time.

During the regular season, he completed 69 percent of his passes for 3,568 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions for a 100.1 passer rating. He also rushed for 891 yards and six touchdowns, which is where he’s really been able to hurt teams with the dual-threat option.

“His demeanor and how calm he is, I mean, it shows all over the TV copy when you watch the TV copy, and another thing that comes across is that he’s having fun playing this game, which we all should, but you can tell he’s having fun and there’s no better way to play this game than when you’re in a situation where you’re having fun, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said of Daniels this week.

“He doesn’t take it for what it is, he understands what his skill set is and he uses everybody on that offense to make him better. It’s almost like he’s trying to be a point guard and he just deliver and drive.”

Glenn put together a great game plan against Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings last time out. Can he create a disciplined pressure plan that collapses the pocket on Daniels while shuffling coverages behind him to try to confuse the rookie?