Commanders Lead Bengals at Halftime 21-13

A halftime update of the Washington Commanders' Week 3 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Sep 23, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) runs with the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI -- There weren't many who predicted that coming into Week 3 of the NFL season the Washington Commanders would have a better record than the Cincinnati Bengals, but that's the exact scenario we entered into Monday night at Paycor Stadium.

The Bengals got the evening started after fielding the opening kickoff and wasted no time driving down the field before quarterback Joe Burrow connected with star receiver Ja'Marr Chase for a 41 yard touchdown pass that went over the head of Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil while safety Percy Butler was too late coming into the picture to impact the play.

As disappointing as the opening drive was for the Washington defense, the first offensive drive of the game was just as encouraging. With plenty of talk about the Cincinnati defense's inability to stop running backs, the Commanders got Austin Ekeler and Brian Robinson Jr. involved early with the two combining for seven touches.

Sep 23, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) runs with the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

That drive ended in a one yard touchdown run by Robinson and Washington drew even. Following a missed Cincinnati field goal try Commanders rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels brought his offense back on the field.

Seven plays and 62 yards later Washington hit paydirt again on a drive capped off by a 24-yard Ekeler run into the end zone. Another extra point made by Austin Seibert gave the Commanders a 14-7 lead after two touchdowns on the team's first two possessions.

While the offense continued their strong play, the defense continued it's soft play - flying right in the face of what defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. wants his unit's identity to be.

Playing off coverage at just about every level of the defense Washington allowed Burrow and the Bengals to drive right down the field again, but again stopped them short of the end zone. This time Evan McPherson's kick was good, and Cincinnati trimmed the Commanders lead to 14-10 with more than five minutes remaining in the half.

Daniels and the Commanders offense had plenty of time, and wasted none of it. More importantly, the young quarterback finally connected with star receiver Terry McLaurin for a 55-yard bomb behind trailing Cincinnati cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt. On the very next play, Daniels kept an option and did the rest taking it in for a four-yard touchdown run, the third of the game for Washington.

The drive gave the Commanders a 21-10 lead and brought out some early boo-birds from the Bengals crowd.

Burrow and the Cincinnati offense had some time to make good on the defense's deficiencies, however, and promptly took the ball down to the Washington 25-yard line forcing coach Dan Quinn to spend his second timeout of the half with 53 seconds remaining before halftime.

Giving his defense a chance to gather themselves appeared to have worked, and after four more plays - including two incomplete passes - the Bengals were forced to try another field goal, trimming the lead to 21-13 with 22 seconds left in the half.

Quinn opted to have his quarterback kneel on the ball, and that's how we stand at halftime with Washington leading by eight points, Bengals fans booing, and the Commanders receiving the second-half kickoff.

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