Two LSU products will go head-to-head Monday night when Joe Burrow’s Bengals take on Jayden Daniels’ Commanders in Cincinnati.
Both quarterbacks have more in common than just their Baton Rouge ties. Each won a Heisman Trophy as a Tiger and each lost their respective rookie debuts in the NFL. Though Burrow has a National Championship on Daniels, the Washington quarterback is coming into this matchup with something his opponent doesn’t have: a win this season.
The Commanders are 1-1 after an opening loss to Tampa Bay in the 23-year-old’s first game under center followed by a narrow 21-18 win against the Giants. Though Daniels performed well in the victory, completing 23-of-29 passes for 226 yards, the star of the show was kicker Austin Seibert. He tied an NFL mark for second-most made field goals in a game, going a perfect 7-for-7 and scoring every point for Washington including the game-winning kick as time expired.
Unfortunately, Burrow hasn’t been able to lead the Bengals to victory yet after returning from a wrist injury that ended his season in Week 11 of last year. Cincinnati lost dismally to Jacoby Brissett’s Patriots in the opener but fought hard against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs the next week. Despite leading by two with 2:35 to go, the Bengals defense allowed Kansas City to complete a 43-yard drive as the clock wound down, ending with a game-winning field goal at the final whistle.
Despite Cincinnati’s Week 2 loss being decided the same way Washington won its matchup against New York, the Bengals are favored in their Monday night bout by an entire score. Both quarterbacks are evenly matched to start the season, each having thrown just over 400 yards so far. Daniels has the superior completion rate at 75.5 percent, but he has yet to throw a touchdown pass while Burrow has two.
The Sporting News has you covered with everything you need to know about Commanders vs. Bengals, including live score, updates and highlights from the NFL’s “Monday Night Football” game.
MORE: Stream Commanders vs. Bengals live on Fubo (free trial)
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
Commanders | 7 | 7 | |||
Bengals | 7 | 0 |
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(All times Eastern)
9:09 p.m. — Moss carries it up the middle for a 5-yard gain to the Washington nine. Mims comes in to replace Brown for the Bengals.
Rookie Amarius Mims takes over for him … 1st round pick #18 from Georgia https://t.co/Kyb7c92VW0
— Mitchell Tischler (@Mitch_Tischler) September 24, 2024
9:07 p.m. — Burrow is sacked by Fowler and Armstrong for a loss of six, and unfortunately Bengals OT Brown was injured during the play. The cart eventually comes out for him, and he was grabbing his knee in agony before being carried off.
SACK
Dante Fowler Jr brings down Burrow for the 7 yard loss.#RaiseHail pic.twitter.com/Sr3uq1NhrS
— Chad Ryan (@ChadwikoTWW) September 24, 2024
9:05 p.m. — The rookie All pulls one in from Burrow for an 8-yard gain and a 1st down at the Washington 25. Then, the quarterback finds Gesicki over the middle at the 8-yard line to set up 1st & Goal.
9:03 p.m. — Brown makes a catch for eight yards before being pushed out of bounds at the Commanders 34 before he takes another carry for one yard, setting up 3rd & 1 at the 33.
9:02 p.m. — Burrow hands it off to Moss for a 5-yard gain and a 1st down at their own 44. Then, Brown carries it for 14 more on the next play and sets up a fresh set of downs again in Washington territory.
9 p.m. — With that score, the Commanders have now scored on 10 of their last 11 drives dating back to Week 1—yet Daniels still does not have a touchdown pass. Brown gets to the 30 on the return off Seibert’s kick, and Burrow completes the first pass of the drive to Moss who is pushed out of bounds for a gain of nine.
Washington has scored points on 10 of their last 11 offensive drives dating back to Week 1. The one drive they did not score was a first half kneel down Week 2 ending the first half vs. NYG.
— Washington Commanders PR (@Wash_PR) September 24, 2024
8:55 p.m. — TOUCHDOWN WASHINGTON! Daniels finds McCaffrey out of the break on a dart for an 11-yard gain and a 1st down. Then, Ekeler gets the handoff and muscles his way through a hole before breaking free for a 24-yard touchdown dash. Seibert hits the extra point and the Commanders lead with 11:31 in the half.
.@AustinEkeler goes 24 yards for the TD!
📺: #WASvsCIN on ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/CVzFptP3Ko— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2024
8:50 p.m. — Robinson takes another carry for no gain, then Daniels completes his fourth pass of the game to Brown for a 16-yard gain, setting up another set of downs at the Cincinnati 35. Daniels then throws an incompletion deep toward the end zone but no one was there to receive it. Washington takes a timeout with 12:15 to go in the quarter.
8:48 p.m. — The Commanders receive the ball on their own 38 with 14:51 to go in the half. Robinson takes the first handoff from Daniels for seven yards, then the quarterback takes it himself for four and a 1st down. He leads Washington with 11 rushing yards so far.
8:45 p.m. — Gesicki can’t pull in a deep pass from Burrow under good coverage from Chinn to set up 4th & 11 at the Washington 30. McPherson is called on to kick a 48-yard field goal, but he misses his first in 29 tries and the game remains tied.
8:43 p.m. — Burrow finds Brown short, but he is taken down for a loss of one by Chinn before the quarterback misses Brown, bringing up 3rd & 11 as the clock winds down to end the first.
8:42 p.m. — Higgins makes his first catch of the season at the Commanders’ 30 and muscles forward for one more yard. The ball came out at the end of the play but Higgins was ruled down, and the Bengals have a fresh set of downs just outside the red zone.
8:40 p.m. — Burrow finds the rookie All at the line of scrimmage with a completion for no gain, then the quarterback passes it to Moss up the middle for six yards to set up 3rd & 4 on the Washington 43.
8:38 p.m. — Moss muscles a carry forward for three yards and a fresh set of downs, then Burrow completes a 16-yard pass to Chase who makes the catch and runs forward for another 1st.
8:36 p.m. — Seibert kicks it off the the one yet again and Brown runs it out for a 22-yard return. Burrow’s first handoff goes to Brown who takes it for seven before the running back takes another handoff for two more, setting up 3rd & 1 at the Bengals 32.
8:32 p.m. — TOUCHDOWN COMMANDERS! Robinson walks in a 1-yard score, completing a 6:12 drive with a touchdown. Seibert ties it up with the extra point and there are just over five minutes to go in the first.
WALK IT IN @BrianR_4
📺 #WASvsCIN ABC pic.twitter.com/P7eQxDIyEf
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 24, 2024
8:30 p.m. — Cincinnati is penalized on the next play for too many men on the field and Washington advances to the 1-yard line. Robinson takes a carry for no gain twice, but the Bengals draw yet another flag thanks to Pratt, who was lined up in the neutral zone. The result was keeping Washington at 2nd & Goal.
8:28 p.m. — The Bengals come up with a huge stop as Carter and Tufele split a sack on Daniels for a loss of one. The Commanders go for it, and Daniels passes it up the middle to McCaffrey for a 30-yard gain before he steps out of bounds at the two.
Jayden Daniels & Luke McCaffrey pick up the 4th down conversion!
📺: #WASvsCIN on ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/IGjfxr3iTU— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2024
8:27 p.m. — Daniels continues to target Ekeler and hits him on the bubble before the running back takes it for 14 to the Bengals 40. The quarterback himself takes it the next play for seven yards before tripping out of bounds, then he hands it to Robinson again for a 2-yard gain to set up 3rd & 1 at the Cincinnati 31.
8:25 p.m. — Ekeler takes the first handoff from Daniels and runs it for eight before catching an 8-yard pass for the first down at their own 46. Daniels then gives it to Robinson who is stopped by Pratt and Hilton for no gain.
8:24 p.m. — The touchdown pass to Chase was Burrow’s 100th passing score of his career. McPherson kicks things off after the play with a touchback and the Commanders will get it on their own 30.
8:21 p.m. — TOUCHDOWN BENGALS! Chase starts things off with a bang, catching a pinpoint pass from Burrow in the end zone for a 41-yard score, his first of the year. McPherson hits the extra point and Cincinnati leads by seven with 11:37 to go in the quarter.
BURROW TO CHASE. 41-YARD TD.
📺: #WASvsCIN on ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/DJW1LY5mdS— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2024
8:20 p.m. — At the Bengals 42, Moss takes the first carry of the game for two yards. Burrow gives it to Moss again the next play, and the running back finds a hole to escape for 15 yards and a 1st down into Washington territory.
8:18 p.m. — Burrow’s first pass goes short to Chase for a 1-yard gain, then the quarterback hits Iosivas on the sideline for seven more. On 3rd & 2 at their own 37, Burrow takes it himself for five and gets a fresh set of downs.
8:17 p.m. — Seibert boots it to the one and Brown returns it for 28 yards. Cincinnati will start with it on their own 29.
8:15 p.m. — Washington wins the toss and defers. The Bengals will receive the first half kick shortly.
8:10 p.m. — Both teams have taken the field and we are five minutes away from kickoff.
Bengals take the field pic.twitter.com/A1ky7IcPni
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) September 24, 2024
8 p.m. — Higgins will rejoin the Bengals starting lineup, pairing back up with fellow receiver Chase to reunite one of the best duos in the league. He injured his hamstring during practice in Week 1, causing him to miss the first two games of the season. Last year, the two combined for over 1,800 yards considering Higgins also struggled with his hamstring last season too.
7:55 p.m. — There are 20 minutes to go until kickoff and it is lightly sprinkling at Paycor Stadium. The forecast included a slight chance of rain, but it doesn’t appear it should be a major issue as of right now.
Can confirm light sprinkles at paycor
— Lindsay Patterson (@LndsPatterson) September 23, 2024
7:50 p.m. — Check out Bengals receiver Jamar Chase’s shirt ahead of tonight’s game. He’s definitely confident, that’s for sure.
Ja’Marr Chase’s shirt says “Always open” ahead of MNF 👀 pic.twitter.com/Ivr5QUiQDs
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) September 23, 2024
7:45 p.m. — With 30 minutes to go before Bengals vs. Commanders kicks off and the Jaguars vs. Bills game underway, here’s some of the coverage on tonight’s doubleheader from The Sporting News so far.
7:30 p.m. — LSU products Daniels and Burrow have linked up pregame during warmups.
All love between these two Heisman winners.#WASvsCIN | @Commanders pic.twitter.com/QOsDD4amvW
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 23, 2024
7:25 p.m. — As a reminder, this game is part of a doubleheader including a matchup between the Jaguars and the Bills. The Sporting News is offering live coverage of that contest as well—you can find it here.
7:10 p.m. — Keep in mind this is Daniels primetime debut. Burrow is 1-1 on Monday nights in his career so far, beating the Rams 19-16 in September 2023 and losing to Cleveland 32-13 in October 2022.
6:45 p.m. — Both teams have arrived at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati and released their inactives ahead of tonight’s matchup. For the Bengals, Von Bell is active but DTs Sheldon Rankins and B.J. Hill are out. Notably, Tee Higgins should play tonight as well.
.@KetteringHealth Inactives for #WASvsCIN pic.twitter.com/vTp8gbLBal
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 23, 2024
As far as Washington’s list goes, the team will be without its sack leader Clelin Ferrell who suffered a knee injury. Rookie Johnny Newton should appear tonight as well.
#WASvsCIN inactives
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 23, 2024
Monday’s game between the Commanders and Bengals is set to kick off at 8:15 p.m. ET from Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Commanders vs. Bengals will be broadcast nationally on ABC, the second game in Week 3’s Monday night doubleheader.
Joe Buck (play-by-play), Troy Aikman (color commentary) and Lisa Salters (sideline reporter) will be on the call from Cincinnati. A live stream of the game will be available on ESPN+ and Fubo, which offers a free trial.
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