Jayden Daniels Didn't Beat Caleb Williams
The game between the Washington Commanders and the Chicago Bills was billed as the first showdown between 2024 first overall pick Caleb Williams, and second overall pick Jayden Daniels. Daniels statistics at the end of the game were impressive (326 yards passing, 52 rushing) and his game winning Hail Mary was perfection.
Williams on the other hand, underwhelmed in the matchup. He was just 10/24 passing (41.7%) for 131 yards, and no touchdowns. Given the way the game was marketed (not the first or last todo so), the rhetoric will be unbearable over the next few days. It will impossible to escape everyone from drunk fans, to allegedly knowledgeable sportscasters, talking about how Daniels is now 1-0 versus Williams, and nothing could be farther from the truth.
This Isn't Basketball
In the NBA, or any basketball league for that matter, players actually guard each other. The player who just scored a basket, now has to prevent the player he is guarding from scoring a basket. While the matchups may or may not determine the outcome of the game (there are still eight other guys out there), the performance of each player can be tied to their counterpart.
In the NFL, it's not like that at all. In high school, the star quarterback may also be the star safety, but at the pro level, players just play one position (specialty packages excluded). The Commanders beat the Bears, but Daniels performance did not determine the outcome of Williams performance. Daniels had no passes defended or interceptions. He recorded no pressures, hurries, or sacks.
The same way that Tom Brady has never beaten Peyton Manning (or vice versa) and Patrick Mahomes has never beaten Josh Allen, Jayden Daniels remains 0-0 career (and always will) against Caleb Williams. They are both great players, who look like they have tremendous careers in front of them. Be skeptical of the advertising. There's no such things as healthy junk food, and there's no such thing as one quarterback beating another.