ASHBURN, Va. -- It didn't take long for receiver Noah Brown to sense something was different with the Washington Commanders, especially on offense. In fact, it took roughly three weeks.
"Maybe the rest of the league doesn't quite know," he said, "but that's all it took for me to see there's something special building here."
Washington (3-1) has been an early-season surprise entering Sunday's game against the 1-3 Cleveland Browns (1 p.m. ET, Fox) in large part because of its offense.
The franchise has not had an offense finish in the top 10 in either yards or points since 2016 -- and it hasn't been in both since 2012. But, after four games, the Commanders rank second in points and sixth in yards. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has helped greatly, of course, but so too have other factors: the scheme, the line and their versatility. It's why they're optimistic the success will continue.
After a 42-14 win over the Arizona Cardinals, receiver Terry McLaurin said the best could still be yet to come.
"The exciting part is we still left a little bit out in the field that we're going to get better at," he said.
Here are four reasons why the Commanders' offense has started so strong:
Jayden Daniels
One pass against the Cincinnati Bengals showed a lot of what Daniels offers. In the 38-33 Week 3 Monday night win, the Commanders faced a third-and-7 at the 27-yard line and were clinging to a five-point lead with 2:10 left in the game. The play was slow getting in from the sideline. There were only 10 men initially on the field for Washington. And Daniels already was anticipating an all-out blitz.
Daniels calmly received the play, told the late-arriving the 11th man -- receiver Luke McCaffrey -- where to line up, and then delivered a perfect touchdown pass to tightly-covered McLaurin in the end zone. Next Gen Stats had the chance for a completion on this play at 10.3%.
"That kid has poise man," McLaurin said. "He grew up on that deep pass."
"His composure," guard Nick Allegretti said, "composes the offense."
The play displayed his accuracy, toughness and maturity -- elements his teammates and coaches have harped on since he arrived in the spring. Daniels is always one of the first, if not the first, players to arrive at their practice facility every day. He does a walk-through at 6 a.m. with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, then does extra work on his Virtual Reality headset that mimics situations at game speed.
The result: Daniels ranks fourth in total QBR (73.3) and first in completion percentage (82.1%). He's thrown for 897 yards, three touchdowns and one interception and rushed for another 215 yards and four scores.
Kingsbury said he applied some concepts Daniels used at LSU to ease him into the NFL.
"You got to try and make him feel as comfortable as possible early so he can go play at a high level," Kingsbury said, "but he's picked it up quickly. We put a lot on him and he continues to handle it and play at a high level and it's because of his preparation."
Kingsbury
Before the season, tight end Zach Ertz said he wanted to end his career playing for Kingsbury. That's why he was happy to be reunited in Washington after spending parts of two seasons with him in Arizona, where Kingsbury was the head coach.
"The best part about Kliff's offense is he really makes it easy for the quarterback," Ertz said. "He's going to be very flexible."
It's not just about scheming players open, though that has happened each game.
Washington also leads the NFL in no-huddle plays with 119 -- the next closest team, Chicago, has 65. The Commanders gained 285 yards on 37 no-huddle plays against Arizona. They use a variety of looks and attacked all parts of the field.
The players say the success stems from preparation. They have at least three walk-throughs every day.
"This is as many walk-throughs as I've ever done," running back Austin Ekeler said. "We have so many mental reps. People get in different spots and go really quick that we can, as an offense, give you such a variety of looks on the fly and making sure that it's sharp."
Kingsbury said he started doing more walk-throughs while coaching at Texas Tech.
"The guys would lose interest," he said of meetings. "But if you get them out on the grass and you talk them through it and you walk through, it tends to stick a little bit better."
The offensive line
Washington felt better about its offensive line internally than many outside the building did, according to multiple team sources. The Commanders allowed a league-high 65 sacks last season -- a byproduct of an offensive coordinator in Eric Bieniemy who emphasized the pass; a quarterback in Sam Howell, who held the ball longer than the coaches desired; and, in some cases, talent.
This offseason, the team added veteran center Tyler Biadasz, left guard Nick Allegretti and drafted left tackle Brandon Coleman in the third round; Coleman has rotated with Cornelius Lucas at the spot.
Heading into Week 5, the Commanders are tied for 12th in sacks allowed with nine -- five of them occurred in Week 2. They're sixth in yards per carry (5.1). Also, Washington ranked last in the NFL in number of carries in 2023; the Commanders are tied for fourth in that category through four games.
The success stems from Daniels' ability to get rid of the ball quickly. Washington ranks fourth in time before passing (2.52 seconds). His ability to extend plays helps, too. The Commanders are third in time before a sack (5.38 seconds).
The tight ends, backs and sometimes receivers help by chipping the ends. The receivers help by blocking as well on run plays. But it still starts with the line.
"We know they weren't the most hyped up to start the season," Kingsbury said. "But they've really taken pride in their approach as a unit and their physical nature and finishing plays and toughness and their communication is awesome."
Kingsbury said they'll have plays in a game that, perhaps, they could only walk-through in practice.
"It's as good as I've been around in that regard as far as picking things up and sorting out problems on the field and in game," he said.
Versatility
Washington can hurt teams with the run game -- the Commanders rushed for more than 200 yards in wins over the New York Giants and Cardinals.
Running back Brian Robinson Jr. rushed for 101 yards against the Cardinals. In four games, he's rushed 66 times for 307 yards and he's carried the ball 16 or more times in each of the last three games. He only carried 16 or more times in a game four times all of 2023.
But the Commanders also are helped by Daniels' legs: He's scrambled 22 times for 163 yards. They can run power plays with Robinson, pulling linemen; they can run zone plays and quarterback runs -- whether off a zone read or simply a sweep action.
"It's run and play-pass, that's a combination," Quinn said of why the offense is working so well. "And then the combination of Jayden outside the pocket with his legs creating some first downs. That's what makes it tough."
McLaurin leads the team with 19 catches for 191 yards -- 152 of those occurred in the past two games.
They also have players such as Olamide Zaccheaus who played five snaps and wasn't targeted in the Monday night game, yet caught six passes for 85 yards at Arizona. He's second among receivers with 10 catches this season. Veterans Ertz (15 catches, 150 yards) and Ekeler (nine catches, 121 yards) have helped as well.
Brown, signed on Aug. 28, has caught nine passes for 111 yards the past three games combined.
"That's the cool thing about being in an offense like this," Zaccheaus said, "everybody can make a play."