CINCINNATI — Whatever happens Sunday in Arizona or the following week against Cleveland or all the weeks that remain in Jayden Daniels’s rookie season and the rest of his career, remember Monday night. Monday night, he won an NFL game with his own talent, which is blazing, and his own demeanor, which embraces the klieg lights rather than cowering from them. Monday night is when we discovered for sure he can do this — this being quarterbacking an NFL team with a combination of explosiveness and calm.

That means there are possibilities — in coming months, years, whatever — where only frustrations existed previously. The Washington Commanders’ search for a quarterback, an annual and eternal pursuit? Damned if it isn’t tempting to say it’s over.

Easy, now. Tempting doesn’t make it the truth. Did an entire franchise pivot Monday night, what would amount to a turnaround of an ocean liner in a closet? That’s not completely possible, because this roster is thin and flawed and needs infusions of talent in so many places. To that point: The Washington defense forced neither a punt nor a turnover. That’s a problem.

But in the Commanders’ 38-33 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals — a victory that was stunning in its offensive efficiency and faith in the quarterback — Daniels stepped onto a national NFL stage and announced himself.

Well, maybe that’s not completely accurate, because a player who won the Heisman Trophy, played in the SEC and was selected with the second pick in the draft is already on the national stage. What Daniels did Monday, then, was show he merited both the elite evaluation and the hype that goes with it. As coach Dan Quinn said: “We just knew: This is the guy for us.”

Monday night, he became the guy for the fan base, too. To this point, there had been glimpses. This was the full package, the sheet being pulled off the sculpture so the audience could gasp.

“Kid has poise, man,” top receiver Terry McLaurin said. “I think he grew up tonight.”

Note this, and make it a discussion point about growing up: Daniels now has thrown 76 NFL passes, has run the ball 38 times and has been sacked nine times (twice Monday). He has zero NFL turnovers. That’s not just because his coaches are protecting him. It’s because he’s a diligent and cognizant student.

“The veterans in the locker room saw that, too,” Quinn said. “And [they] say, ‘OK, here is a guy that’s really serious about what he’s doing.’”

The numbers from Monday, because they’re both impressive and important: 21 of 23 for 254 yards and the first two touchdown passes of his career — the first, in what will be a trivia question for years to come, to backup tackle Trent Scott, the second a game-sealing jaw-dropper to McLaurin in the fourth quarter. He added 39 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Put another way: Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow — who also happens to be a Heisman winner from LSU — completed 29 of 38 throws for 324 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. And he lost because the opposing quarterback was more clutch. (And because Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo decided not to blitz Daniels a whole lot, for whatever reason.)

That’s the statistical stuff. What happened Monday night were all the visceral elements that matter more. In his first two games, Daniels had either missed on deep looks or failed to acknowledge they were there at all, tucking and running. His best shot was an out-of-the-locker room bomb to McLaurin to start the third quarter in the opener in Tampa. Daniels overthrew him. Through two weeks, McLaurin’s longest catch was 12 yards.

It was a small stat emblematic of a quarterback in development. And he handled it.

“The crazy thing about it: He’s a leader, because he tried to keep my head right,” said McLaurin, a six-year veteran. “I do a good job of staying focused, but he’s been telling me ever since the Tampa game when we missed: ‘I’m gonna just keep coming back to you.’”

McLaurin is a leader in the huddle and the locker room. That he is acknowledging the kid kept him patient says much about how Daniels has established himself among his peers in a short span.

Then, there’s the physical ability. How to put this?

Holy cow.

The first of Daniels’s two — count ’em, two — incompletions Monday night came when McLaurin completely deked a defensive back and was wide-open for what would have been a 65-yard touchdown early in the second quarter. Daniels, about to be hit by Bengals sack master Trey Hendrickson, unloaded — but badly overthrew McLaurin.

So, then, the trust.

“I’ve been pushing and pushing and pushing,” McLaurin said. “Like, trust me.”

Which brings us to the next possession. Daniels and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury dialed up another deep shot. This time: a 55-yard completion, McLaurin’s longest reception since 2020, down to the Bengals’ 4. On the next snap, Daniels took it in himself.

This is a dynamic element — by both air and ground — to which Washington isn’t accustomed.

“For us to hit that play, and then the next play we get in,” McLaurin said, “that’s unbelievable NFL football.”

Unbelievable NFL football hasn’t been played in Washington in some time. Monday night’s explosion doesn’t mean it has been produced consistently now. The Cardinals await in the desert, and that could be disastrous.

Who knows?

“We’re gonna face some adversity,” Daniels said. “It’s not gonna be smooth sailing from the jump.”

That’s the realistic view. The NFL is nothing if not weird. The Bengals are supposed to be AFC contenders, and they’re 0-3. Carolina is historically inept — except it won a game. The week-to-week nature of the entire enterprise can be baffling and maddening. Ask anyone who entered a survivor pool.

But what happened Monday night is unquestionably a building block for a franchise in desperate need of a foundation. Through three games, Daniels has completed 80.3% of his passes. The Commanders scored on each of six non-kneel-down possessions Monday — and 13 straight over two weeks. They’re 2-1.

Back to trust: The game could have been decided with Washington up 31-26 with four-and-a-half minutes remaining. The Commanders had the ball, fourth-and-4 from the Cincinnati 39.

Decision time.

“We knew we had to be aggressive in the game,” Quinn said.

Kick a 57-yard field goal? Punt?

Quinn turned it over to Daniels.

“He was just himself,” rookie wide receiver Luke McCaffrey said. “Poised. Comfortable.”

Daniels did what was asked of him, completing a pass to tight end Zach Ertz for the first down. That led to the nail-it-down scoring toss to McLaurin, with Cincy safety Geno Scott drilling him. That’s trust, all around.

Monday night doesn’t make a career. But Monday night may well have kick-started one. The current Commanders aren’t built to win, but they have a winner to build around. If that’s hype, it’s for a player who has lived up to it before — and is doing so again.