Watching the Commanders’ fairy tale run to this year’s NFC Championship game can make anyone happy for the way they have bounced back from years of mediocrity. Like just six playoff appearances in 24 years and two postseason wins in two decades. The Commanders were basically a team that no one took seriously until something changed. Yes, you could say they turned it around with a rookie QB, Jayden Daniels leading from the front. But it’s the change in ownership that really worked wonders for the team from our nation’s capitol.

See, the Commanders were under the ownership of business tycoon Dan Snyder since the turn of the millennium with the aim of a rebuild. But all he could deliver was just two seasons of double-digit wins and heaps of scandals. Snyder was charged with sexual harassment of employees and a toxic workplace culture. The NFL even fined Snyder on his way out of Washington a whopping $60M for all of his wrongdoings. So, after selling the Commanders for $6B to Josh Harris and his group of investors. That’s when the real rebuild began.

Under Harris’ ownership, the first season of Commanders didn’t bear the fruit their fans would have hoped for. A 4-13 record painted a bleak first-year picture of the new look Commanders. However, a complete revamp of the locker room was spearheaded by first-time GM Adam Peters and former Cowboys DC Dan Quinn as head coach. And, of course, their No.2 overall draft pick, Jayden Daniels, propelled the Commanders to their first NFC Championship game in 33 years. So, that success after Snyder’s exit didn’t really make him happy. Instead, “He f—— hates it,” as per ESPN.

Like obviously, Snyder won’t be happy to watch the Commanders taste success he couldn’t deliver in his 24 years at the helm. However, there aren’t many who would disagree with the narrative that Snyder’s exit is the reason the Commanders are where they are. Former Commanders’ CB Champ Bailey, who used to play under Snyder ownership, also believes it is the change at the top that has brought success back to Washington. “Once Josh Harris took over the team, and you bring on the ownership team that he has…these dudes, first of all, they love the Commanders because they’re all sort of D.C. guys…So, the culture changes pretty much overnight.”

Amid all the praise for the ownership, Bailey also called Daniels the X-factor that made it possible, “Jayden Daniels is the real deal. I think you can give him a lot of credit for what that franchise is doing right now.” As for Daniels, he is showing maturity beyond his age, even though some sections of fans are trying to rip him apart.

Jayden Daniels doesn’t care about the noise outside of the gridiron

Remember the chaos Daniels showered over the Lions with a 45-31 win in their backyard? Well, that was the moment when the league suddenly started to take the Commanders and Daniels seriously. Because that was a Lions team coming off a bye week and a 15-win regular season. They were heavy favorites to win and advance into the NFC Championship game. However, none of those things went according to the predictions. Instead, it was Daniels who had the last laugh amid the 70,000 trash-talking Detroit supporters, “They’re rightfully so talking. They’re trashing, and I didn’t really say anything. It was just kind of just let my play do the talking.”

Well, his play didn’t just stop the Lions supporters from trash-talking Daniels. It simply silenced the Ford Field when he passed for 299 yards and two TDs. His 91.8 QBR was enough of an answer to certain sections of toxic Lions fandom. Now, Daniels is on his way to Lincoln Field, where he would surely get the same reception. However, he could again turn those trash talks as his motivation to repeat the Detroit miracle. And by doing so, he could become the first rookie to ever start in a Super Bowl in the league’s 104-year-old history.