Daniels and the Commanders host Penix and the Falcons in prime time with playoff chances at stake

Jayden Daniels and Michael Penix Jr. trained and went through the NFL draft process together on the way to becoming two of the five quarterbacks taken in the top 10.

After going off the board earlier with the second pick by the Washington Commanders, Daniels has been their starter all season and one of football's breakout stars. Penix, taken eighth in a move coach Raheem Morris joked “shocked the world," waited behind Kirk Cousins until usurping the veteran and making his first pro start last week.

On Sunday night, they'll face off in the league's first prime-time showdown of rookie QBs selected in the first round, and the spotlight is bright with significant playoff implications at stake.

“I'm happy for him — he waited his time,” Daniels said of Penix. “He's a phenomenal player in my eyes, and I'm excited to be able to match up against him.”

Daniels and the Commanders (10-5) are in the playoffs with a win. They might already be in before kickoff if Tampa Bay loses at home to Carolina, though the Buccaneers are 8-point favorites on BetMGM Sportsbook.

Washington is favored by 4 against the Falcons (8-7), who are vying with the Bucs for the NFC South title and a home playoff game and also in contention with the Commanders and others for the conference's wild-card spots.

“The reality is that you fight, you fight, you fight and you put yourself in a position to go out there and win your division,” Penix said. "You put yourself in a chance to get yourself to qualify for extra play. We’re right in the mix of doing that, and we’ve got to go do it and finish.”

Daniels, who threw five touchdown passes to beat Philadelphia last week and end the Eagles’ winning streak at 10 games, is the prohibitive favorite to win AP Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.

Penix completed 18 of 27 passes for 202 yards in a rout of the New York Giants that included two touchdowns by Atlanta's defense and two on the ground from running back Bijan Robinson.

“I was really pleased with his composure, his poise, his ability to click through progressions,” Morris said. "Realistically, it was a pretty clean game at the quarterback position. I’m very pleased with what he did and how he did it and the support that he had around him.”

Washington's Dan Quinn is facing the Falcons as a head coach for the first time since they fired him in 2020. He was replaced then on an interim basis by Morris, who was an assistant on his staff in Atlanta the entire time Quinn was in charge, including the run to the Super Bowl in the 2016 season.

“It’s always fun to play against your friends, your confidants, your mentors — whatever you want to look at it as — that we’ve been able to grow up with throughout this whole process,” said Morris, who was an assistant in Washington from 2012-14 under Mike Shanahan and interviewed for the Commanders job last winter.

“Dan coaching me in college," Morris added, "and then having a chance to work together and then having a chance to really follow the same path to the National Football League and then to now being in a fortunate position to be head coaches in this awesome league and having a chance to compete against each other at a very high level with high stakes on the line in prime time and all of those things — I just enjoy those moments of being able to go against guys that you care about.”

Morris said conversations from their close working relationship, which dates to their time together at Hofstra, are on a break right now.

“Obviously you swap texts on normal weeks,” Morris said. “I won’t talk to him this week. I’ll ban him. I’ll block him on the phone.”

Penix's results would have been even more impressive if not for some drops by receivers. Ray-Ray McCloud and Drake London had miscues on Atlanta’s opening drive. Tight end Kyle Pitts bobbled a pass later that led to Penix's interception.

Serving as scout-team QB while Cousins was the starter, Penix had little practice time with the first-string offense before last week. As a left-hander, Penix gives receivers a different look, but perhaps the biggest adjustment was the added zip on his passes when compared with Cousins.

“We kind of talked about that,” Morris said. “We figured that would happen. ... We talked about the reps with these guys, not having as many. So, things like that are going to happen. But I do like the fact that we’re able to keep playing and pushing and watch the guys get better and better as we went.

The Commanders are expected to get two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jonathan Allen back after surgery in October to repair a torn pectoral muscle initially looked to be season-ending.

“We know the caliber of Jon and what he can bring,” Quinn said. “He’s strong. He’s tough. So when that does happen, that’ll be something that will definitely bring energy to our defense.”

Allen had 15 tackles and two sacks in five-plus games before getting injured at Baltimore on Oct. 13.

After ranking last in the league with 10 sacks through the first 11 games, Atlanta’s long-struggling pass rush has enjoyed a dramatic surge. The Falcons have at least three in four consecutive games, the longest active streak in the league, with 16 total over this stretch.

Arnold Ebiketie recorded his fifth sack and recovered a fumble against the Giants, and Kaden Elliss had a strip sack. Elliss also has five sacks and has dropped opposing QBs in four consecutive games: the longest streak by a Falcons defender since Patrick Kerney's five in a row in 2001.

AP Sports Writer Charles Odum contributed.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn speaks to members of the media after an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris speaks during a news conference after an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) heads off the field at the end of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) throwing the ball before the start of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) tackled by New York Giants linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux (5) short of the first down in the first half of an NFL football game in Atlanta, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) throws the ball in the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants in Atlanta, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

FILES - At left, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) plays in the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants in Atlanta, Dec. 22, 2024, and at right, Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels throws a pass against the New Orleans Saints during the first half of an NFL football game in New Orleans, Dec. 15, 2024. (AP Photos/Danny Karnik, Butch Dill, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of burning a woman to death inside a New York City subway train has been indicted on state charges, a prosecutor said on Friday.

The development comes days after Sebastian Zapeta’s arrest and subsequent police questioning, in which authorities say he claimed not to know what had happened although he identified himself in photos and surveillance video showing the fire being lit.

Zapeta’s indictment will be unsealed on Jan. 7, according to prosecutors. He remains jailed at the city’s Rikers Island complex.

The harrowing episode Sunday morning on a stopped F train at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station has renewed concerns about safety in the nation’s largest mass transit system.

Zapeta, 33, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, was initially charged in a criminal complaint with murder and arson.

Such filings are often a first step in the criminal process because, in New York, all felony cases require a grand jury indictment to proceed to trial unless a defendant waives that requirement.

Authorities say Zapeta approached the woman, who might have been sleeping on the train, at the Coney Island station stop, and set her clothing on fire with a lighter. He waved a shirt at her to fan the fire, causing her to become engulfed in flames, prosecutor Ari Rottenberg said during the court appearance Tuesday.

Zapeta then sat on a bench on the platform and watched as she burned, prosecutors allege. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police took Zapeta into custody while he was riding a train on the same line later that day.

Zapeta told investigators that he drinks a lot of liquor and did not know what had happened, according to Rottenberg. However, Zapeta did identify himself in photos and surveillance video showing the fire being lit, the prosecutor said.

A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police after his arrest matches a shelter that provides housing and substance abuse support.

Federal immigration officials said he was deported in 2018 but returned to the U.S. illegally sometime after that.

Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a subway train, appears in court in New York, on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)

Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)

Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)