The Washington Commanders badly needed Jayden Daniels to bring magic to Northwest Stadium on Sunday night, which marked the quarterback’s anticipated return from a hamstring injury. Instead, Washington got steamrolled by the visiting Seattle Seahawks out of the gate in prime time, surrendering four first-half touchdown passes to Sam Darnold. Then the real tragedy struck, with Daniels suffering a seemingly serious injury to his left elbow while battling back late in the 38-14 defeat.
Daniels was all but Washington’s only hope for much of the contest, leading the Commanders in rushing for a stretch of the Week 9 contest. His last attempt to evade Seattle was the defining one, however, and not in the right way: Slung to the ground for a sack by Drake Thomas while trailing by 31 with fewer than eight minutes to play, Daniels’ left arm and elbow bent awkwardly against the ground. Medical trainers soon immobilized the arm with a brace and escorted the second-year standout to the locker room.
Daniels’ ugly exit was just the cherry on top of a nightmarish sundae for the Commanders, as Darnold shredded Dan Quinn’s defense to start the matchup, tying a Seattle record with 17 straight completions, including four touchdowns. His top target, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, had another stellar day at the office on the receiving end, torching Washington’s secondary for 129 yards on eight catches.
Here are some takeaways from Sunday night’s big Seattle win, which dropped the Commanders to 3-6 at the bottom of the NFC East:
Play of the game
Sam Darnold’s stellar showing will be overshadowed in the coming days by discussion of Daniels’ injury, but the Seahawks quarterback was truly spectacular to start this game, which was effectively over by halftime. This was just one example of his elite composure and quick-reaction playmaking against Washington:
That’s probably a wrap for the Commanders
Washington was already in deep trouble coming into Sunday night’s affair. The defense was already old, banged up and a total sieve, as evidenced by a blowout loss to the rival Dallas Cowboys in Week 7, plus a noncompetitive second half against the Kansas City Chiefs a week later. But this was another level of leaky, with Darnold driving the ball effortlessly to go up 31-7 by the break. And the Daniels injury? Just a fittingly sour way to punctuate the rapid descent from NFC title contender to battered underdog. Set aside the fact Quinn saw fit to expose his star signal-caller to injury in such a lopsided late-game situation; even if Daniels had stayed upright, he wasn’t getting a ton of help from a receiving corps missing No. 1 pass catcher Terry McLaurin. At the end of the day, Washington is now 3-6, and the Detroit Lions are up next. Even a push back into wild card contention feels fanciful.
Seattle is the total package in the NFC
On the flip side of this matchup, the Seahawks just showed a national audience they are for real. Yes, Washington was a punching bag. But Seattle has now won three straight and six of its last seven, and its only two losses on the 2025 season were one-score decisions at the hands of fellow playoff contenders in the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Is it fair to remain skeptical about Darnold’s poise come, say, January, when he’ll be tasked with erasing memories of his sudden deflation at the controls of the Minnesota Vikings one year ago? Sure. But the man is outright dealing as the Seahawks’ quarterback right now, and “JSN” as his No. 1 target is as legit as they come. Throw in Mike Macdonald’s hyper-physical defense, with both proven and overachieving starters at every level, and more folks should be discussing them as the real favorites out of the NFC West.
What’s next for both sides
Washington will stay at home and likely turn back to veteran backup Marcus Mariota, who closed Sunday’s loss under center, in an attempt to upset the Lions, who will be motivated to rebound from a tight loss to the Vikings. Seattle, meanwhile, will return to Lumen Field for a home date with the rival Arizona Cardinals, who will be on a short week after this Monday’s battle with the Cowboys.
