Seattle had not lost a football game since last December. The Seahawks won Super Bowl LX in February, opened 2026 by allowing fewer than 20 points and under 4.0 yards per play through two weeks, and arrived Sunday riding a 12-game winning streak. Then a 33-year-old backup quarterback making his first start of the season beat them 33-31.
Marcus Mariota went 19 of 31 for 183 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 110.0 passer rating. Washington moved to 1-2. Seattle fell to 2-1 and looked nothing like the team that has spent seven months being called the most complete roster in the league.
Mariota did exactly what a backup should do
He was filling in for Jayden Daniels, who dislocated his elbow in Week 2 against Dallas and is expected back in about three weeks wearing a brace. Mariota did not try to be Daniels. He spread the ball around and took what the defense allowed, finding Rachaad White from six yards and Treylon Burks from 11 before hitting Terry McLaurin on a 30-yard strike in the third quarter that turned the game.
His most important play was not a throw. On third-and-7 late, with Seattle needing the ball back, Mariota kept it himself for nine yards and a first down. That is the whole job description for a veteran backup, and he filled it in miserable conditions with a depleted offense.
Seattle’s defense is the actual story
Sam Darnold threw for 379 yards and four touchdowns. Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught two of them and finished with 128 yards. Seattle scored 31 points on the road and lost anyway, which means this one falls squarely on a unit that finished first in defensive DVOA last season and has been treated as untouchable ever since.
Washington scored 33 points with a backup quarterback, no Jayden Daniels and bad weather. The Seahawks gave up a 30-yard touchdown to McLaurin with a corner turned completely around, then could not get off the field on the drive that decided the game. Two weeks of dominant numbers against lesser offenses did not travel.
Turnovers decided it, and Washington’s defense earned them
The Commanders forced three takeaways, and the one that mattered came from linebacker Kain Medrano, who jumped a Darnold throw near midfield and returned it for a touchdown while Seattle was mounting a comeback. Darnold’s two interceptions were the difference between a comfortable road win and a loss.
For a defense that had been leaky through two weeks, that is the most encouraging thing Washington has done all season. Dan Quinn’s group created the points that won the game instead of simply hanging on to a lead.
Where both teams stand now
Washington at 1-2 with Daniels due back inside a month is a completely different proposition than Washington at 0-3. Mariota bought the Commanders their season, and the NFC East is not running away from anybody.
Seattle is still the best team in the conference on paper, and one loss in late September does not change that. But the defense that carried them to a title has now been solved once by a backup, and everyone on the schedule just watched the tape.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.